So this car is my first prius and I'm not sure I am getting the pulse and glide technique correctly. First, during the pulse section, they say to accelerate quickly. Does this mean even going to the top of the red power zone on the Eco score screen, or should I just be accelerating up to the top of the Eco green bar? Second, during the glide, should I be just barely pressing the accelerator to prevent the regen brakes from kicking in or should I press up to the top of the "ECO" section on the meter? My final question is if you should really even try to pulse and glide on the freeway at all? I have heard mixed things from at that high speed it doesn't help much to it suposedly helping a lot. Thanks everyone for helping a Prius noob.
Thanks for the video! Another noob question - in pulse and glide, why back off the accelerator pedal completely before pressing slightly? (Is there another easy to understand thread or FAQ we should be looking at?)
The reason being is that taking your foot off of the acceleration pedal lets the car know you don't need all of the power it is giving you, so it shuts off the gas engine and switches to battery power only. Sometimes slightly backing off the pedal will turn off the gas engine but completely releasing it is as close as you get to a guarantee it'll happen.
Pulse and glide is useful at higher speeds as well, not just as a means of getting into EV mode. It also works on regular cars, the idea is you can spin the engine up just above the momentum you need and then back off and lightly tease it to keep your stream of momentum. I find at low speeds backing off the pedal entirely can help with getting into EV but at highway speeds a more subtle backing off can get you good results. To back off entirely seems to kill too much momentum when dealing with all that wind resistance. When accelerating around town I sometimes pulse two or three times before I get up to speed. Each time it takes me a little further down on the Eco meter. It basically feels like driving a conventional automatic, pulsing about when the car would want to up-shift.
Yes, what I've noticed is that once the gas engine is running, to turn it "off" is much slower and harder by letting up lightly on the gas pedal. By letting off the pedal completely and reapplying pressure, you approach your power needs from the bottom side up and start off in the EV to keep momentum going. http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-c-main-forum/106778-do-you-electric-vehicle-foot-flick.html
