Our Gen 3 has over 100 fill-ups (and counting) in all kinds of weather and averages over 50 mpg. All in normal mode. And all documented in Fuelly. It is, as said above, just as easy to drive economically in a gen 3 in Normal. Accelerate briskly, avoid driving at the high end of EV (just to the left of the midline) and decelerate slowly when it’s safe to do so. Or in other words, just drive it. I’m a fan of the gas pedal feel in Normal mode - it’s more linear and predictable to me. And as for normal mode AC - if I’m cool, the battery is cool too. Happy driver, happy battery. Don’t feel •any• guilt in saying goodbye to Eco mode.
Call me Mr Green ( I did it in the Parlor), but since toyota went to all the trouble of building an eco friendly care, I want to know how to use it. Gotta admit, it's nice to have options. Power Mode in the Snow? Wonder if the electric heater gets hotter in Power Mode? @chap - that is why eco is so cool? Normal is - what is normal? Then there is the nothing mode - gotta love that one too over and out edit opps the nothing mode is just normal mode with no EV supplemental mode on - all mode lights off. sorry bout that
About the only time I use ECO mode is when driving a steady-ish speed around 40 mph which is where the car really wants to switch back and forth between stealth and running the ICE with each twitch of the go pedal. ECO makes it much easier to keep it in one mode or the other, because it still bugs me when the ICE kicks in just as I'm about to go downhill, or shuts off at the bottom of an incline.