Another Prime road trip in progress

GPS on Prime sucks. I download Google offline map and it works great when there is no signal.

 

Did you download 10 full states worth of off-line maps?

I've driven my Prime 7,000 miles across 10 states without a single GPS problem while Google Maps failed repeatedly mostly because of connectivity issues. During the eclipse I had 5 bars and no connectivity, probably because I was in rural Wyoming with millions of other people and the network was entirely overloaded. I was in Arizona searching for a route and Maps couldn't connect so we used in-car nav to find our not-on-the-highway route. I asked Google to direct us to a pier where we were getting a boat and it directed me to entirely the wrong location (in Los Angeles!). I had to go to to the map and pick the place on the map where I actually wanted to go. In-car nav was correct on that destination.

 

The Prime DCC is seriously flawed and should ONLY be used on the freeway with moving traffic; or at very slow speed during congestion.

Flaws:
1) DCC on; freeway speed, and if there's one of those freeway traffic light and a vehicle stopped in your lane then DCC WILL NOT detect the stopped vehicle and WILL NOT slow down. You have to manually slow down.

2) DCC on; you're following another vehicle but similar to situation 1 where there's a traffic light and there are vehicle stopped; and if there is a merge exit and the vehicle in front of you merged out (hence, the next vehicle is stopped b/c of the traffic light); then the DCC WILL NOT detect the stopped vehicle. However, if the vehicle you're following slows down, then the DCC will detect and also slow down.

Yes, set DCC to level 3 distance.

 

I don't really see these as flaws, but it could be down to expectations. I don't see the DCC as something like a autopilot mode like a Tesla, it's just an advancement on a normal cruise control that happens to slow down if traffic in front of you slows. I still drive the same, and yes, it will stop if traffic stops, but I don't expect it to, that's my responsibility.

As for 1., never happened to me, but it's a closing speed question, it will detect the stopped car, just not as soon as you would like. Remember that it's a pretty primitive system compared to some. I couldn't really trust any of the autopilot systems out there so far, sensing is not that great yet, so my expectations are low. (If I had a Tesla with full autopilot, I would still drive the same. Hands on the wheel, feet near the pedals, ready to do something if needed.)

 

They aren't flaws. The system isn't designed to detect non-moving cars.

 

Most area has coverage for me, especially along the freeway. Only places like national parks I need to download. If I really need offline map for whole US, I would use Here Map. It works great as well.

GPS on the Prius is dinosaur compare to smart phone.

 

I think you mean the "maps" suck, not the GPS. The GPS is a chip that gets your location from satellites. It works just fine. It's the "map" coverage you don't like.

 

No I mean the GPS software, the interface.

 

To expand on this, the radar does see stopped vehicles very well, but they filter out non moving objects. A stopped vehicle is hard to distinguish from a manhole cover or overpass using only radar, which would be annoying to brake for.

Systems with better integration between radar and camera could avoid this problem. Unfortunately most OEM systems operate independently as they have little in-house autonomy expertise.

 

Lee Jay, what do you mean by ‘tilted’? Sounds like there may be an option I haven’t discovered yet.

 

On road trips I've had good luck using normal / hv mode. 850 miles at average 70mph hwy I arrived with 72mpg once. That one time I remembered to switch out of EV mode after stopping and turning the car off at rest stops. Had most of the charge (over 90%) left.

The other two times I made the same trip, I would forget to switch EV mode off somewhere along the way and use most or all the EV range and get low 50's mpg.

 

And yet, I've had smartphone nav fail numerous times on my trips, and haven't had internal nav fail even once.

Yes, setting a destination is terrible and map updating is some sort of cruel joke, but once set the combination of not needing connection and not needing even a GPS signal (it uses dead-reckoning when in parking garages and tunnels, for example) makes it a superior solution overall.

 

For ~$200 annual map update, I sure hope it is superior to a totally free lifetime update on the Garmin. Except for a few instances of very illogical routes it insists using, it has not failed me yet for small numbers of times I have used the in-car Nav, but given time, I am sure it will fail. The map data is already at least five years old, and I have no plan to shell out ~$200 for the update.

 

There are three display options selected in the upper-left corner - north up, travel direction up, and travel direction up and tilted map. I prefer the third one for almost all situations.

 

Ditto. I've tested my in dash nav simultaneously with my Garmin Dirvesmart 61 (and Nuvi 2757) and with Google Maps on a multi segment 500 mile round trip. Honestly, the in dash nav did it's job compre the the other two. If I had nothing else, I'd use it on a long trip but, I much prefer the Garmins over the in dash nav. Google maps beats the garmin for real time traffic, but on a long trip the Google maps becomes an issue with downloading map data. You can't download offline maps for a 2,000 mile trip so again, I "rely" on the Garmin.

I started out using Delorme Street Atlas 6 on a laptop because there was nothing else and stuck with Delorme through SA 2009. The map updates were awful and YEARS behind. I tried Microsoft Streets and trips, but wasn't satisfied. I move to Garmin and was blown away. It just gets it done. Yes Google maps has gotten much better in the last 2 years, especially this year, but I can always go where I need for as long as I need with the Garmin. In dash navs have always sucked. The one in the Prime is one of the better ones I've owned. I still use the Garmin.

 

How does this affect mileage? In the first case, you force HV for the entire trip. In the second one you deplete the battery and are also forced into HV for most of the trip.

 

I believe that HV mode works best when there is a full EV charge available. If the EV charge drops and HV mode has only the bottom of the pack available I believe mileage will drop

That was the impression I got while comparing 3 similar trips in near the same conditions.
ymmv

 

Just finished 1200 miles on my Prime for a roadtrip last weekend. I used Google Maps, but did flirt with the in-dash navigation a few times. Honestly, the in-dash nav was completely fine and could have been used. I still prefer the Ford implementation with Sync 3, but it works. The graphics look old and don't inspire much confidence, but the actual execution was adequate.