I was hoping for a little faster warm-up: Once warmed up, the mileage is outstanding but we're looking at 5-7 minutes in the 70-80F weather we are having. For example, my NHW11 warm-up looks like this: So I'm looking at the direct temperature record versus the warm-up MPG and I'm wondering what is happening. Bob Wilson
My experience with the 2010 is quite different. Here's my daily commute situation: 3 blocks from my house is a 70 MPH with an uphill on-ramp then a gentle down once merged on. I can clearly see the improvement from my 2004. The warm-up time is shorter. Efficiency works out to about 35 MPG instead of 30 for the first 5-minute segment. .
Bob, I know you are one to carefully measure, so I'll not disagree with your findings. BUT . . . anecdotally, I was seeing just the opposite. The truth of it is this fall and winter will be the real telling times. I have a very short commute, about 4 miles, and I have seen numbers staying very high this past week (just above 60). I don't have a record of the consumption screen from the '07. Of course, I often saw only the first five-minute bar anyway. The 1-minute consumption screen is what I look at now.
Agreed, when my ICE runs for ~ 60 seconds in the desert AM, and not at all if the car has been driven recently, I think the logic is far improved.
You are of course correct that the 1 minute mileage is not enough. I really need to track the ICE temperature sensor to compare like-to-like. It was sloppy to claim the 1 minute mileage is an indication of the vehicle warm-up. I also agree the logic is much improved as I'm typically seeing typical mileage impacts in my NHW11 extending for 15-20 minutes. I agree that the real test will be when the fall weather returns. There is a lot about the warm-up, quantitative numbers, we don't yet know. I was hoping to see something closer to 3 minutes, roughly half. When we start monitoring the ICE coolant probe, we'll have a clue. Now my testing with a block heater suggests it saves about one minute of the warm-up time. This remains an area of interest. Bob Wilson
I haven't seen it discussed here yet, but it would seem to me the software is programmed, not just for absolute maximum gas mileage, but to be kind to the ICE, battery and other components, thus extending their useful life and reliability? No internal combustion engine likes to be run cold, and performs as well as weears better when properly warmed up? Logically, despite using 0W-20 oil, The Prius ICE is not that different, in this regard? Likewise, running too long on the Traction Battery, while improving gas mileage, might shorten its life, or lead to premature failure? I think there are some engineering reliability Versus gas mileage trade-offs here? I really HATE letting a computer do my thinking for me (my other car is a stick shift Miata) but in the case of the Hybrid Synergy Drive, I tend to think the Computer knows best?
