The other day I picked up 3 friends, then had to back out of their drive way, up quite a steep embankment. I was startled to find my new Prius was so sluggish, it seemed I nearly had to floor the gas pedal to make it. I recall reading that all reverse gear is only electric drive. I'm sure the power would be adequate for just about any situation, just wonder if others have had the same observation.
Yup, that's correct - just floor it, you're not going to damage anything. Because the Prius can only use electric in reverse, by flooring it, you get max electric power. Dave
The Prius should have plenty of power to back up a steep hill easily. 300ft/lbs of torque makes short work of any hill. The only problem is if the tires slip while trying to go up and traction control kicks in, then your car will seemingly stay in the same spot.
You have to floor it. If the hill is long enough the battery will discharge quickly but the ICE will turn on to power the generator.
So, it is somewhat different than "normal" cars, thanks. I didn't mean to say I was worried I'd make it up the hill, only there is a unusal amount of gas pedal motion before she goes.
This spreadsheet, from the Prius-2G group, calculates that with a 100kg load the maximum slope the Prius can handle is about 46% forward and 39% in reverse. You can estimate the weight of you and your 2 friends and plug that in if you want.
