BRAND NEW PIP owner (2 days)--advice, plz

welcome to the pip club! can you charge at work? i would use hv on the highway and go as slow as traffic will allow, and ev in the 30mph areas. how many miles are at 30 and how many at 55?

 

lol, u da official greeter

 

many years of walmarts experience!

 

Try to use the EV miles during the slowest part of your commute. This is my first Prius and it has taken about a month to figure out my route. I drive 32 miles one way and I am averaging MPG's in the 70's. You will not be disappointed!!

 

eco really doesn't matter on the highway, it just changes your accelerator pedal response. it will limit heat and a/c tho so you will get somewhat better mpg's. i'm always in eco, some people hate it. depends on how much throttle response you want. you just have to press harder in eco to get the same as power.

 

in the winter, you want to finish charging as close as possible to leaving. this way, you're battery is as warm as possible and the most efficient until the car warms up from the ice and the interior air flows over the battery.
in summer, not sure what you mean by extending battery life? is the carport cooler than the garage?

 

HV is best for cruising, since that is extremely efficient. Running around town and a jaunt on the highway today resulted in a 53 MPG average, without having plugged in.

Short runs with EV are no big deal. If you need heat, just do it. Here in Minnesota, it's cold enough that the decision to fire up the engine is a no brainer.

Remember, you still get the benefit of plug-supplied electricity even when the engine runs.

 

Welcome G.G.,
Where in NY are you?
I'm in Victor, near Rochester.
My Hometown is Canton, NY,

As for driving method, just enjoy the drive.
You can try to use EV or manually switch to HV on different parts of your trip , but document each so that you can compare your one-way MPG.
Since it's COLD, if you turn on the Heat, the ICE will start and save some battery.

Do everything you can to be able to charge the PIP at work.
Tell them its only a Quarter a day to charge it.
Use a 15 amp extension cord if needed.

There is a lot to learn, if you want, and a lot of reading of the threads here which are a Great Resource.

Enjoy it.

 

I agree with bisco. Use your EV miles on town roads and HV on 50+ highways. You burn much more EV the higher your speed goes.

Charge at both ends of the journey.

 

I live in CA so my weather is a lot more temperate but this is what I do and I think for the most part you can do it as well with good success.
Set the time for your charge to finish at the same time you leave every morning. This decreases trickle charge loss and your battery might be warm when you leave in the morning. Good or bad, I don't know, but warm in winter = good to me.
Leave ECO on at all times. Don't worry, you'll still get heat. I've only turned it off a couple of times when I needed power to make a pass, otherwise, use it maximize your fuel economy.
Drive your car in EV mode from your home to the freeway. Don't use climate control or the ICE comes on. If it's really cold, then use the seat heaters. Once you enter the freeway, switch to HV and turn up the heat all the way. When speeds drop to below 42 switch to EV and turn off climate control. Leave the vents open so your windows don't get fogged up. Also because the ICE is still warm, you'll get some residual heat coming in while you drive in EV mode.
Switch back and forth as speed goes up and down. EV for slow speeds and HV for high speeds.

And if you're real lazy like I am some mornings, just drive the car and don't press any buttons. Obviously, leave ECO on. This is what I do in the morning. I get a blanket to cover my legs while I use up the EV without heat. Once I run out of EV miles and the ICE turns off, I use heat. I get about 75 mpg driving 53 miles to work this way versus 80 mpg switching back and forth as above. It goes to show you that Toyota already optmized the car for best fuel economy with very little driver intervention.

 

You can choose either a 'start' or 'finish' time using the auto feature. If you leave at about the same time each day, I suggest the finish setting, as it will be done charging shortly before you leave, as suggested by bisco. You simply push the timer button on the dash and plug in, it will do the rest.

 

We really need to start a local PiP chapter, many PiP owners in Central/Upstate NY!

 

Same for me. People kept trying to talk me into Audi, BMW, or Lexus GS. YEA RIGHT

 

The engine will start when the heater comes on, as mmmodem pointed out. I upstate NY, you probably can't start out without the heater. Once the engine warms up (1-2 minutes), the engine can shut off and you can use EV mode, until the engine cools down and needs to warm itself up again.

What the car can also do (and it will do, by default) is start in EV mode, start the engine only for warmth, shut off the engine and continue in EV mode, as long as the EV battery lasts.

To maximize mileage, it helps to use the Hybrid System Display:

If you're applying gas and the MPG gauge indicates 100 MPG, it means the gas engine (ICE) is off.
If you're braking, look at the left edge of the Hybrid System Display (HSD), if its safe to do so. If you're coasting or gently braking, this indicator fills to show you how much regenerative braking (battery recharging) is occurring. If it fills completely, though, then the friction brakes are being applied, which you should avoid unless necessary.

When you accelerate in HV mode, the left half of the HSI will fill to indicate that you're accelerating under battery power. If you accelerate a little harder, the HSI will pass the center line and the ICE will start. If the ICE starts and you accelerate within the large, left-side "ECO" zone of the HSI, you're maximizing efficiency. If you accelerate and the right-most PWR edge of the HSI illuminates, then you aren't maximizing economy and if you drive around all the time like this please don't complain about your terrible gas mileage.

 

The other thing you'll notice is- due to the cold weather your EV miles estimate (from a full recharge) will drop as compared with what it was in warm weather. I got my PIP on Oct 10th- for all October my EV estimate hung around 12 to 11.8 miles, now that we've had mornings below freezing and cold temps during the day- my EV miles estimate is down to it's lowest ever of 10.6mi.