EV Range up to 16.8 miles

I commute a similar distance one way but due to my low speed (60mph) on the freeway which is 98% of my commute I can get 60-64mpg. Are there sections of road where you can save your EV miles for? I.e. you get off the freeway and then engage EV Mode instead of wasting it on the freeway? If this is possible I could see your mpg shooting way up if you can manage to use 16 miles of pure EV coupled with lower speed freeway/highway miles. I wish I could borrow a PIP for a couple days to test this out since most people automatically dismiss the PIP for commutes like mine. I think 80+mpg would be possible in my situation.

 

I am all surface street <45mph. Highest I have ever seen is 11.6 on the range but I typically get about 13.

 

You are using the battery very wisely, for sure. How is the gas consumption in HV miles? Would be great if you can post the picture of your EV Ratio screen.

 

well done steven! my best starting range is 15.3, but i have made my commute plus some extra for a total of 16.5 in all ev.

 

I've been as high as 15.5 miles estimated range, but usually it's around 13.5 miles. Range has been from 15.5 miles to 11.4 miles. It seems highly correlated to how well you use the range you have. If I don't use my entire EV range before recharging, the next estimate is lower. If I do use all EV range, then the estimate is higher. If I have a strong run, the next estimate is higher. Still working with a very limited sample size, however.

 

I don't even pay attention to what it says when I unplug anymore. It's always at 11.8 or sometimes lower... and some days, 12.6 but I leave work and get almost 18-19 miles before I use gas... when there's traffic.

 

I'm in the same boat. There's no need to. The level really only comes into play when it's near empty, much like the gas tank.

 

That is pretty amazing. I started at 12.7 and I'm up to 13.7 now but it hasn't improved since. Did they accidentally drop a 5.2kwh battery in your trunk?

 

2nd week with my base Sea Glass Blue tomorrow. 1-way to work is 49.8 miles. My charge almost always indicates 13.8 or 13.6.
On the way to work is about 1100 ft elevation decrease so I use the EV from my house to the 15 freeway (about 2.5 miles) Hybrid mode to my exit off the 15 (about 35 miles) then the last 13 miles in EV except for a couple steeper hills where I hit the Hybrid for about 1/2 mile total then switch back to EV. I usually have about 4 to 5 miles remaining due to regen so maybe I will get in the right lane of the freeway the last couple miles to see if I can use it all up. So I am able to use 15.5 EV now and have potential to use maybe 18-20 out of a 50 mile trip in the morning... My high so far is 84 MPG, Not to shabby. Normal trip to work is about 76 MPG. I am able to recharge at work now from some outside facilities power although no official charging station yet. (I am working on that one). My return trip I am still trying to figure out the most efficient way since it is uphill getting back to the 15 freeway but even so my return trip is still about 62 MPG when I get home. So the round trip average is somewhere in the 69- 73 MPG area.

Last weekend around town over 90 miles the average was about 127 MPG.

I really enjoy driving in EV mode, this car is making me very happy so far...

 

Isn't the mileage estimate based on the possible miles you could get from what is presumably a fixed amount of charge? In other words, we all take our SOC from some upper bound (I know it's not literally 100%) to a lower bound (23% I think some have said here). And therefore, I believe the estimated distances you're seeing are simply a function of your particular commute and use of the charge, not a reflection of a better battery or somehow more production from your battery, correct? If not, then I'm doing something wrong (or need to change something) because I have never seen about 11.3, even with the air off...

 

No disrespect to any on this forum, but I think a tiny obsession with EV range misses the greater point of how to operate this tremendous feat of engineering in a more efficient manner. I have virtually the same commute distance (44 miles) and am getting between 70 and 80 mpg for the commute alone (20 miles of it at 65-70 mph on the highway), and well over 100mpg overall, while (intentionally) registering a consistently low EV range as calculated on the display (typically 10 to 11). Short, around town, EV only errands confirm the actual range to be over 12, so I care almost nothing about the displayed range. On any trip the ICE kicks in, that number becomes only a reflection of how many miles you can expect to achieve using recently applied techniques of using the ICE to boost the displayed EV range value.

At the end of the 44 mile commute (or, in stevenveteran's case 50 mile commute), might we more properly consider how much energy is used. I'll assume in both cases, the electrical charge is fully consumed, so let's focus on the gas. Normalizing on a 50 mile distance, worst case is that I use .71 gallons, he uses .88, or roughly 23% more. I've read everything I can access on this forum on the subject of how to best modify the current thinking on "standard" Prius enhanced fuel efficiency techniques to the PIP, and would urge those with more experience than myself to chime in here, but this is what I have come up with in my limited (1500mi) experience with the PIP thus far:

• Switch to EV mode approaching every stop light and stop sign. Use standard Prius techniques to glide/coast/regenerative brake so as to not waste any energy on mechanical braking.
• Accelerate in EV as fast as you wish (up to the limit of EV) until something over 40 mph. Acceleration ability is far greater than anything you can achieve at the top of the ECO range of HV and helps blend better with traffic. If nobody is behind you, keeping the bar at about 1/2 EV can save a slight amount of EV range, but understand that there is very little loss of efficiency punching it at the low end of an electric motor's RPM range (as opposed to huge efficiency loss in an ICE), so have some fun leaving gas burners at the light.
• At some speed around 40 (I've settled on that number after some time, as it just happens to efficiently stretch my electrical energy use over the course of my round trip commute - if the commute were shorter, I would use a higher speed), switch to HV and either use standard Pulse and Glide techniques, or "Just drive it".

In essence, I use the electric motive force where it is most efficient (accelerating from low speed) and the ICE motive force where it is most efficient (in the Pulse phase of higher speed acceleration) to make the best use I can out of what those magnificent bastards at Toyota have delivered to me.

I've scratched my head reading numerous posts advocating the use of the ICE to accelerate to cruise speed, then switching to EV. While undoubtedly a valid technique to increase the EV range value on the display, I gotta ask, for what purpose? Is the satisfaction of having a high EV range display worth the additional fuel burn?

 

that's all very well and thank you for your expertise, i'm sure many will take advantage of it. but some of us consider this an ev with backup ice for emergencies. sorry, that's just the way it is.

 

you're absolutely right cal, this isn't a competition, just friendly reporting of our experiences. as dianne says, if you're sitting in traffic on the freeway creep and crawl, you can go 20-25 miles on a charge. how does that help anyone? it doesn't. just more data for thought.

 

With my 28-30 mile commute, I've seen net MPGs from low 60s to 120s (typically 75-95). And as you note, my best MPGs come with the worst traffic. I'm going to try Ultraturtle's approach and see how that impacts my numbers.

 

Yet every time I try this strategy, I end up having the ICE kick in, then I either have to wait until the temp hits 130°F or hope I hit another stoplight soon so I can reboot. Doesn't take much of a acceleration from my experiences so far, either.

 

Yeah, you just have to be really sensitive with the pedal as you get near the limit. Also, if you're already warmed up and accidentally trip the ICE, I find if I quickly release the gas entirely and re-engage it (like a really fast pause), I can get the EV to kick back in, and barely miss a step... no need to stop.

 

bfd has a good point and calbear is spot-on in his response (although while EV does kick back in, the ICE, once triggered, will operate until it warms up - those of us without a Scangauge II can verify this by selecting "Car" on the Multi-information display to see the ICE continue to operate). Still hoping for the hypermiling gurus to chime in here, but all is not lost if we goof up and exceed the top of the EV bar and cause the ICE to start and warm up on any trip where we know we will exceed the EV range. At least one of the gurus has implied that it is wise for the ICE to be started and warmed up before you expect it to carry any significant acceleration load.

It does take a careful foot (as calbear states) to not trip the ICE to start when intending to operate in pure EV. I've inadvertently done it a couple of times on local errands and have been disgusted with myself at seeing the trip mpg drop from 999 to 363. It is, after all, a needless waste of 4oz of gas, but it only cost me a little over 10 cents to learn the lesson, and having done it twice, it is probably the best 2o cent education I can imagine.

All it takes is a bit of practice. EV acceleration at 90% or so of the EV range display on the HSI is enough to drop most vehicles at pretty much any stoplight I encounter down here in NASCARAtlanta. Accelerating at full ECO on the HSI in Hybrid mode from a dead stop is not only energy inefficient, but puny in comparison to what you can achieve in EV.

 

This topic has been moved to High EV Range 17 miles and Picture

Increase from 16.8 to 17 EV Range display (a number rooted in fiction) at a cost of dropping from from 57mpg to 54mpg (a number rooted in fact - dollars and cents and gasoline based emissions).

stevenveteran is an undisputed display panel hero.

I give up.