We just bought a 2017 Prius Prime (Premium) this week, and we're trying to figure out the best mode/modes for my long commute. I drive 70 miles each way to work. The morning commute is generally more downhill than the return drive. The roads are two-lane secondary highways in southern New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts. Speeds fluctuate mostly 35 and 55 with a short stint at the end on an expressway. I do not have an outlet to plug into once I am at work, so the return trip is without a new charge. What is the best combination among all the modes for me to use? BTW, our other car is a 2009 Prius, so we're not new to the Prius thing. The 2009 gets, on average, 52 MPG. I have driven that car daily since I bought it. It has180K on it and has been the most reliable car I've ever owned.
I just checked plug share in New Hampshire and Mass. there's a lot of charging stations in both states. PlugShare - EV Charging Station Map - Find a place to charge your car!
EV on the 35mph sections EV on downhill sections Gas on the rest Make sure you don't come home with any charge remaining and standard hypermiling techniques apply
Eco mode alters the A/C to use less power. I can't cope in afternoons in summer with less A/C in MS, NH may be better. other than that, it is just a user interface setting. it make fine changes easier at low speeds.
Everything but this part is true. This is NOT true in Ev for sure, and of dubious value in Hv. I find the Prime is a lot harder to hypermile than my 2004 was mostly because the car is doing a lot of it all by itself. That also makes it a lot easier to get great mileage in the Prime, and it's a lot harder for someone to drive in inefficiently.
Harder to hypermile ? EVs are the easiest cars to hypermile Climate off, Coast to stops, gentle accel, low speeds will do it.
Sound's good, but it's very ineffective. I've been driving the same route to work in my Prime since I got it, sometimes driving aggressively, sometimes driving in extreme hypermiling super-smooth mode, and the reported miles/kWh doesn't vary by more than 4%. On my 2004, the same approach on the same route could vary MPG by 25%.
In general, what I found most comfortable and economical was to save as much EV as I could on the trip home for two reasons. 1. It was usually cold in the morning so driving in HV allows me to use heat without wasting battery. Commuting home, I don't usually need heat. 2. There's usually a lot more traffic when driving home so I was able to double my EV range going home once although at a miserable 3 mph. I adjust for this in summer when AC needs to be used in the afternoon drive home where AC wastes battery so I want to use up EV in the morning when I don't need it.
I have a now 52 mile one way commute, I profiled it and posted my driving style here: #1 this was when i was charging at work, with the $100 Chargepoint card, which is now expired. Currently I only charge overnight at home, interesting enough, my displayed EV range has continued to improve, last week 45.1, posted a pic in another thread. My driving style now differs, basically no more EV on the fwy other than downhill or flat section after downhill. I need to collect some more datapoint, but for the month of August my miles/kWh shows 8.4. Key is, there is no "1 size fits all", you'll have to try multiple techniques for yourself and choose what works best for you
