Hello all, Just got a 2017 Prime Premium and had a couple questions, wondering if anyone has the answers. My first question is, is EV Auto the most efficient way to operate the car for the best mpg? What I have been doing is running it on ev mode in town and in hybrid mode on the freeway during my commute to work, then on my way home running hybrid until the distance to my house equals my EV only range. Is that more efficient or should I run it in EV Auto? My commute is 30 miles each way and I can't charge at work. My second question, is there any way to connect my phone to entune? I know the app was discontinued, I got the Toyota app but cant see anything in there to get the app suite on my car. My phone connects to the Bluetooth just fine. Thanks! Joe
Congrats and welcome! Sounds like you’re using best practices for mpg. Don’t know anything about phone connectivity, sorry. All the best!
Welcome Joe. Keep an eye on your engine coolant level reservoir. 2016-2017 model years are prone to have EGHE (exhaust gas heat exchanger) leaks, that'll cause your coolant level to go down. You'll lose cabin heat and the engine will overheat. I believe you'll need to pay an annual subscription to remotely access car functions over wifi. It was free for a year when I bought my car, but the Toyota app was buggy and didn't function correctly half the time. I couldn't see paying the annual fee for a buggy app. You may want to check with Toyota to see if there are firmware upgrades that'll make the app function correctly. Normally EV auto is the most efficient way to operate the car, but it doesn't predict your route or routine and has a bias to running EV mode and only switches to gas when your daily charge is depleted. I've found that manually switching to HV mode on the longer highway runs increased my mpgs. I switch back to EV on surface streets. The EV motors are optimized for around 40-50 mph, so burning gas above those speeds seems to increase mpg. My total commute is about 35 miles round trip. I usually get 1K miles per tank and it last me almost a month, driving the car as described above. I can't recharge at work either.
