Braking for better mileage?

Lol I'm waiting for the answer on this one too!!! but i don't think the ICE would be running if your just coasting down a hill with your foot off the gas. When i do this and start to push my foot on the gas i can feel the ICE restart once the bar goes back into the eco area.

 

Here is a pretty good website that will show you the power of motor & ICE

[http]://eahart.com/prius/psd/

 

ICE is spinning, but no fuel used. So, just thinking out loud here, the question is whether you are better off having a bit more SOC, or better off with the faster speed at the bottom.

If SOC high anyway, that favors keeping the extra speed for a longer glide.

You should further consider N glide, if it won't yield too much speed, once your SOC is up in a good range.

Momentum from the gravity has less conversion losses than regen.

 

If you were going downhill with your foot off the gas you probably were not burning any fuel even if the ICE was spinning. However, if you were running the ICE downhill your instaneous reading was still probably over 100mpg. Braking provides energy to charge the battery a little better than just coasting. However on a long grade you'll probably be fully charged when you're at the bottom regardless. Just let it coast.

 

gee...so much information, hard to really say.

how much traffic?
how many lanes of travel?
how many lights?
what is the speed limit?

if the speed limit is 45 mph or less, than do it. spinning the motor even if burning no gas is energy wasted.

 

I would think in a 2 to 3 mile downhill coast your battery will fully charge without braking anyway. I have rodden my brakes on shorter grades in order to stay within the limits and charge my battery. If I am willing to go over the limits I would rather do that as ride my brakes to regen. If your foot is off the gas, look at the monitor and you will see the wheels doing a regen process with the battery via the generator and no flow from the engine (off or not burning fuel). That should be the best of all worlds for you. I would rather coast at 47 any day over using gas to get up to 50, even if the gas instant reading is over 100 mpg.

 

Hello,

Excessive use of brake is nit advised for fuel run car as it is not good for the mileage of the car, though not sure about gas run car.


Regards,
sarah_9

 

The ICE spins to keep MG1 from over-revving. The only way to avoid this is to shift to N with the ICE off, at which point you take responsibility for keeping MG1 at a safe speed.

Tom

 

if the ICE is spinning and you select neutral I think the ICE keeps spinning, if the ICE isn't spinning but the speed climbs beyond the MG1 threshhold speed there may be damage done to MG1. Just let the computers do the drive train management.