I was driving my C2 in heavy traffic this morning and as we were crawling along I noticed that I had only 2 bars left on my battery... I read somewhere that if I sped up to the next car instead of crawling along, I might be able to charge my battery. Although my battery was slowly charged, I noticed my mpgs were not doing great (about 53..) Is this just me? How do you do it? How do you have your battery charged as well as get great gas mileage in heavy traffic? Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
if you know you're gonna get into heavy traffic don't use EV mode use the ICE so the battery will be good to go for those stop and go and stop and go situations.
Not sure how to word this... make sure, as you're creeping along, when it is time to stop do so completely. If you sort of float your foot on the gas, you can be using up battery. I use the energy monitor screen for situations like this, to make sure I'm not bleeding EV. If traffic is really just inching along, don't inch with it. Don't move forward until you've got at least a full car length to travel.
What do you mean by heavy traffic? 30 min for 2 miles? In such case you won't be able to accelerate enough and will depend on the ICE to charge the battery from time to time. Not the best but a way better than ICE-only cars surrounding you. Sent ?
leve lots of space between you and the next car. A lot of space. . . try to never stop moving even 1 mph is better than 0 mph. glide as much as you can. Force glide if you have to (shift to neutral) Yes people are going to cut in front of you, you have to just get over it . You wont get there any faster if stay right on the tail pipe of the guy in front of you. I drive 27ish miles on I55 into down town Chicago every Thursday. bit of a older pic but this is about the norm for me.
Something a lot of people cant work there minds around. I kinda get tired of it, especially in city driving where I see people racing up to the back of someone at a stop light (heck, even passing me to get to that person). Or my other favorite, passing me on the highway to get to the next exit less than a mile down the road.
James, Thank you for your post. I am new to the Prius world... (can you tell?)... How do I use ICE mode? Doesn't the EV mode naturally kick in when you are under 41mpg? I didn't know you can somehow get out of that mode.
Those are beautiful numbers! I tried going in Neutral today... I don't think I know how to use that to begin with. My car started to freak out as soon as I tried to accelerate in Neutral... I'm assuming I shouldn't even do that. The problem is that as I was inching along and shifted into Neutral my speed went to 0 mpg.. am i suppose to go a certain speed before I go neutral? (Maybe I should go back to drivers ed or something... lol!)
Yes, creeping along, inch by inch in stop-and-go traffic is going to suck up the EV battery in no time. Try what I suggested, it works for me. In traffic like that, it's not really like someone is going to dart in front of you to fill that space you leave.
I think they meant to use the battery as little as possible prior to the traffic, so that you'll have a fuller battery to start with. If the traffic is truly at a near standstill, the car will creep forward when you let off the brake, so you don't need to use any energy. (Boyfriend drives a manual, so I had to remind him that he didn't need to accelerate when we're barely moving last time he drove my car)
You cannot accelerate in neutral, neutral has no gears engaged... you can coast down a hill in neutral, but that's the only way you will ever GAIN speed in neutral. Think of riding a bike... when you stop pedaling, you are in neutral.
Got it! Does this mean it will stay in the speed before I put in neutral? Is it like cruise control for speeds less than 10mph?
Whoa, you posted a lot while I was typing, lol. You cannot accelerate in neutral. That's what neutral is. When you are coasting along (no brake no gas) the car is actually doing a bit of regenerative braking, slowing you down and wasting energy. Gliding is pressing the gas pedal just enough to stop that bit of braking, but not accelerate. Putting the car in neutral is a short cut/cheat to gliding. However, as you learned, you have to shift back into Drive in order to accelerate.
No, it means the engine isn't moving the car. The engine would have to be moving the car in order to maintain speed. Like the other poster said, it's like not pedaling on a bike. It will go for as long or as far as its momentum will take it, and no further.
Neutral is not like cruise control. Neutral will eventually slow down your speed (unless you are going downhill) as your momentum dwindles. Again, think of it like riding a bike. When you stop pedaling, you don't come to a screeching halt, you gradually slow down until your momentum runs out. If you want to stop sooner, you brake the bike, if you want to gain more speed, you start pedaling again.
I think there is an increasing epidemic of people who do not know what neutral is in there cars. Its kinda sad when you hear of people with their cars accelerator stuck, and all they would need to do is put the car in neutral or turn it off. I think automatics have lessened the awareness of other gears in vehicles today. Ill enjoy driving my manual till it dies .
