What is the Max EV speed no ICE

I believe, in the Gen 3, it is 46mph...

 

I noticed this during freeway driving today.. When I was at 60mphs, I would release gas enough for the throttle to go below the ECO indicator. I gas enough to bring the throttle back within the ECO range and notice that it goes into EV mode. The little car icon turns from hallow car into a green icon with the car.

It sounds like it goes into EV call when you do that behavior.. anyone else see that?

 

Can you post a video of this??!! Does it maintain ev mode at 60mphs and hold the speed in ev mode? The engine shuts off to? I didnt know it can do that!!

 

it should be around 70 mph for the Gen 4! Highest I've gotten was 72 when I was coasting

 

Driving back home tonight, I experimented with this theory, and I think it does kick into EV mode while going freeway speeds.

How to reproduce

• When you are driving and you reduce your throttle half way to where it passes the green car in the ECO range, that green car turns to a green car with an EV icon.
• When my battery was 7/8 bars filled, in about a minute or so, it would drop down to 2 and it would kick itself out of EV mode and I would feel the car start charging battery.
• While doing this EV trick, I noticed that my "current trip MPG" would go up steadily faster.
• It seems like you can do this trick as long as you have more than the bare minimum of two battery bars before it kicks itself into CHRG mode

I am pretty sure this is EV mode on the freeway much like the Prius Plugin is like on the 3rd gen!!!!

Here is the video that I just created about it as requested. It describes the steps above

Here's the video:

 

Thanks a lot for that kind of testing. You're giving the first important tips for hypermilers..

Next time you should made a test like this, it would be interesting to compare the trip MPG at the beginning of the test and when you revert to the same number of EV bars after recharging. It will be a measure of the advantage (or penalty) in trying to fully use the EV capabilities.

Another indispensable test should be finding the lowest position of the ECO indicator and minimum speed to keep ICE running. You showed the position where ICE shut off, but not the associated minimum speed, because you immediately went to 1/2, just at the edge of the EV range.

 

That was an amazing video lol So not only does it go to ev mode on freeway speeds of 60mph but it can maintain that speed or as I saw in the video the speed can increase using just ev mode....this is a big improvement over my third gen! Thanks for the video very helpful!! Can you try and see with your battery fully charged at a complete stop and ev mode kicks in how fast does it increase, how far can it drive until the engine turns on, and high does it go in mph in ev mode? I want to know since the 3 gen goes to about 42mph but not really possible to get that from a stop in ev mode maybe the 4 gen prius can go to 50 mph from 0 just using ev mode? Let me know your findings again kitkit201 : )

 

You are welcome. Between the EV throttle method or without it, it will benefit you more to throttle EV. I've tried this too (no video .. yet), but without it, I was only able to get low 60 mpgs. Once I realized the EV trick, I was getting high 60s/ low 70s.

That's the next question to answer!

Thanks! It would be a good next test when I get the chance If someone finds out first, please let everyone know

 

i've watch your video this morning, and tried this afternoon after i pickup my two eco model, i was able to reach 72mph in EV mode while getting 68 mpg. thanks for the tip.

 

Glad to hear it works with the TWo Eco. That's really good for going 72!!

It seems like there is less pentalty for going faster than the 59-61 mph. When I did the 59-61 I only got about 65mpgs. The day before going 64-65mph I got higher mpgs..

 

From a physics perspective, continued use of the battery should reduce mileage, shouldn't it?

There are transfer penalties associated with conversion from mechanical to electrical energy, and from electrical to chemical, and then back again.

I know we have some really smart people here that have already figured this out. Any comments from the gurus?

 

Gen-3 still doesn't get reported correctly, after all these years. There are too many circumstances to keep in mind when trying to kind posts simple. So, don't expect anything clearer for Gen-4. That's just the way it is. Fortunately, being a hybrid like Prius it doesn't matter anyway. Whether you are in fuel-cut mode or EV doesn't make a whole lot of difference at highway speeds, since the energy flow changes so frequently. The system is smart enough and flexible enough to exploit even the tiniest of efficiency opportunities.

Gen-3 has a top EV speed of 100 km/h (62.1 mph). You won't see that unless you have the plug-in model though. The reason for that is a simple matter of battery power & capacity. Without plug-supplied electricity, there isn't much of an overall gain. Without the plug, EV is restricted to 40 km/h (25 mph). That's only available when the system is fully warmed up, but the advantage is you get more power than Stealth mode (the other EV mode). That has less power and the system still needs to be warm, but the top speed is 74 km/h (46 mph).

Gen-4 is sad, since I don't have one yet. It's a new twist. I was a pioneer in 2000, 2003, 2009, and 2012. Each time, my purchase was among the first in the country. This time, I have to wait and live vicariously through others. Though, I can point out that leaks online indicated a top EV speed with the new generation for the plug increased to 110 km/h (68.35 mph). We also learned that both mechanical & electrical operation has been made more efficient.

What this means for the regular Gen-4 is interesting to read about through the experiences of new owners. However, we really need someone with an aftermarket gauge to report actual RPM values. Anecdotal observations are only the first step. After all, we don't really know what "EV" truly represents. With the current plug-in model, miles driven with the engine off (0 RPM) while in HV mode are not counted as EV... despite the fact they are traveled using only electricity and with the engine motionless.

Keep reporting to use what you find. Thanks.

 

So, it does means that going in "serial mode" (EV+recharge), with the Prius 2016 serial mode (it doesn't seems the case for gen III) at such high speed, is beneficial for FE.
Very interesting, but having a recharge cycle every odd minute, raise the question of battery durability, i'm rather puzzled Toyota is pushing in that direction... could it be the Li-ion introduction? I'm unable to decide if is a good idea to use so much the EV serial mode...

Were you able to *mantain* a constant speed of 72 mph in EV on a flat surface? It does'nt seems the case of kitkit video.

 

Last night's drive back home using the EV regen method going about 65-67mph with 71.0mpgs.

It seems like there isn't a big penalty with going faster than the 59-61mphs. In fact, I found it easier to maintain speed at 67mph when the throttle was right at the edge of ECO.

Who knows what the long terms affect are for using the battery more and having it charge, but who knows..

 

Do you mean you were consistely at 72 mph and 68 mpg in EV for an appreciable nr of miles?

If this is the case, the comparison with KitKit Mod. Four at 67 mph and +71mpg gives:
- bit more EV speed with the Two ECO
- more or less the same results in MPG at a theorethical same speed.

No doubts. Torque users step forward, please!

In the PIP the miles driven engine off in HV mode are not counted for the final calculation of miles driven in EV, but here it's a different story for MPG calculation for a given trip, same as for non-PIP, count unaffected.

I spend a lot of my driving at 60 mph, and those numbers are totally out of question...... i'm really impressed... and really puzzled by the number of recharge cycles that comes out....
And if this the EV at high speed, that means we see just the same EV cycling for all the rest of the car's life... this is a complete new attitude...

Kitkit, when you get 2 bars and the engine kicks in, do you feel the engine is pushing the car or is just recharging the battery? If you had a Gen 3 before this car, you should be able the tell the difference.

 

I have managed with the Gen3 to go this fast only a couple of times when the battery is totally full and on real flat land, for no more than 20-30 secs. This seems to be now more the norm on easier conditions - nice!

 

I've never seen comments appear on the screen about the efficiency of your driving. Is this something new on the Gen 4?

 

that awesome...i know i need more stuff to learn from this car, keep up the excellent work. thanks