Braking while gliding and no energy flow?

I haven't tried to do that, but my guess is there's no reason to drive that way. Here are my problems with it:

1. If it really does cancel regen and allow you to coast/brake, you're using friction braking, which wastes energy. It seems like it wouldn't work that way though... You might as well just take your foot off the gas and put it on the brake. Or just take your foot off the gas and let regen slow you gradually.

2. Driving with both feet should probably be discouraged anyway. You can end up riding your brakes needlessly, confusing drivers behind you, and you put yourself in the position to get confused and stomp on the wrong pedal in an emergency situation.

p.s. welcome to Priuschat!

 

I concur with Ichabod. There have been discussions here about the merits of this type of driving and memory recalls the outcome of the discussion was that you don't end up 'saving' any energy with this method. Over time you'll get the feel of when the friction brakes kick in, and they you'll know to brake slightly less to avoid the friction device and get max energy regen.

 

Under normal braking, the pcm won't command the re-gen brake off until around 5MPH. If you brake slowly you can actually feel swith from re-gen to normal brake at or around 4-6 MPH. Double footing it, I wouldn't recommend it, as it can confuse drivers behind you... imo.

Eric

www.engine-works.com

 

I don't see why you would ever double pedal a Prius. The Prius uses a drive-by-wire system, so all double pedaling does is send the computers conflicting signals. The control computers will sort it out among themselves and toss out the unneeded input, so you will be back to a single action.

Here is what is going on when you slow to a stop:

1) You reduce the pressure on the accelerator pedal; the Prius responds by reducing torque to the drive train.

2) You continue to back off on the accelerator; when you hit the magic point no torque is applied to the drive train. This is the magic glide state.

3) If you remove your foot entirely from the accelerator, the Prius applies a small amount of regen braking to simulate the engine drag of a normal car. This is less efficient than gliding, but will slow you down faster.

4) If you push on the brake, the Prius applies more regen braking, up to the limits of the system to make and store electrical energy. This continues until the Prius slows to about 7 mph, when it is going too slowly for regen to work, after which friction brakes are applied.

5) If you stomp on the brake, as in a panic stop, the Prius abandons any idea of saving energy and applies the friction brakes immediately.

If you want to glide, just feather the accelerator until power flow stops.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(funfinn @ Mar 26 2007, 12:14 PM) [snapback]412314[/snapback]</div>

Yes, here's a thought. What in the world do you think you are accomplishing by doing this? :blink: