EV On/Off Charge Depletion Miles and Control Not Making Much Sense

Susan: you continually go off in so many directions AND suppositions I for one will make no attempt to keep up. You rebooted, got a higher estimate, that was the gist of your initial post. A measurable success! Next, on your trip, you will get a much better idea of what the PIP can do. Do search out opportunities to recharge, you will probably do this anyway, it is in our Prii nature. Note: when traveling in EV, 100 + mpg, happens. Next important fact: AFTER engine Has gone thru its initial warm up AND the car is moving effortlessly on a flat or descending, the instantaneous MPG reading should show 100 + MPG. Continue this method thru-out your trip and have fun.

Reread Post # 61.

 

fan doesn't affect mpg at all, just the ice.

 

there is a hidden camera watching you. it knows who you are and adjusts your ev range accordingly.

 

I would have to disagree. At some points in the drive it may not affect it, but at many other it will. If I turn my fan on, within a minute of driving my EV estimate drops by about 2 miles. This is because it uses more battery.

If you use the fan in HV mode you will be putting more demand on the battery and then will request some extra load sharing with the ICE.

 

As for that hidden camera, I am managing to fool it, I wear a mask now. It thinks Batman is driving.

 

I think we can all explain this til we are blue in the face....but Susan will not take in what we are saying, she just keep going off in different directions.

I learned everything i know about my car by driving it....I suggest she drive it much more and she will begin to understand.

No matter how many time I explained how the EV range works, she just seems to now think she does not want to go 35mph in a 55 zone. Obviously susan you dont get the point. I never said to go 35 in a 55 lol. I said go 30 in a 30zone, by googling a map of slow roads.

and one drive around the block will do nothing....you need to exhaust the battery many many times, each time getting over 14 actual miles, if you want the car to learn your driving habits and reflect them in EV range.

I suggest you pay ZERO attention to the EV range and just drive your PiP and enjoy it. You will end up around 80smpg most likely just like most people......

to get to 125mpg as I am now, it takes hypermiling.....the car wont just give you that on its own.

 

And I would have to disagree with you. I have a ScanGaugeII hooked up, and it doesn't show any significant additional draw on the battery when the climate control system is on. The draw is typically 2 or 3 amps with the A/C compressor off, and maybe 5 or 6 with the compressor running. Keep in mind that when the car is EV mode and going up a hill, it can draw upwards of 200 amps. Normal driving in EV mode seems to be between 50 and 75, unless accelerating. When driving in HV mode, that draw varies wildly depending upon the demand I'm putting on it.

As to the EV mileage estimates, as soon as I turn on the climate control system, the EV mileage estimate drops by about 12%. Doesn't matter if the A/C is on, off, or in Auto mode. The simple act of turning on the climate control system is enough to drop the estimate by about 12%.

 

I for one am waiting with baited breath at Susan's next idea. This post has been immensely enjoyable to read for me. Avoiding charge stations even if you find free ones? Isn't that like running a marathon and not taking the free water handouts because it might make you heavier and therefore slower? I wish you luck on your experiments. They may sound odd to me but who am I to judge? I draft large semi's on the freeway and wave hi to SUV drivers giving me the finger as they pass and cut me off in the slow lane. My wife thinks I am crazy. I say, "80 miles per gallon baby!"

 

right on!

 

What is the effect of the insignificant load on mpg's though is the question? I will try to do the same drive in the same conditions and see what changes if any.

 

Aloha from Hawaii, I have been watching the post on EV range for months now, and watching my own EV readings for just a little over 5000 miles now, it goes up and down as low as 10.2 fully charged and once and say once 15.0 with the A/C on, 17.0 with the A/C off.... normally, I fully charge to about 14.2, but, what I noticed is it seems when I have a full tank of gas I get a lower EV range then when I am closer to empty... I am beginning to think it has to do with the weight of the car, I have just been reading up on the tires make a big difference on the EV range having to do with the low rolling resistance, I typically drive the same way and routes and same distances every day.. but,in some ways what everyone here says is true, remember its an estimate based on your driving style and conditions. I live 2 miles up a hill at an elevation of about 800 feet, So, I dont fully charge any more at home, I figured out how long to charge at home, and utilize the regen down the hill to fully charge me at the bottom... also, with my EV range fluctuation, I still get to work with the same amount of EV range remaining no matter what it started at... I dont charge at work and use to drive to work in EV and home in HV, I recently started flipping between EV and HV on my drive in to work to save some EV for the trip home, the cool thing about this is I regen more useable EV then before, since as you know once we deplete EV, you go to HV and cant get charged up enough to get back in EV unless you have a big hill, keeping EV range, lets me regen the packs on the downhills and straight aways using the pulse and glide ... thanks for reading,

 

ugh that little car icon is seriously so adorable…sorry

 

Prius is a plug-in hybrid.

The misdirection of purpose by focusing on EV rather than the resulting MPG is understandable.

It's quite enjoyable driving through the suburbs using nothing but electricity... but all that is about to change. Last year's unusually mild winter prevented the word from spreading about the realities of driving in the cold. This year could be quite different. Consumption of battery-capacity for the sake of cabin-warming is a rude awaking for EV drivers. Having a gas engine available means being able to save electricity for propulsion instead. It also means the act of running the engine for heat will recharge the battery a little too.

In other words, beliefs & expectations of how the system operates were overly simplified... resulting in the discussions we are engaging in now, as aspects of it are revealed. It's complex. The interplay of HV and EV are difficult enough to understand even without buttons allowing you to toggle modes.

 

welcome hawaii! great move on the charging and downhill regen from home!

 

it's a fan motor running at low speed, negligible. when you turn it on in ev and see the ev range drop, you're not actually losing ev range, it's just software programming to make you aware that climate control comes at some energy cost. it's a very poor programming effort imo, i lose more from my headlamps, and ev range doesn't drop when i turn them on.

 

Welcome to PC HAWAII. Looks like you have the perfect location and climate for the PIP. Great first post!

 

Ditto. I remember sitting with the car parked, on, with headlights, and watching in horror as I slowly lost something like half a mile range just by sitting there.

 

i wish i knew something about headlamps, i'd love to know if there are lower wattage ones than the stock.

 

LED should be presumably be MUCH lower wattage unfortunately from what i heard they are not a simple drop-in replacement – otherwise i would love to replace the base headlights with the advance ones…

 

thanks. hopefully, as time goes by, more options and details will become available.