I was looking at the other threads and people are talking about "normal" mode. I drive a 2011 gen 3 Prius. Where is that "normal" mode people speak of and what is it for?
Normal is the default mode, if you do not press any of the three mode buttons, you are in normal mode (it splits the difference between eco and power).
"normal" is invoked by pressing the button for whatever mode your currently in. So if you are in "eco" mode by pressing "eco" again it will put you into "normal". the same with power and EV.
but when I turn my car on, its automatically in ECO mode already. Is this not the case? The Eco light is the one that is showing on the monitor and even if I press it (toggle), it doenst really change anything. Do the 2011 cars lack the "normal" mode that 2010s have? :shrug:
To encourage good mileage habits, toyota allows the ECO mode to remain engaged even after power off/on cycles; however, the PWR mode will not and the car will revert back to "normal" after the next power off/on cycle. It's a somewhat passive/aggressive method to discourage you from using PWR mode. If so, this is the first time I've heard of it.
On my 2011, the green ECO light will toggle on and off when I hit the ECO button. The white ECO light turns on whenever the hybrid system indicator is not in the far right PWR zone.
Your car is defaulting to Eco mode because that is how you drove it last time. When you get in the next time if Eco is still on press the Eco button and that will place you in Normal mode. Next time you start the car it will default to Normal mode.
There is an ECO light above the HSI screen(right hand screen) that turns off if you get outside of the ECO bar range. It will be highlighted as long as the bar is in the ECO range. This is indicating that you are in the most emissions efficient area for the engine. There is also a green ECO symbol above the Ready light on the left side of the screen (next to the speedometer) that comes on if you press the ECO switch. Also, the EV and PWR mode symbols are indicated in this area. Which ECO light are you referring to? If none of the green ECO, EV or PWR symbols is displaying above the Ready light you are in NORMAL mode. If you will toggle the ECO switch on the dash you should see the green ECO symbol appear and disappear above the Ready light. Same for EV and PWR.
ah, I found it this morning. I never noticed that the light turned off. I dont know which is better to drive in but I've been driving eco all this time. I will try to go normal on the way home. btw, I got my highest at 64.5mpg this morning going eco! thanks everyone!
With that kind of mileage you may want to stay in ECO The only difference in NORMAL and PWR is the remapping of the accelerator pedal during the first half of travel. Same for ECO except it will cut back on AC in favor of mpg. NORMAL will feel more "peppy" than ECO for the same pedal movement and PWR will feel real peppy. ECO makes it easier to feather the pedal to glide (no regen in the Charge area). Some people actually improved mpg by accelerating a little harder in order to get up to speed quicker and then gliding. Try the different modes and see what works best for you.
