I probably could have searched a little harder for the answer to this but I'm going to just ask...when your traction battery is low, around 2 bars, is it smarter to continue driving in EV and let the engine refill the battery, or at that point do you become less concerned with maintaining slow speeds and a low power gauge, and just go into Eco mode and let the battery refill. My wife and I do most of our driving around town, dropping off the kids at school, errands, etc. and many times well be at 2 bars on the traction battery and have another day of the same driving ahead of us. So which is more efficient, driving to refill the battery or letting the engine do it itself? Thanks.
It should only let you use EV when the battery has 4+ bars. You wont be able to choose EV with only two ^_^
Ok so I am a little unsure on how the car actually works, I haven't been selecting modes, just driving light footed and watching the power gauge. So when I see ev lit up on the left hand side, am I not actually in ev mode? Should I be manually selecting modes? I got the feeling from the dealer that it wasnt necessary.
In my opinion, there are very few times that it is wise to be in EV mode, moving the car in a parking lot, trying to sneak home without waking the wife, show off to the neighbors, etc. It rarely makes sense from a gas mileage point of view. I pick a mode and stay in it for months at a time, summer is normal, winter is eco. If Toyota ever makes a v that is a Plug In, all bets are off.
I let my Prius select what it wants. After six months ownership, I get 44.6 mpg which includes some freeway driving and some air conditioning. I'm satisfied and do not want to "think" ahead of my system.
When "EV" lights up on the display it just means that the engine is off, and the car is running solely on electricity. "EV Mode" is when you want to force your car to use electric only, but only works under certain conditions at low speed. Like one person said earlier, using EV Mode isnt really a practical application, the only time i use it is in parking lots. If the battery gets low in your car often, you should look up techniques in "gliding" to keep the battery charged. Hope this helps some!!
Moving with the ICE on is going to be more efficient than not moving with the ICE on (which is what can happen if the state of charge drops low enough). But for the most part, "just drive it." The thing is pretty smart about managing the charge.
