I'm coming up on 2 weeks with my "new" 2012 PIP, and I was able to use it in both cold and warm weather so far. Up here in Canada, the Prius seems to perform nearly as well in cold weather as warm. I didn't notice much of a difference, if any between driving it at -18C (0F) or at 20C (68F). That might be due to the 0W20 synthetic engine oil, which has very little increase in viscosity due to low temperatures. Today (it was about 5C or 40F) I took a leisurely drive up to the farm on back roads, about 70 miles, and I logged 4.2 l/100 km (56 USMPG), but on the way back, I took the freeway going a lot faster, I logged 4.8 l/100 km (49 USMPG).
that's not including much EV my EV range has increased from 10 miles in 10F to 15 already now that temps have hit 60F
I've noticed something similar, but it's too soon to tell. I'm sure the EV range is greater in warmer weather.
OP- is your PIP garaged? That makes a huge difference in cold (below freezing temps). Once your PIP has been outside in single digit temps for a few days/weeks you'll really see the EV range plummet. Also mid 30's mpg for a few miles when the ICE starts due to cold temps. The good thing is- once warmer weather arrives- the EV range climbs back up again.
And my last charge said 13 miles of EV but only delivered half that. In 60F + temps. Then again, some hills were involved.
I haven't been garaging it since I bought it, but that is an option going forward. I noticed that the EV range was 21.9 km on the way home from the dealership, and it changed to 15.8 when the weather got cold (subzero). Now that it has warmed up the EV range has increased again to around 18 km. I think it matters if the car has been sitting in the cold, or whether it's warm, because I'm sure I see a correlation.
"And my last charge said 13 miles of EV but only delivered half that. In 60F + temps. Then again, some hills were involved." you got just 6 1/2 miles EV ?!! in those temps ? Hills as in mountains I'll bet. I rarely mess with flipping between EV and HV but maybe this was one of those times you'd really make out...
Remind me again, how is this supposed to be done? HV going up the hills? Different for Europe anyway, because once we get above about 53mph we lose EV, and haven't been able to reproduce your "stealth" mode, so we don't need it as often. However, the point this happens on my regular commute, both ways, tends to be just as I'm going up a hill and needing to accelerate up to the 70mph speed limit because of traffic. I tend to lose at least another mile of EV range doing that as the ICE warms up; I might be better kicking into HV a little earlier so it can warm up on the flat?
The car will always borrow some EV miles as it warms up the ICE, but given time to warm up, it will replace them. Assuming you can't make your trip fully EV, you are best off warming up the ICE and using it on the hills and saving your EV miles for the flats and descents.
OK, so since I'm actually still running primarily on EV, and at a higher speed, up a hill as the ICE first kicks in, I might try flipping to HV a minute earlier on the downhill that precedes it, and see if that gives me a better mpg overall. Thanks.
