What takes place in power mode?

I tend to have a lot of faith in Toyota's software engineers. That is, the machine is designed to work as efficiently as possible.

My observation, and what has been stated more than once in various threads, is that Power Modes primary magic, is created very simply by re-mapping the accelerator pedal sensitivity. You don't have to push down as far to get it to kick into engine power. But it obviously doesn't change what the Prius is, same engine, same machine regardless of what button you press.

I hardly ever use Power Mode anymore, because the truth is, I can get The Prius to "act" similarly for Highway merges by simply being heavy footed. And highway and freeway merges are about the ONLY time I use to use Power Mode.

I could speculate that if going up a lot of hills, more engine power-reached easier and quicker, might be of some benefit. But it would be more just the "illusion" that the vehicle is more "powerful" not a reality that it is.

In other words? I think it's personal preference and results.
I don't think trying it would hurt anything. I would suggest experimenting with using Power Mode in the conditions you face, and monitoring your overall gas mileage, and simply taking note of how you feel behind the wheel.

I wouldn't worry about your traction battery. The driving conditions you routinely face, are the driving conditions you routinely face. No button you can press is going to flatten out a hill. I think about the only thing I might be concerned about is making sure my HV battery fan inlet is clean and clear. Ventilation I think is the most important controllable aspect of battery longevity that we as owners can control.

But if you feel like the vehicle stresses less using power mode? And you can accept the MPG hit you would probably take using it more? Then I think it's a reasonable experiment, and entirely up to you if you want to use it. Try it for a while and let us know.

 

power mode allows for full a/c over eco mode, so that would be a bit more stress in warm weather.

 

I dont know... I know this is just my opinion and this has been discussed ad nauseum, but I swear my Prius hits higher RPM's at wide open throttle when in performance mode. I should look into this with my Techstream software.....

 

I just like the surprised look from people when I manuever around them while already going 60 on the freeway. My favorite time is from a dead stop, and the jerk that was riding my tail for the last mile is now next to me at a stop light, and he's ready to "blow me away" with his blazing gas guzzler. Press the power mode, floor it, and for awhile we are neck an neck, then he has to "prove" his superiority and really punch it only to find that he just ran through a stop sign....................Oh us Prius owners ...........constantly having to claim our right to be on the road.

 

For dealing with hills, I see no reason to need PWR mode, but I don't question you'd have more "pep" to tackle the hills.

Just like highway driving. If you floor ECO mode, you can get up to highway speeds no problem, but in PWR mode, it will happen with more gusto.

I know they say the difference in modes is basically how the accelerator pedal pressure is mapped, but it's also well-established that ECO mode does several things to conserve energy consumption and PWR mode sets things up to run near 100% at all times. I found that PWR mode makes the ICE stay on longer before going to EV mode when stopped or moving in the EV range of the HSI bar and ECO tends to stay blacked out even though you're not in the PWR range.

Normal (neither mode selected) probably incorporates the ECO options but not the softer pedal play.

 

that and eco also forces time averaging of the gas pedal.

really? i didn't know that. but how would i know? i only like the default mode.

 

I have always thought the same thing to be honest. Let me know if you looked into it with your software.

 

I couldn't have said it better ,,

 

It was great, the other day, I was going up a long steep hill at 30 MPH and had a passenger with me. I said "I'm going to keep my foot in the exact same position, and I pressed the PWR button and within 2-3 seconds, the Prius shot off. It makes a huge difference, but its all in accelerator mapping. And I measured A/C usage in ECO and PWR. PWR mode with full A/C used 1.2 kW of power, while pressing ECO reduced the consumption to 0.8 kW.

 

I have noticed that in PWR mode the initial accelerator position change, from steady state, causes a large leap on the scanguage amps going to the electric motor which provides an initial shot of torque. When I make larger changes in the accelerator position in either ECO or Normal I do not see the amps rise in a similar manner while the ice begins to increase RPMs.

I believe part of what is sensed in PWR mode is that initial shot of torque which is not there in the other modes.

 

Can I change my earlier reply to "The hamsters are told to run even faster in their exercise wheels."

 

In mountains, the best advice:

1. Minimize drawing on the traction battery going up a hill. Slow down or follow a loaded semi-trailer as they have similar power to weight ratios.
2. Descend in "B" to minimize heating the traction battery. Heat is the enemy.

Bob Wilson

 

1. That's remarkably easy advice to follow. Long ascents seem to have no effect on the state-of-charge display; it holds at its usual 6 bars all the way up, every time. That would change if I did it pedal-to-the-metal?

 

The battery state of charge would go down. So I use the power flow display and adjust speed to minimize the drain. I drive on cruise control so I can trim by patting it up or down for +/- 1 mph.

Bob Wilson

 

After climbing up to 7500 ft slowly and using ECO mode, My Prius exhibited some strange symptoms upon re-starting.
The low speed "snow village" poking around must have caused something to overheat.
After being parked the throttle was very jerky, as if the electric motor wasn't doing anything, then at half throttle the gas engine would roughly jump in and propel the car.
I tend to use the PWR mode in mountain driving, no problems since.

 

When exactly should I be using "B"? Just on long decents?

 

^ Exactly.

Leave it for long downhill runs where the battery will charge to the point the car will switch off regen braking and relegate braking completely to the regular brakes and, you still have a good stretch of downhill in front of you. That's a lot of decision making, lol.

For any typical, around town hills, B is totally unneeded.

 

Hah, thanks. Don't think I'll ever need to touch it out here in the midwest

 

The only time I ever use it is when I get coerced into going up our local ski hill. Coming back down I'll shift in and out of it, depending on the grade. Hills are tough on the battery I think, stress it; I try to avoid, as much as I can.