Darell's first Prius journey and...

Howdy Folks -

Some of you know that my silver 2006 #6 was finally delivered last week, and this weekend, I finally got to drive it. I see why so many of you like this car! Except for the part where it burns gasoline, I really, REALLY like it! If you've been blessed with reading some of my posts in the past month (or you've visited my EV site) you'll likely know that I'm a big proponent of Battery Electric Vehicles. That the Prius REQUIRES me to burn gasoline - even for relatively short trips - is a thorn in my side. Love the car - love the technology... but hate the gasoline requirement. Everything is in place except the larger battery and a way to plug it in. OK, that said - let's get rolling before I bore everybody to tears. what follows are mostly my observations and complaints. I don't need to sugar-coat it, right?

My maiden voyage is behind me now. 270 miles, beginning with my dealership fill-up, and eight miles on the odometer. I enjoyed seeing my average MPG climb every few minutes, until I arrived home at over 50mpg. Not bad considering this included the very beginning MPG average of the port and dealership shuffling. When I began the trip with 8 miles on the clock, I was at 14mpg average! I expect that when it is only me driving, and the car has broken in a bit, I should be doing quite well. Plus it is still quite cold around here. This is about as much as I drive a gasoline car in a month, so it is a big deal for me! The drive answered many questions for me, and brought up several more. Instead of starting 20 new threads with all my comments, I thought I'd put them here, and see if anybody has any comments on any of it.

So far this car has cost me $175/mile. I think I was ripped off!

Wheel Trim rings...
1. First, it is now obvious that Toyota meant for us to remove the plastic PlaySkool wheel rings. Just look at the energy display, and you'll clearly see the wheels spinning along with NO trim rings. Enough said.

And while we're on the MDF....
1. why, why, oh why did they make a consumption screen and an energy screen? Why the HUGE freaking bar graph and giant energy mapping display? Could those not have been all included on one screen? I find myself flipping back and forth so often that I wonder if I can set it up to change screens every second automatically! The bar chart on the consumption screen would be just as readable if it were 1.5" across instead of 6!
2. And why when the ICE is running does it not actually tell me? I can FEEL the thing, so there's no hiding it! But the cute little display shows the engine is off. Sigh. I guess that only happens when the ICE runs for warm-up and nothing else? I think the engine should at least turn some unique color, even if the little arrows don't go anywhere.
3. There are times when the arrows go from the ICE to the electric motor to the wheels... and nothing to or from the battery. Can this be true? The ICE is "powering" the motor to spin the wheels? Huh?

EV mode...
1. I LOVE this, and am glad I installed it before the car was 12 hours old. I installed it specifically to enable pulling into and out of the garage without firing the ICE. But on today's drive, I found that I'm actually smarter than the car (!), and can prevent throwing gasoline away in many instances. I do wish that there was some sort of indicator when I go INTO EV mode though. I'm usually on the energy screen anyway, so that part doesn't help. And I do get the three beeps when I pass 34mph (and I get the alert that I can't go into it when I'm above 34, or for any of the other reasons I can't go in). But there's nothing that shows I AM in it. But heck, I have the feature now, so I might as well shut up.
2. An example of using it to avoid throwing gasoline away: I was driving in SF where there are a few hills... Normally, on the drive UP a hill, the ICE is on, and it is providing traction power AND charge the battery. Well, from vast experience, I know that I'll be going DOWN the hill after the crest, and will be able to regen, so I'd like to partially discharge the battery on the way up, not keep it topped up! So by using EV mode, I can motor up one side with no ICE, and then charge the battery down the other side. Worked great most of the times I tried it... and wouldn't have been able to keep the ice off by "feathering" up the hill!

Cruise control...
1. First problem: "On" status forgotten with car reboot. I'm used to just leaving CC in the ON position all the time, and then just setting it when I want to use it. In the Prius, I have to turn the system ON every time before use (after power cycle). Not sure I see the advantage.
2. Second problem: No indication of CC being "set." I like to know when Cruise is set - especially after going down a long hill where I've coasted faster then the setting, or I've manually accelerated faster than the setting. Am I missing an indicator here? I've never been in a car that didn't tell me the Cruise was set.
3. Odd situation: I'm going down a hill where the car would naturally accelerate to over 60mph if I were in neutral. And in the Prius, I have the cruise set to 60mph, and my foot is off the gas. The car slows due to regen until it reaches 60, and the the ICE fires, then it goes a bit faster and switches off the ICE and back to regen, then slows until the ICE fires, etc. (no huge speed changes here - the speedo shows 60-61 the whole time. Yikes. I'd sure like a way to be in EV mode at this speed! There is ZERO reason for the ICE to fire here. The ICE is warm, no HVAC is used, mild day.
4. How many times will I turn the wipers on while I'm attempting to adjust the Cruise Control? Those stalks are just too close!

Brakes..
1. They seem to work great, but very little pedal feedback at low pressures. Almost feels mushy. Not sure if this is due to poorly blended regen, or if maybe mine need to be bled. Anybody else have this complaint?

Climate Control...
1. I know that one day soon, I'll have this all figured out. But I have a question for those of you who know: What happens when I have auto mode on, on a cool day, and the AC is lit up? Is the AC compressor actually working away every time that light is on? I obviously have the heat on (has to be for the auto mode to reach the temp I've set) but is the AC on as well? Is the only way to keep the AC off by using manual mode only? I'll bet this has been covered many times in other threads, but heck if I can turn it up! I also notice in the manual at one point, it talks about demisting the front window, and it specifically says to keep the AC button OFF! Huh? Dehumidification is what an AC compressor does best! So the big question on this one: Does being in "auto" mode mean that the AC compressor is always on?

Sun shade switches...
1. Jack 06 showed me the fancy trick where the light over the sunshade mirror is actually switched by the mirror cover. But then I found out something even crazier. With light on (Mirror exposed, and light switch on), move the shade out toward the window (as you'd use it to block sun). Presto, the light goes back off. So that light is switched in THREE places. The obvious slider switch, the mirror cover, and the position of the shade relative to the windshield. Man, they put a lot of effort into that... but no Cruise Control indicator???

Interior lights...
1. The cargo area light is sure minimal! But I have already fixed that one with a high-output LED. I hope to make drop-in LED modules for the rest of the lights as well... and maybe even sell them eventually. I've done this for several other vehicles already, but the Prius offers some special new challenges!
2. Question - Do any of these lights automatically time out if the doors are left open? It doesn't appear that the cargo light does, but maybe the interior lights do? I'm guessing that if the map lights are turned on manually that they'll just run the AUX battery down if left on. When I get around to making LED replacement lights, I plan on having them auto-sleep to prevent battery drain.
3. A high-tech car like this NEEDs LED lighting. And soon it will have it!

Mirror...
1. Does the auto-dim get reset to ON every time the car cycles? I'm not using it (tint) and would be happier if it just stayed off.

I'm sure I'll think of more, but that's enough to get started I think!

I'd love to hear from anybody who may have a comment or answer on any of the items I brought up.

 

Which tells us that Cruise is "active" - but I'm looking for an indicator when it is SET. And of course I'd also like Cruise to remain "active" until I tell it otherwise!

 

Ooh! I'll have to check that out. I guess it would make sense for that to be the OFF button, eh?

 

You can count on it! I'll make them for my car for sure. Making a non-invasive drop-in module for the masses will be a bit more difficult. But I'll bet I can come up with something eventually. These would be uC controlled, and will auto-sleep, after first alerting you to the fact that they're about to go out (no sudden surprise of being left in the dark if you are reading or something).

 

Yeah, the lights on the bottom of the doors (might change those to red LEDs for safety with an open door in traffic) go on just like the dome lights... and I'd like to know if they also go OUT when the dome lights time out. Must be a pretty long delay, because I've had my doors open for quite a while, and the domes remained on.

OH! One more thing about the domes... I don't like the delay ON feature. I often just reach in real quick, and the lights are just barely on before I'm closing the door again. Grrr.

 

I guess that's a good way to describe it too. I just don't get a good feel of what is happening through the pedal, so they feel somewhat vague.

I've got the same experience here.

 

Great comments, kdmorse!

I agree about the switch for the Cruise Control! I've just left it on in all my other cars. I added Cruise Control to my Rav, and there is no way of turning it off the way I installed it. In fact there is no cancel either. You just use the brake. And with a "set" indicator, you can depress the brake JUST enough to disengage without using the brake at all - once you see the indicator go out. Surprisingly, nobody asked me for my design input on the Prius.

For the bar graph? I seriously think it can be read just as easily when smaller. I mean those could be 1-pixel-wide lines instead of 1/2" bars and be just as readable! But I understand your thoughts. I'd probably be fine if there was an average mpg reading over on the energy screen. I'm gonna wear out the info button!

My new LED cargo light is awesome. About 3x the light for 1/6th the energy consumed. As for the others... I can make them fully adjustable too.

 

Well, I certainly already know about pedal position to give me full-on coast mode. But I'll do the search to see if that's what you're talking about... ** got it. Yup, I'm all over "warp stealth." Was already doing it regularly on my first trip this past weekend. It pays to read up a month before vehicle delivery... plus as an EV driver, I already know quite a few tricks to eek out range.

My only sage advice is to steer clear of any of the currently-available LED signal lamps. I've spent hundred$ on them, and have boxes of them sitting here. Wedge types... all types. None of them are what you're looking for. I've determined that the only solution is to build one myself. I've got most of the parts. I just need the time! It may happen.... but I'm mostly concentrating on the interior lighting. Doing signal lights gets into DOT issues that I'm not sure I want to deal with. I'm sure glad this car at least came with LED brake lights. Good ones too. I had to add those to my Rav4EV.

 

Just thought it would be fun to determine the cost of my first miles. I know some folks do this for the life of their cars. They're the crazy people. Not me. I just play one on TV.

Great info, thanks! I wasn't aware of this "simulation" area of pedal travel. Makes sense!

My Rav4EV blends regen with friction brakes too. But the regen is MUCH more aggressive... because it can be. Regardless, I don't have this same pedal feeling in the Rav. Obviously many things are different!