ok, Prius Prime going downhill in the rocky mountains

There isn't. I have charged my Prime from 95% to 99% by descending a hill without it tripping out of Ev.

 

The "Kindle Book Club" is using my desktop but when she is done I'll do some Google Earth GIS elevation research on your route. Grades and their length kind of thing. No hills till Browning/Glacier. Did a site visit to Crow Agency(PHS/IHS) SE MT. Think Custer. Never made it to Browning or Bemidji. Ah Indians!

 

Without selecting charge mode just regenerative braking.

Lee, you must have the special version, because I can never get any where near 98% before the ICE kicks on. Mine has kicked on several times now nearer 80% of my original charge.

 

Havre to Browning just a long slog up the prairie plateau.
Browning to East Glacier has two long but not all that steep grades with East Glacier in a high valley between them.
After the Summit long decent in to Kalispell.
No B mode needed IMHO. Cruise Control probably work just fine.
Less mountainess than Hagarstown to Cumbarland MD on Rt-40 or I-68
Nice looking 2 lane highway.
You might go 50 plus mile in EV down the west side even if you summit with zero. Constant roll downhill with regen at the top section.

The next 260 miles starts with 1k climb followed by 2k down over 70 some miles. Still no big mountains to worry about. If Google Earth is right this is less than Morgantown, WV to Cumberland , MD.

To compare:

 

It is mostly about battery temp, regeneration rate and protection by the system.
@alexcue experience that @markabele was referring to was strong regeneration braking opportunity immediately after charge mode finish with hot battery. The scenario you are describing seems to be completely different (wall charge, colder battery, possibly time gap between charge finish and the regeneration etc.).

 

I live at the top of a 10 mile hill. I have tested ALL modes on this trip several times. The CLEAR winner is the car, not B mode or charge mode or hybrid mode. It is the car handling the charging system. I have over 90 tests and none of the modes got better mileage than what the car gave me just by steering it.
Something to note though; when driving on the freeway on an incline, I can squeeze several more miles out of the battery in manual driving mode than the car gives me when in DRCC. The difference is quite significant.

 

I know in previous generations, the motor generators will "spin" the ICE to use excess energy when coasting downhill with a "full" traction battery, but I'm not sure you're burning any fuel (no combustion)

 

I noticed when using drcc, when it needs to slow down it is more appt to use brakes then regen.

 

I'm pretty sure I am since it goes into its warmup mode. (Cycle)

 

No, it uses regen until it needs more than regen can provide.

 

That is useful information for me. I live at the top of about a one mile hill. I have noticed that when I start out with 28.9 available miles showing on the HUD display when I leave home, by the time I reach the bottom of the hill there is still 28.9 miles available, even tho I have been charging the battery all the way down. This tells me, once the battery is fully charged at home, it will not take any more charge. If I drive a few miles and go down another hill, I will notice that a half mile hill will add maybe another mile to the charge. But if I go up that half mile hill, it will take away a whole mile or more. Unfortunately, there is no perpetual motion machine in the Prius Prime. Has anyone calculated the actual efficiency of this regeneration system? If you went down a 10% ten mile hill at 50 mph and then came to a 10% up hill, how far could you go?

 

Not accurately, but about 50%.

 

2 good grades in this last section. 6 to 7% slopes it looks like. 2k ft in 7 miles and 3k feet in 13 miles or there about. Might get some regen EV yet or to try B mode. What's the return trip route?
1st grade at Waterville down into the canyon is officially 6% for 6 miles.


2nd grade at Washington/Wellington is officially 6% for 7 miles with a hairpin half way down.

 

So I gotta ask:

Do you believe in God? sheesh.... Lmao!!!!!