My PiP does 64mph in EV mode but will automatically switch to Hybrid mode once I touch 65mph. Elsewhere I saw reports that the max EV mode speed is only supposed to be 62mph. So do people get 62mph or 64mph in EV mode?
I think there is some small hysteresis to prevent fast toggling. Also, I think it depends on if you are accelerating up from 61 mph by requesting more power...or are coasting downhill and happen to increase to and above 62 mph. Mike
Good question? I set my cruise control at 62 when on the interstate in EV mode. I've seen it creep up to 63, sometimes OK and sometimes the ICE kicks in. I've decided it best to keep it at 62. I hate when I'm close to deleting battery power and the ICE kick in and I lose that very small percentage of EV credit.
I've hit 64mph- but anything over that triggers the ICE. Come to think of it- my speedo is off by +2 mph (confirmed by almost every radar "this is your speed" sign I've ever passed) so even though the PIP speedo shows 64mph - I'm really only traveling at 62mph.
I have been up to 71 mph in EV but it has been downhill on the Interstates here in OH which aren't all that steep.
Nobody has yet to come up with a good reason why so many Prius speedo's are off, but it's extremely common. Both my 2012 Prius Five and my 2012 PIP were over reporting my speed by +2 mph consistently. And it's not like the old analog speedometers in vintage cars where they were inaccurate at certain speeds but were accurate at highway speeds. The one in my PIP (likewise the one in my 2012 Five) are off by +2 mph at 20mph/40mph/60mph. The only positive aspect is that at least I'm traveling a tad below the indicated speed- not higher than the indicated speed...
FWIW- 62mph = 100 Kph so maybe that's why Toyota picked that magic number- it just seems odd to us because in the states 62mph is not a significant number where 100 is much more prominent?
In my 2004 Prius I noticed that the speedometer also read fast compared to both a TomTom GPS and the diagnostic screen on the Prius's GPS system. It looked like it was off by a percentage because it would read 1 MPH higher below 45-50 and 2 MPH higher above. You might find the same on the PiP if you could access its navigation diagnostic screen. As I recall, it is common for speedometers to read high and that this may be intentional to help you to avoid the attention of the guy in the car with the blue lights.
And there apparently is some regulation whereby if the speedometer understates the actual speed, then the automaker is subject to some sort of financial sanction. Apparently this is so that drivers cannot plead that according to the speedometer, they were under the speed limit, even though the police radar had them above it. So the speedometer reading is deliberately made high, even though the internal systems in the car have the accurate value. Kind of like how grocery items typically have a bit more product than the printed weight.
I can't see that. The car knows the true speed, behind the scenes. I think MPG is optimistic because Toyota wants it to be optimistic, has purposely set that "optimism" at a point that's not absurd, but enough to have owners who don't calculate mileage feeling rosy about their purchase, tell others about their numbers. Cheap advertising. It's doubly frustrating because the unvarnished numbers are still very good.
If I have cruise control set at 61 and go down a hill and put it in EV sometimes the engine will come on as it creeps up to 62. No issues like that if I set it at 60.
What Dennis and I were referring to is the fact that the average Prius driver is driving approx. 2mph slower than he/she thinks they are. Thus they are getting better fuel efficiency by virtue of driving slower. The odometer on these cars is very accurate. We also know that Toyota artificially inflates indicated mpg for whatever reason. In contrast my Volt speedometer is dead on as far as I have been able to measure. I've yet to run the numbers manually for mpg so I cannot comment on indicated vs. calculated mpg.
They don't care about us, a Nation in the slow lane, that's what we are. Economic growth - pah, who needs it? Us, that's who
