Declining EV every day after full charge??

This is going to be a hard question for you to answer, but I will ask anyway.

Is your actually EV range changing, or is the reported EV range changing.

The car will learn your EV range based on your driving conditions, and adjust the reported range accordingly.

I suspect based on your driving pattern that your actual EV only range is in the 9 mile range (hills, lots of stop and go, etc all reduce the range), and the computer is just learning and reporting more accurately.

To the most part I ignore the EV range except when I am getting "low" and need to determine if it will be better to just force the car out of EV and into Hybrid or let the car turn to hybrid when I am only a few minutes from my destination (I want to ensure the engine gets a full warm up cycle).

In way instead of miles the dash board should be saying how many kw/hrs you have available. Your Gas tank has X number of gallons of Gas in it, the car attempts to approximate your cruising range until "Low" but it can be off by a fair amount depending on the mileage you get, and as far as I know the car does NOT attempt to learn and adjust the cruising range calculation.

 

I'm betting you're getting the same range as the day you drove it home, it's just the factory set estimate that's adjusting to your particular route and driving habits. Toyota should probably set it low so buyers could watch it climb as they drive!

 

really? after 1 month? you're better off selling that car. Please take this the wrong way. it's sarcasm. Have a bit of patience. Give it some more miles. it's like people have NO patience. I want my 100 MPG NOW. It just doesn't work like that. In 2004 with my new Gen 2, I could barely see above 35 MPG in my 5 minute city drives...gee I wondered why. I drove it a further 110,000 miles with very few issues at 47 MPG average (not just city!) and am completely satisfied. Post again after a summer of driving and do that...just drive it.

Or one could trade across to a Volt. They seem to have really good reviews.

 

How heavily have you been using the AC? It has been getting hotter here in Sac over the last few weeks. AC use can really drop mpg so I would assume it would reduce EV miles as well.

 

Did you own a Prius prior to this PHV? Curious as to your driving habits and understanding of 'energy management'

Do you use your charge timer to delay your overnight charge until shortly before your routine departure time?

Turn off your A/C before you leave, and your EV range will indicate higher.
Drive for a short distance and turn it back on.

Are you using the HSI and minimizing heavy, rapid acceleration in EV mode?

Hills will deplete your EV range very quickly.

 

It's sounds like you might not be using the timer to have your car reach full charge right before you depart. The manual specifically states leaving the car fully charged should be avoided.

Having the car sit fully charged but not driving it is not good for the battery. I doubt you have damaged it that much but you should use the timer (and read the manual). Maybe you already do this, but it didn't sound like it from your original post.

 

Those hills you are driving are definitely impacting your range. I was consistently seeing low 11's/high 10's until I began looking at where I was driving and how quickly the EV range was moving downward. I came to realize that the last two miles to my home are all slightly uphill and it was using a lot of the EV range to cover that distance. So I began to test the range. For the last 2 1/2 weeks I have switched over to HV mode about a mile before I get to the uphill area. (The ICE engine needs some time to warm up). My EV range has been increasing every day when I first start the car. This morning it was at 14.0. If you have some long uphill runs, try going to HV mode about a mile before you get to that area.

 

I'm curious what area the OP is driving in and what constitutes "hilly" area. If driving from Sacramento up Hwy50 to Cameron Park area or up I80 from Roseville to Auburn area then EV miles would definitely suffer as does regular gas mileage. Otherwise, the Sacramento area is pretty darn flat (valley).

Maybe if you used an App like Google's "My Tracks" to show your elevation mapping we could help you figure out the best strategy for maximizing your EV miles. This is an example of my morning commute map from Davis to Auburn. Elevation is multiplied by 10 so my end point is 1,200ft ASL.

 

Suzy,

How far have you driven when it switches out of EV mode? Do you go further than the 9.1 miles it predicted?


Ignore what the rage predictor says and focus on how far you are actually able to drive in EV mode.

 

Socialsuzy -- well I'm still pretty new to the PiP (3 weeks now), but from what I have been reading on these blogs it seems like you should save the EV for the flat or downhill terrain and use HV for the hills. I just drove home (Pasadena - Long Beach) yesterday on surface streets for 20 miles then 6 miles freeway. I drove the first 20 miles on pure EV. But to my advantage, Pasadena is in the foothills, and my house is at sea level.

Try doing some EV driving in the flats, I bet your estimates will go up.

 

I'm getting 9.5 - 9.8 miles on a full charge (that's the car's estimate). I think it's due to somewhat hilly terrain in urban San Diego and my stop and go driving (lots of stop signs). No A/C or heat, and no hard acceleration, very little highway driving. I suspect that's the best I'll get.

 

Nothing is depleting. The car is just changing its estimate of how far you'll go, based on your driving habits.

If you fully charge the car, reset the trip odo, and drive very, very gently, you can go a very long way in EV mode. You can try it if you want... accelerate and brake very very gradually, drive only at the speed limit, and the range will go way up.

 

One thing that I do is use the timer every day. I don't start charging in the evening. I set the timer for 3 AM so it will be ready to go just before I'm ready to drive the car at 7 AM.
Toyota says charge it just before you drive it. If you're not going to drive it for a day or so, don't let it sit there with a full charge; that's not good for the battery.

 

The first couple days I saw 13.1 miles shown on the MID. Given my wife drives it for commute, a week later the mile estimate dropped to 12.6 - 12.8 gradually, and it stays in this range now. I think this is the estimate based on my wife driving habit.

However, when I drive it during the weekend, I can drive the car 2-3 miles more than what it shows.

 

I just did my first real life apples to apples comparison with the estimated range and actual range today and here's what I found. I was driving to work and at the end of the commute, there are some freeway driving at under 60 mph and about 3 miles of street driving. I usually hit the EV button at that time to burn off the excess battery so I get to work with HV mode kicking in about a block away from work. I noticed that the EV range was 4.8 miles at that time. When the EV range dropped to 0, I noticed that I had gone over 6 miles. Of course, there are some regen and I didn't take into consideration of bringing the PIP up to 60 mph (can't use EV because of traffic ). But with the gauge saying that I was at 100% EV and no HV usage for that time, it shows that EV range is just an estimate. Unfortunately, I don't do enough mid-range driving so this is my one data point. Btw, my fully charged estimated range without AC is about 10.5 miles and it hasn't changed.

 

Mark you hit it right on the head. SocialSuzy stop worrying and enjoy your car. I have the same situation with my PIP driving the same route day in day out.The other day I drove on a much flatter route, and I thought the car was never going to run out of EV mode. It went well over 15 miles before switching to HV.