Charge Mode/Highway Question

Use Charge mode in anticipation of using EV mode and you do not have the option of wall charging else just use HV mode on trips.

 

welcome #TeamPrius! any relation to PriusTeam?

charge mode is costing you something. there are threads here with a lot of testing

 

Yes. Assuming it is less expensive per mile to charge from the wall than run on the ICE, it is best to arrive home with as empty a battery as possible. If the ICE is running anyway and charging the battery from it will get you home on EV, that may be a good option.

If you have a routine trip that traces the same route, some experimentation may be in order. If I have to run the ICE (for example, to get to/from my daughter's house, which is a 40+ mile round trip including expressways), I have learned where and how long to run the ICE on the highway (not in charge mode) so I get home with a nearly empty battery.

 

you're over reaching. the car goes into charge mode when it is more efficient to do so, not all the time.
one thing might make it worthwhile, if you're m/kwh cost more than your mpg.

 

I don't think so. you can only charge up to 80% of EV SOC. If you are on a highway on your way back and can make it all the way with EV, that means one-way distance is only ~20 miles. I doubt you can charge all 80% in that short distance. If the distance is that short, it would be much more efficient to charge your car at home before starting and use full charge on your way all in EV and come back all HV, assuming that you don't need EV drive within a city at your destination. If your destination is further than 20 miles, and your drive will include some in-city slow traffic either end of your trip, using and saving EV range for those in-city drives and use HV on a highway is the most energy-efficient way to drive.

 

I agree with you when describing the scenario TeamPri is asking about.
That is when using the bottom of the pack after the EV part of the pack is used up.
I haven't run in HV too often but when I do I usually try to switch to HV and leave it on HV with a full plug charge in the pack.
With my driving style it just seems to work out better for me that way. YMMV

 

Yes charge mode has a cost, it lowers you MPG to charge the battery. However I think the cost is recovered when you use the charge. This is assuming you charge when it makes sense, steady highway speeds, and you use the charge when it makes sense, in city driving.

For an example I just got back from a 4 day weekend trip, total miles 973 miles, with 57.2 MPG. I used EV when getting off the highway to refuel/rest/etc, and also while getting back on the highway to accelerate up to speed. As soon as I was cruising again I used charge mode back up to 80%. On the way up I stayed on secondary highways, speed was 60-65, MPG stayed around 60. On the way home I took a different route, speed was 75 the whole way, and the MPG started dropping slowly.

There were times when going up steep hills it would stop charging while under load. There were also times when the ICE would shut off while going down big hills, on more mild down hills ICE would sometimes not be driving the wheels, with all the work going to charging. But in all cases it went back to charging after the hills.