Prius v Power Mode for Pulse & Glide? (= 50+mpg?)

Several conversations about PWR Mode getting better mileage.

I use it all the time. Makes the car more fun to drive and I get better mileage and get to jack rabbit start much to consternation of the lifted F-150's in back of me, left looking asleep at the wheel.

 

When using pulse and glide at an average of 65mph, what speed do you pulse up to, and how quickly? Do you put the acceleration/power indicator into the yellow/orange area? Then when you glide, how many ticks do you keep on the power indicator? What speed do you glide down into before pulsing again, and how long is a typical pulse/glide cycle in terms of time?

I tried this technique in PWR mode yesterday on a flat highway around 70mph, but found my cycles were so short it was making my driving look very erratic. Went up to 75mph and tried to glide down to 68mph or so, in a cycle that seemed too short to be useful, like a minute or two only.

 

I'm just experimenting with "power mode + pulse and glide" and I have noticed some strange behavior.
If you glide in power mode (it is hard but not impossible) the mpg climb like crazy up to about first 180-miles.
Looking at the computer calculation I would be hitting about 566-miles per tank (about 10.5gal) but after the first 180-miles, I've noticed that the mileage starts to go down . Now at 233mi on the odometer the overall mileage on the odometer (till empty) will be 561-miles.
On the first 180-miles I was able to gain about 3-milea or over on each trip, after 180-miles distance I'm loosing about 1.5-miles per trip each time.
The driving patterns is the same.

 

Hi! I a a new owner of a 2013 Prius V. I've read a lot about the "pulse and glide" technique, but I'm not sure I've been doing the right thing to glide properly. On my energy display, i can see three different colors, depending on how the motors are getting their energy. Orange: gasoline. Yellow: Battery. Green: Wheels traction.

So far, I understand that in order to glide, the screen shouldn't display any arrow at all. Unfortunately with my V, I am not able to get to that specific point. The best I can do is to coast with only the green arrows. I tried to release the gas pedal totally and then pressing it back very gently, but i am never able to make those arrows disappear. Still, the best I can do is to coast with the "EV" indicator on, using the wheels traction only, until the next pulse. When I'm able to do that, I see a fuel consuption of 0.00 L/100km. The average consuption is about 6.5L/100 km (36 MGP), but it is the first week I have that car... Maybe the problem is that there is a lot of hills on my route to work. It's kinda hard to maintain speed for more than 1 mile.

My question: will I get the same fuel economy by coasting with the green arrows on as much as it is possible?

Sorry if my english isn't perfect...i'm French!

 

Sounds like you are performing the glide just fine. I gave up looking at the arrows on the energy screen on my 2012 Prius v when trying to glide and instead look at the Hybrid System Indicator (HDI)

Here are my observations, enjoy;

 

I've noticed that PWR mode seems to engage the traction battery more than the other modes. I rarely use PWR mode, but it seems that sometimes it will draw down the battery to provide more power, such as when you're gunning it to pass another vehicle or ascending a steep hill. Generally the battery gauge will stay at 6 bars out of 8, but at times when I've been hard on the throttle in PWR mode for a good long while, I will look at the gauge and it will show 5 bars. That never happens in ECO mode no matter how hard you lay on the gas nor for how long. So perhaps that has something to do with it - if PWR mode draws down the battery during the "pulse" and then you glide, you should end up with better fuel economy assuming that you do eventually recharge the battery by using the engine or braking.

 

Anymore feedback on this?

 

Drawing down the battery more, makes me wonder- will that shorten the life of the HV battery?

 

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Drawing down the battery more, makes me wonder- will that shorten the life of the HV battery?

 

Hello!

I started driving my Prius v 2017 in PWR mode last week and I am shocked at the results I'm getting. I have not done MPG calculation manually, but the gauge is showing me 60's, 70's, 80's and even a max reading of 90 MPG in the middle of freeway traffic all last week since I switched to driving PWR mode. Rarely am I in the 40's anymore and few in the 50's. Everything tends to stay above 50's. Mainly 60's and 70's with glimpse of 90. I don't gun it through traffic. Just normal driving.

What I also notice is that regen braking is extremely effective. More juice tends to go back to battery in PWR mode. Also the battery bar tends to stay in the higher end in PWR mode and rarely drops below 50%. It seems like the algorithm changes drastically in PWR mode to draw more energy back from regen braking.

I don't think PWR is a real impact to HV battery because battery level rarely goes below 50% so far. Mostly stays in the upper end because of more regen effeciency.

I intend to be driving in PWR mode now.

Hope to hear more confirmations of this PWR mode and which year Prius v.

 

A lot of PWR mode comes from the battery assisting. Watch the energy graphics. Battery helps sooner and more than the others. I tried driving in PWR Mode many times, mpg always went down.

I can see the live data at 40-99 all day long, but calculating at the end of the tanks is what counts. Use an app called Fuelly. Its awesome and it even shows the cost per mile which really helps rideshare drivers

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I filled up tank. Averaged 48.7 mpg. Drove 502 miles and filled 10.3 gal of gas since last full fillup. I only started using PWR mode after 2 bars of fuel were used up in normal mode. I don't see a loss of mpg, but not a significant gain. All my drive was normal driving with traffic some in the fast lane. So inconclusive until next fillup in all PWR mode. My average before was 48mpg in normal mode.

 

If you are getting even 48MPG you are at the high end of the v owners who use fuelly and report there. So why the difference?

New car? Should be lower.
Location? Flat and mild temps?
Accessories? How are you using the HVAC?
Driving mix? How much local and how much 65-75MPH interstate?

 

Using E10 or E0 fuel? Mine went up after using E0 and according to Fuelly numbers, only costs me 1/10 of 1 cent more, so its worth it.

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Most I got was 50.5 once a few months ago

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I'm in LA county and fill up at Unocal using regular 87 gas. About half of it is driving 65 to 75 mostly at night. No sure E10 or E0. No special driving.

 

Most likely E10 minimum with it being Calif

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I consistently average 51 to 54 MPG in ECO mode. 80% of my driving is within the city. Never tried driving my car in PWR mode.