Bragging Rights !!!!!!!

last night, most of the sites i looked at didn't have the prime listed yet.

 

fotomoto: The zip file contains two movie files. One is acceleration in EV mode and the second is in HV mode. It has been raining for a couple of days now so pavement is wet. I did flinch during the acceleration when the tires lost traction and the traction control kicked in.

 

Well, 12.8 seconds to 60 in Ev mode with losing traction. The loss of traction is a fairly substantial loss in performance. I'd estimate 11-12 seconds or so without the loss of traction.

The Hv mode file starts at 5MPH but it's 10.4 seconds to 60 from there. I'd estimate about 11 seconds from 0.

In other words, about 11 seconds or so in either mode, just as Toyota claimed.

 

One midnight charge per day. Average total approx 100 miles per day. Amazing car!

 

I've been routinely recharging 2 times per day, since work offers chargers (powered by solar). That has been a great source of real-world data for consideration of how the next plug-in Prius could perform. My results of a simulated 8.8 kWh battery-pack (from having charged the 4.4 kWh twice) have come to 72.2 MPG. That's true lifetime for 84,549 miles, measured at the gas pump. It includes quite a number of trips up north with bikes on back and no opportunity to plug in. I also took 2 trips from Minnesota to Wyoming and back during the winter. That high-speed travel (much of it at 80 mph) really knocked the MPG average down.

I suspect Prius Prime will do quite a bit better for me than Prius PHV, simply because the distance to work is within EV range. It's 19 miles. I'll be taking advantage of pre-conditioning with electric-heat directly from the grid. That will be absolutely wonderful in just a few weeks. Daily low temperatures are below freezing now. It won't be too long before the highs really drop.

I have always seen the depleted efficiency as a major strength for a plug-in Prius. You get outstanding MPG even once the plug-supplied electricity is used up, as your 100 miles per day results clearly confirm. What other affordable plug-in hybrid could deliver such results?

 

This is why I am so much more exited for the Prime than for the Volt. That and the price.

 

Little known, and certainly not taught during delivery......if you hold the middle "non automatic" EV button....when your charge miles are low....FOR 4 SECONDS.... the engine rapidly charges the battery up. Stays in this mode until "Auto EV" is pressed. Total battery power takes over at that time, utilizing the Prime's newly added charge miles. This works especially well when traveling down a good sized hill.

Separate from saving the Earth Planet and saving $$ on oil based fuel.....The Prime really drives (and rides) so well. Powerful A/C too. Possibly the most advanced vehicle in production.

 

What kind of fuel economy do you get in that charge mode ?

 

Good question. Going down the mountain from Temecula to our So. Ca. Desert, the numbers continue to rise. The numbers seem to slowly decline when charging at 70 mph on the freeway. Not very scientific, sorry.

 

Entune is standard on the Prime Advanced. No $$ charge for the first three years. Gives GPS info to Toyota for recovery info; detailed analysis of energy usage, specific to my car....and in relationship to 10 other Primes (which are named) feedback on iPhone; ability to turn on heat/AC (and regulate temp) while vehicle is parked via iPhone; change plug in charge times from phone......and many more features. Fun...and sort of smart!

 

I took a closer look at this data, and I found several things.

First, it lost traction in Hv mode as well, just not nearly as badly.

It is just about what Toyota said - Ev mode is going to be faster below 30MPH. It wasn't in this case because of traction but it will be in better conditions.

Hv mode is faster above 30, and by a larger amount than I expected. The Hv mode 0-60 in this case was 10.4 seconds despite the traction loss. Ev mode is 8.9 seconds just from 30 to 60 with no traction loss. There's no way Ev mode will make 0 to 30 in 1.5 seconds so Hv mode will be faster to 0-60 despite Ev mode being faster 0-30. I'd estimate Ev mode 0-60 in good conditions around 12 seconds and Hv around 10 seconds.

 

The manual states that the PWR region is for engine operation only.

Gasoline engine running area
Shows that the gasoline engine is used as auxiliary power.

Page 210

 

THANKS so much for doing this. It does seem to confirm the original report of a 14ish sec 0-60mph EV mode time which is similar to the Energi. Your 40-60 span took :07 sec. alone, which again, is very similar to my Energi who's rate slows significantly after 35mph. Even so, you'll find this more than adequate acceleration for typical daily driving; even smartly moving away from most traffic when leaving from a stop yet still remain 100% EV.

 

It was 13.2 seconds and there was massive traction loss at the beginning. It will easily be sub 13 in dry conditions, probably closer to 12.

 

That's all people really need to know. It works fine. Adequate isn't exciting, but then again, you'd have to pay more for higher performance. Prius strives for balance.

The 0-60 value is a marketing tool anyway. In actual driving, it is incredibly rare to drop the pedal to the floor from a dead stop and hold it there until reaching 60 mph. Most of the time, you're already moving when the acceleration onto a highway begins and you don't require maximum power.

The only circumstance I can think of is turning onto a rural highway from a stop sign. But those are only 55 mph and you'd have total control of when your acceleration would begin, what mode you'd be accelerating in, and how much space you'd allow. So, it most definitely is a predication situation.

Put it this way, I accelerate onto the highway in my PHV with no concern of whether or not the engine starts. To my delight, most of the time it doesn't. That means the Prime will easily fulfill the EV acceleration for the typical owner.

 

I find it annoying. If anyone knows how to turn it off, please post!

 

I have one spot on my way to work every day where I almost always get stuck at a red light, and I have to turn left and accelerate to 50 reasonably quickly (or I won't make the next light) while climbing a 7% grade. It doesn't take full-throttle in my 2004, but it takes a pretty significant portion. I estimate 40kW.