EV range—brand-new 2021 Limited vs. 2020 XLE with 7,000 miles

From the 2020 Prius Prime new-car features manual:

GENERAL
OUTLINE
(a) The automatic air conditioning system uses neural network control to enhance comfort.
(b) S-FLOW control is used to concentrate the air outlets on the front seats.
(c) By utilizing a heat pump air conditioning system with gas injection function, an air conditioning system with a
high efficiency ratio has been realized.
(1) When outside temperatures are low, heating ability is ensured by not relying on engine coolant
temperatures driving in EV mode.
(2) Efficient heating of the vehicle contributes to enhanced EV mode distance.
(d) By utilizing the remote air conditioning system remotely using the electrical key transmitter sub-assembly or
a smartphone, the air conditioning system can be made to heat or cool the vehicle. With this, uncomfortable
cabin temperatures (hot, cold) when entering the vehicle can be reduced.
(1) It is possible to provide heating as well as cooling.
(2) A dedicated power supply circuit for the remote air conditioning system is used.
(3) By starting the remote air conditioning system remotely by using a smartphone, it is possible to change
the air outlet selection or set temperature. (Models with navigation system (premium model or JBL
premium model))
(e) When the charging timer system is operating, the climate prep function which uses the air conditioning
system to heat or cool the air approximately 10 minutes prior to the set departure time can be utilized. With
this, uncomfortable cabin temperatures (hot, cold) when entering the vehicle can be reduced.

Heat Pump Heater

(c) Gas Injection Heat Pump Heater
(1) By using the gas injection heat pump, refrigerant which has released its heat is separated into liquid and
gas by the cyclone separator integrated valve and the liquid refrigerant efficiently absorbs heat through
the outer heat exchanger, and the quantity of refrigerant flow back to the gas injection equipped electric
inverter compressor is increased. With this, when the outside temperature is low, heating performance is
ensured.

 

Update: Today at ~ 70 °F ambient temperature and with the A/C set at 68 °F, I averaged a round-trip city-driving EV range of 43 miles with the 2021 Prius Prime Limited (a 15.7-mile trip with 64% SOC remaining at the end)! It is the best car in the world!

The best EV range I ever got with the 2020 Prius Prime XLE was 38 miles during the warm summer months. So, there is a 13% improvement from the 2020 model to the 2021 model, probably thanks to the fresh battery that is not being left fully charged and not being charged when hot (immediately after driven) and the A/C set near the ambient temperature.

Now, the next goal is a round-trip EV range of 45+ miles.

Tip: The heater and A/C (especially the heater) make a huge difference. Set your A/C near the ambient temperature if possible for a much longer EV range.

 

Speed limits around here are udyskky

The speed limits around here in the more suburban parts of the Southern California are usually 40 MPH (45 MPH on some streets), but I drive gently and keep it below 35 MPH when possible, trying to eliminate sudden braking and acceleration.

 

Remember, I started at 28 miles on my first EV run (battery not-yet self-calibrated, heater set at 78 °F), and I just got up to 43 miles yesterday on my fifth EV run. I drive EV only once a week; so, this is a work in progress since I bought my car on November 16, 2020. This is gentle city driving, and I certainly wouldn't be able to get 43 miles on the freeway unless it's stop-and-go.

Note that I charge my car at 8 A, 120 V.

 

Why does it give such high readings?

 

OK, I've now looked at the information screen. I find the information on the eco diary a lot more useful than on the drive monitor 2, as my driving is either HV with the first couple of minutes being EV or entirely EV. The former is artificially reducing the miles/kWh average on the drive monitor 2 by about 8% (currently at 4.7 mi/kWh), as it is mostly due to the AC working with the car idling at the beginning of the trip or when I'm just sitting in the car parked in the garage and going through the features or radio stations etc.

That said, these are the actual EV mileage reports on the eco diary for all the actual EV trips (with no partial HV driving) so far:

Code:

date          round trip    A/C    driving conditions

2020/11/19    4.3 mi/kWh    26%    high A/C load, battery not self-calibrated
2020/11/20    4.7 mi/kWh    15%    high A/C load
2020/11/28    4.7 mi/kWh    25%    high A/C load
2020/12/05    4.7 mi/kWh    27%    high A/C load
2020/12/12    6.2 mi/kWh     9%    lower A/C load
2020/12/19    6.9 mi/kWh     3%    even lower A/C load

The first four values were before I figured out to set the A/C near the ambient temperature and the very first value may also have a battery self-calibration effect.

I estimated the EV range to be ~ 43.0 miles for the last round trip (reported as 6.9 mi/kWh). This corresponds to a 100%-SOC battery energy of 6.23 kWh, which is a tad bit lower than what I used to get for my 2020 Prius Prime on the Chargepoint level 2 charging stations when the battery was brand-new (the latter being ~ 6.4 kWh); so, it makes perfect sense after you account for the charging efficiency.

This is the battery capacity of the Prius Prime:

total battery capacity: 8.80 kWh
reserved for EV driving: ~ 6.23 kWh (~ 70.8%)
reserved for HV driving: ~ 2.57 kWh (~ 29.2%)

In summary my current gentle-city-driving round-trip (no altitude change) EV range and mileage with low A/C load are 43.0 mi and 6.9 mi/kWh, respectively. I will see if I can improve it to or beyond 45.0 mi and 7.2 mi/kWh, but that will probably be difficult. Perhaps it is possible in the summer months. The current daytime ambient temperatures are around 70 °F.

 

I don't mind the proximity warning sound at all. I was worried that I had a whining transmission, but once I found out what it actually was, I was A-OK with it. It is better to be loud than quiet and it hits a person or an animal.

 

Once you know what it is, you get used to it.

 

It was primarily the lack of the blind-spot warning on the XLE. Trading in the old car hardly cost anything, and the 2021 Limited is a much, much better car than the 2020 XLE, with TSS 2.0 having been vastly improved over TSS 1.0. Last but not least, Blue Magnetism is a vast improvement over Classic Silver Metallic!