Sorry if this has been asked before but I haven't stumbled across it. I thought in EV mode on a standard Prius we couldn't go over the halfway mark on power? Now this has only happened once for me but it was last night. Normally if I am on my way home etc. I will hit the EV button when I hit the stop light at the intersection of the highway if the car is still warming up as it can be a long one and my mpg suffers if I don't. Well I had to run some errands after work and after one of them I noticed I couldn't get into EV mode when stopping. Probably warming the car back up, not unusual. Here is the strange thing, I pulled up to a stop light that had just turned red, hit my EV button to turn off the motor, no problems. Light turns green, and I give it the gas, slowly at first to try and hit 10mph before I kick on ICE and cruise up to 25. Next thing I know I am speeding up into ICE range on the bar and speed up to 29mph on EV and rather quickly at 100 mpg, then I let off and coasted in EV (25mph area of the road.) Was this a weird fluke or when the car is totally warmed up which I may have just hit when I turned on EV can we accelerate past the halfway point on EV? Sorry for the long post about it, but I wanted to give the background so you didn't think I was not realizing how it works. That's the only time I have been able to accelerate that much and that fast in EV. Please keep in mind I have had this car since middle of October, and I don't use EV mode at all really except to preserve mpg when past stage 1 of warmup.
I don't want to spoil your fun, but the car is smarter than me and you combined - Just drive with moderation in mind, and Sweet Thang (or whatever yours is named) will max out the mpg's. EV/Eco/Power do nothing but make the throttle harder or less hard to mash! Happy cruzin... BlackBerry 9930 ?
EV mode will allow you to go beyond the midline on the HSI if the car's warmed up. I'd frankly never heard of using the EV button to stop engine idling before. Better to turn off the heater fan or turn the set temperature down. What Whiteyprius is getting at is that your biggest gains can come from driving technique. Holding the car (assuming it's not a plug-in model) in EV mode during street driving does it no favors. Remember, it all comes from the ICE anyhow--if you're forcing the EV during acceleration you're just demanding a less efficient power path.
I don't drive in EV mode, but I do from time to time hit the EV button during warm up, we have all seen our mpg drop like a rock when the car is cold in the morning. All I do is hit it at stoplights after stage 1 to minimize drop when the light just went red. As soon as the light turns green I go back to driving normally. I was just stumped by the acceleration past mid line since I had never seen it happen before. Btw I have never had my ICE come on from getting the SOC too low. I have no problem averaging 65-75 mpg driving around town when the car is warm, plenty of small hills to regenerate on. I have heard all the arguments about driving on EV etc. I just drive it smartly, I don't go for maximizing. Thanks for answering CSS, I just thought it was a fluke... I only accelerate to 10mph in EV then kick on the ice, hence my surprise when I was almost at 30 fast without ICE assistance. Whitey, I am not one of those guys just wanted to make sure something wasn't wrong, just hadn't seen it before or since. Thank you for responding though.. Happy driving everyone!
This is what I do in winter, I turn the heating fan off and make sure there is no defrost running and the lukewarm engine turns off when waiting at a red light. I guess EV does similar things.
I've noticed the car will accelerate quite quickly in EV mode when PWR mode is selected, but I can't say I've noticed whether the HSD indicator goes over the middle line.
It does or it can. I noticed this as I engage EV when driving through residential areas to get home. I go over the middle line often while accelerating to 25 mph.
Prius were designed to be as idiot proof as possible without using any special techniques to establish reasonable MPG, it's funny how we are always try to out smart it. LOL!
That extra power, going into the WHITE zone... ...is the benefit of the EV button with the regular model Prius. You get more power than you would normally with STEALTH mode (the GREEN zone with the engine off). It's a taste of what you get with the plug-in model, expect it offers even more battery power then. I used that often with my 2010. Being able to climb up the hill in my neighborhood just 2 blocks from my house worked out great. The EV button allowed me to conclude my drive without the engine. That worked out nice.
