The Four Stages of Prius Enlightenment

Thanks for digging that up seawolf. You aren't/weren't in the silent service by any chance were you?

 

Thanks a million for that link!!!

Anyone who wants to understand how the Prius power train integrates two motor-generators and a gas engine in such a way that nothing ever disengages, check out that link.

Click on Understanding the Prius, and then on the Power-Split Device. Graham has animated diagrams and the best explanations I've seen for this remarkable bit of technology.

Unfortunately, he uses frames, so I cannot post a direct link to the PSD page.

 

Thanks for the tips everyone!

 

I am a 2 week Prius driver, so obviously on the 1st Stage. While reading this thread, I notice the push for "dead-banding," which on the Energy Monitor means arrows going from the ICE towards the tires and nothing else, right?

Why would this be considered efficient if it actually uses gas, thereby lowering the MPG? I thought the best scenario would be to just use pure EV and hope the regen makes up for what's lost, minimizing the use of ICE at all times.

 

There is alot to understand about this technology.
I think where you are coming from is a common sense approach to using pure "alternative" energy.
This has been discussed at length... basically you would need a massive battery bank and plug in to charge those batteries, then the distance of your round trip or one way trip before you could recharge again would have to be less than the distance that the batteries would take you alone?

Presently the battery bank only goes a few miles on its own power and even then at slower than freeway crusing speeds. The battery bank is mainly for recovering lost power that you will have the opportunity to use again in the next few minutes. ie" speed fluctuations of starting stopping, speeding, slowing down or coasting.
This car is not an Alternative energy car at all... It is an effecent car that uses gas!
It is designed to use less and "steal back" energy that normal gas automobiles lose!

The main reason gas is still needed is to get you past the point your battery alone can take you.
We are getting there! The main thing limiting us is battery cost and weight.

 

Yeah, in EV mode you could go all of about 1.5 miles on flat terrain (that may also assume a rolling start). The Prius gets exceptal mileage by using a smaller ICE with help from the electric motors/battery. The regen makes the car more efficient but there are just too many losses involved (damn you physics!) for it to be the sole source of electricity to keep the battery charged. That's why you don't want to over do the EV thing. At the end of the day all of the electricity come from gasoline whether by direct charging or braking. The more you run down the battery the gas you're going to use recharging it.

 

Try this article.

Also be sure to check out the links in this Knowledge Base thread. Plenty of great reading material here!

BTW, I still can't seem to deadband....

 

I've only been able to DB when accelerating pretty gently on flat grades. If there's a hill involved I haven't had much luck. Of course with the ICE running more anyways during the winter it might be better to let the battery help out than trying to force the car to DB.

 

I'm currently in Stage II, although I tend to revert to Stage I whenever I have a passenger...

Speaking of Stage I -- I think there's also a "listening" component to that stage. I spent my first few days driving with the a/c and stereo off and the MFD on Energy, listening carefully and trying to determine the meaning of each of the car's sounds.

 

:lol: :lol: My wife gets mad at me because I still have not even put any CD's in my changer as I enjoy watching the cars MFD more and listening to the biorhythms of the car!....
I'm still in stage one and I have about 1500 miles. I bounce to the other screen mostly to see my Average tank figure.
But I tend to do that.... I move slowly in the learning curve but tend to understand it much deeper once I move on than many who fly through things.

I guess I'll have to go put some CD's in.. since they definately won't get listened to sitting in my other car!

 

Does anybody on PriusChat consider that they have reached this state?
Does it include the ability to operate all the keys on the steering wheel without the need to look down at them? (A bit like touch-typing)

 

Priuschat is the EBH of prius enlightenment.

The early stages can be immediately shortened with the application and usage of Priuschat (and various other websites that it links to, such as john1701a.com and hobbit's repository of goodies) before starting any of the stages, allowing the driver to enter stage II after a single drive. Stage II is also shortened with immediate and rapid improvements to driving technique. Without Priuschat (or some of the other hybrid websites), many users never reach Stage 3b, due to lack of knowledge about the availability of advanced tools and techniques like grill blocking, EBHs, or even the use of a Scangauge/CAN-view.