Hi and sorry if my question is dumb

On slow stop-and-go traffic, try using as much of EV. Only when you can cruise at above 50 mph change to HV. That should keep you mostly in EV mode on your 30+miles commute. Trick is that if you do HV switch early on your commute then switch back to EV and the go back to HV again, you may end up going through engine warm-up cycle more than once. That uses more gas than necessary. So trying to keep the HV engine warm-up only once in the commute is a good practice.

 

The electric motors will probably never wear out.

I think OP is confused because "ECO Mode" appears next to "EV Mode" by the speedometer. When "EV Mode" goes away, there is no HV mode icon that replaces it. "ECO Mode" was probably there all the time, but now it's the only thing left. It is also confusing because the gas pedal mapping is much different in HV mode than in EV mode, while in Eco mode. So it feels like the driving mode has changed (and I would argue that it has).

 

My rule of thumb is to use HV for extended stretches at highway speed, say 60 or so mph. That's often hard to achieve on So Cal freeways
The snail's pace of the freeway coupled with good weather conditions actually may allow you to reach your destination on EV only, or at least very close!

 

One more note: As CharlesH states: "all the power is ultimately coming from the gasoline engine" when using pulse-and glide technique. So when you shift from EV to HV you might be disappointed to see your running fuel efficiency start to drop. Just keep in mind that as long as your running gas mileage is above 70 mpg, you are still ahead of the curve. If 20 of the 35 miles in your commute is in EV mode I would expect that you would still get more than 100 mpg for the entire commute, whereas if you were driving a standard hybrid Prius, you could get no more than 70 mpg (depending upon your hypermile driving skills).

 

I make sure I have some juice left when I get home because I don't want any fumes in my garage.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Some things never change... ...in LA, that is.

So you were able to get 20 to 25 miles in EV mode? Just curious. What was your mpg for the commute?

 

My commute is 14 miles one way total 28 miles. I use EV mode on normal. The only time i am in Hybrid is when I am traveling long distance. I get anywhere between 58 to 62 mpg.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

All of us will be watching for battery pack degradation rates. None of us know for sure what those rates are going to look like yet with the Prime. The rule of thumb so far is "Let the Prime do it's thing", Prime is arguably one of the best thought out,
of the effiecent machines on the road currently, Tesla is another. How well the battery packs function and last in a (HEV) Prime - and (BEV) Tesla - are critical to the cars effiency, driver expeience and resale value.

Beyond that I believe most of us watching for pack degradation are assuming excessive heat and excessive cold will be the major pack killers in the future. Which extreme will degrade the packs faster, so far is anyones guess.

 

Your computer is still trying to figure out your driving habits, it will slowly come into a round-about average.

Enjoy your great new car !


Rob43

 

MPG readings are wildly inaccurate on PHEVs because they don't factor in the cost of electricity. Your actual MPGe is probably somewhere between 40 and 80. Something to keep in mind.

 

fwiw...Eco mode, EV mode. highway, city traffic and back roads. fill battery every night only. 2045 miles at 90.4 mpg. one month old.

 

at my house 60 cents for 50kms...cheap I'd say.

 

That is definitely an advantage to having a PHEV.

I've considered doing a PHEV conversion on my de-hybridized Insight, but at only 2.5 cents per mile it's already around the same price per mile as an EV without the added complexity of computers and batteries.

 

I'm not following this. The computer measures miles traveled, then divides by the fuel used (likely measured from injector pulses) to determine the mpg. Driving habits should have nothing to do with it - this isn't the GOM predictor. The computer was accurately presenting the information it calculated.

 

I will now substitute the word computer for the word GOM !


Rob43

 

Did you guys know that you can charge the depleted battery while driving in HV mode?
I just learned of this feature from a youtube video (and it's also in the manual) and it's pretty cool... Volts don't have this option.
Just press the HV/EV (middle button) for like 3 seconds and you'll see the CHARGE EV light illuminate.

 

Yes, this is common knowledge among the Prime owners on this forum. There have been several threads on this topic.