In EV Auto the ICE runs to add power only after you put the pedal (actually the Energy Indicator) into the power area and leave it there for at least 3 seconds. Yes the ICE and motors combine and the effect is rather exhilarating. Both showed arrows going to the wheels for the brief period I had my accelerator floored. I did it twice and once you let off the pedal pressure it will go into standard HV warming to either get the Cat up to temp or cabin temperature whichever takes the longest time. It’s kind of disappointing that the effect is so short lived. Maybe I’ll try it in the spring again and instrument it. Unsupervised!
Thanks for the info. Yeah, I have never had an occasion to floor the pedal in my 2+ years of driving my PRIME. For me the highway marging only happens getting on the interstate, but that is over 50 miles away from my home. I am either done with EV range or if saving the EV range, I would be driving HV. That EV AUTO + flooring the pedal sound like the S+ system available on my son's Honda CRZ hybrid. I tried it once on a highway, and was fun, but again, I would have no real use for that functionality 99.9% of my daily drive.
I mainly use the ev auto when I want to use electric which i do on a part of my commute with lots of turns, up hills and down hills at 25-55mph speeds,basically the canyon part of my commute. And adds quite a bit to my typical gas mileage too and I find the electric a bit easier to control and more fun on that part of my commute rather than using gas.
Any update to this feature? It’s May 2020 and my 2020 Prius Prime does not appear to have a way to change the default. Still searching the manual for some information about default settings; so far no luck.
EV is the power on default and I would expect it to always be that way since the design imperative with this car is to burn as little gas as possible and pollute as little as possible. As for acceleration, it is the same whether it's in ECO, Normal, or Power; it just takes a different amount of pedal travel to get that level of acceleration.
"In EV Auto the ICE runs to add power only after you put the pedal (actually the Energy Indicator) into the power area and leave it there for at least 3 seconds." It also runs the engine when traveling with the cruise control and an uphill section is reached. On a hilly trip that exceeds the battery range EV Auto yields lower gasoline consumption.
I can't see how that makes any difference over just leaving it in EV mode. In fact, you will probably use more gas because you will probably drive up the hills faster because EV Auto puts out more power, and thus you will use up more gasoline.
No, it's not wicked. It just seems that way because of the throttle mapping and low end torque. The power output is less than the other modes and flatlines around 60 mph.
I just purchased my Prius prime last Wednesday and am researching about the car and trying to learn the best driving mode. That being said, what is ICE?
Thank you. is it better to drive in EV our EV auto? I drive 20 each way to work and want to get the best GPM I can. Thank you.
That's a hard question to answer actually. If you don't need bursts of power at highway speeds (over 50MPH or so) EV would be the most efficient, but if you do need it, I'd use it because there's not a lot of high end power in EV mode. I never use EV Auto, but I drive most rural roads and in town.
I like ev auto for all day driving! I enter ev auto and let it manage the trip! That way you can relax and let the prime do the thinking! So far the results are great and it gives you more time too enjoy the trip. The car usually brings numbers of 3 too 3.1 ltrs.per 100 kilometer's . I usually set my speed at 93 kilometers per hr. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
can you charge at work? Sounds like no. there was a couple on a tour of some flat island looking land that got 40 miles on a charge but not in traffic. If you could finagle a charge at work you'd be golden!
The best strategy is to drive in EV mode for the slow speed parts of the drive, and HV mode for highway speeds. EV Auto is just for giving you more power/acceleration over EV mode for when you need it, like for merging onto a freeway or passing on a two lane road. EV Auto is not for economy.
