New 2020 Prius Prime owner here and I have a question about EV Auto. I noticed when you press the EV Auto button it will display the words ‘EV Auto’ on the dash, click it again EV Auto fills in with a square around it [EV Auto]. What dose that mean is there a second mode of EV Auto? I’ve searched and read the manual and there is no mention of the filled in [EV Auto] mode.
When in EV/Auto, pressing the EV/Auto button toggles back & forth between EV/Auto and EV. Page 90 in the 2020 Prime manual. There is only one EV/Auto mode. I never use it.
Appreciate it Jerry.... totally over looked that, So when you push EV Auto mode twice it changes it to [EV Mode]. I had to squint at the screen and it said Mode not Auto. I was assuming the same button you press is what you get lol. Ok so we have two buttons to get to EV Mode. Come to think of it, this would be better so you can toggle to EV with out the ICE going on using the HV/EV button.
As I'm sure you've observed, the car defaults on start-up to HV assuming there is enough charge in the traction battery. The HV/EV button is the only one I ever use. I've discovered that for my driving the EV/Auto mode is completely worthless. Maybe it's helpful in places with big, steep hills. What seems most efficient for me most of the time when I'm going to out-distance my battery range is to let it just use up the battery in EV and do all my HV in one segment. That way I only have to warm the engine once. The exception would be if there are long stretches of slow speeds that are far away, I might reserve some battery for that stuff. Or I might not, since it spends so much time in EV at low speeds even when in HV mode. Bottom line is that I rarely am able to out-think this car. Edit to add: I just noticed that you haven't changed your profile info yet to show your fantastic new car. Time for some bragging rights, eh?
EV AUTO is good if you need a lot of power, like merging onto a freeway or passing on a two lane road.
