Dead Cruise Control on two day old Advanced.

Prime has a 40 page "quick Reference, over half devoted to charging & related functions. This is on Page 30.


Apparently, there is some regenerative braking in B mode. Page 37.

 

To say Toyota isn't good with interface design may be under selling how horrible they truly are. Ergonomics within Toyota's infotainment systems are almost to the point of non-existent. Honda's systems from 10 to 12 years ago, are better than Toyota's systems today. In my Ridgeline I can operate a lot of things just by touch without looking, that is nearly impossible with the Toyota. That said, for all the other things that the Prius is versus alternatives in the market, I would still pick the Toyota. They know how to build a car that does what it is supposed to do, the problem is all the bells and whistles just aren't well thought out add-ons. My car before this, a Camry Hybrid, we used the built in navigation about 3 times in the 9 years we owned the car. And I even, for some stupid reason, paid for one upgrade of the maps.
I was hopeful that the Ford partnership would trickle into this version of the Prius to provide a better phone integration feature, but now I am thinking that also will not make it into this rev of the vehicle. Still love the car, not aware of another vehicle on the road I would trade it out for.

 

Why is everyone so opposed to reading what the manufacturer told you to read??? All the info for these basics questions is there. It's not just a paperwight it is telling you what your multi-thousand pound road beast should and should not do. Most people spend more times looking at sport scores than reading the owners manual for one of the largest purchases of theirs that carries them at high speeds among other giant metal traps. There is no excuse for such ignorance. A large manual is not a problem. If you don't read it, fine. But don't complain when it wasn't more clearly labeled when it obviously was told to you in the manual.

 

Wow, a 5X expansion in just 5 years, compared to my liftback's quick reference.

 

not sure anyone at toyota knows what b is for either.

 

On our gen 3 lift back the cruise control is non-functional if the front tires loose traction and slip. The cruise will not function until the car is turned off completely and then " re-booted "

 

b mode uses the engine to slow the car down to save the brake pads, coming down kilimanjaro. no need for that friction under normal driving circumstances.

 

Operative word: Kilimanjaro.

 

When using B mode the engine spins to slow down the car instead of using the motion to recharge the traction battery.
Basically the energy is wasted in engine motion rather than heating up the friction brakes.

 

I could not even get all of the manuals into the glove compartment. I had to put one of them in the rear center compartment.

 

In the Prime, B mode does not necessarily use engine braking. In EV + B mode, if there is remaining capacity in the battery, the system will enhance regeneration, exactly like pressing lightly on the brake pedal. Only when the battery gets full will it resort to engine braking.

 

i guess we cold go with denali, k2 or even pikes peak.

 

can you give us a picture shot of the pip or prime o/m explaining this? thanks!

 

In HV mode, it will prevent auto-shutoff of the gasoline engine, thus wasting fuel. It also wastes some energy in engine compression braking that could otherwise be used for coasting, gliding, or regeneration back into the traction battery. So, in HV mode, don't use it in situations where the traction battery won't fill up and the friction brakes won't get overly hot. That is, unless you like it for other reasons and don't care about the MPG loss. It won't hurt the car, just MPG.

EV mode considerations are different, and many of us with non-plugins won't be able to adequately guide you on B mode in your Prime.

 

I haven't dug through the manuals on this. I am just passing on reports from what people actually observed with their own cars. There was a lot of discussion about this in the first-generation PiP forum a couple of years ago. The observation was that in HV mode or when the battery was full or when going over the EV-only speed limit (62mph in the first-generation PiP), then engine braking occurred when using B mode. When in EV mode with remaining capacity and below the EV-only speed limit, then aggressive regeneration and no engine braking was observed in B mode.

 

The Prime is a complicated car. I think you can expect the owners manual to reflect that. What, exactly, should Toyota leave out in order to make a smaller manual? If you want to get in and just drive, you can. If you want to maximize your mileage and understand the car, then you will have to read the manual and, perhaps, stay current on Prius Chat or some other online source. Plug-and-Play is getting harder and harder to come by. No pun intended.

 

The 784 page owner's manual could be much better edited and better indexed. Most of what I want is in there, but it could be easier to find and to understand. There are pages and pages of stuff that seem like they're in there because of lawyers, not good technical writers.

 

Get an electronic copy as a PDF. Searching is made much easier that way.

 

Other than going down a long steep hill , why would B ever be used ,, if left B while
Driving on flat roads ,, wouldn't that hurt ones MPG ??