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First day with my Prius Plug-in

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by Tracksyde, Mar 2, 2012.

  1. Tracksyde

    Tracksyde Member

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    As promised, here are the screenshots/data from my first drive. As I said in another thread, when I picked up my car, I had 0 EV range (no time to charge at dealership). So my EV/HV ratio doesnt mean much right now.

    I charged up fully last night. I dont have any concrete numbers, but the car charged for less than 3 hours. Not really sure by how much, I just know it was less than 3 (I went to check on it after 3 hours and it had already finished). When I got in the car this morning, here's what the screen showed:

    [​IMG]

    The Cons 44MPG was from my drive home, back to work to pick up my other car, and then back home (again, all on HV, no EV). I reset my Trip A for the drive to work.

    I took a different way to work this morning, one I'd normally not take. First reason was because I figured driving this way, I could keep in EV most of the whole way. Second, I wanted to see if it would add much more time to my commute. I dont really time my commutes, but it may have added a few minutes (5 minutes at most). I'll try a different way on Monday.

    Here are the screenshots:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I did make a mistake this morning though. Last night while out driving home and picking up my car, it was a chilly 51F (yeah, thats chilly in CA). So the climate control was set on 74F. When I left the house this morning, as soon as I started the car (maybe a few seconds after), the ICE started. It stayed on for about a minute or two. I didn't time it. Actually, I couldn't really tell it was on until it shut off, if you know what I mean.

    So here are the numbers for those browsing on a phone or small screen:

    13.3 miles of EV
    1.1 miles of EV range left after parking
    21 MPH average speed
    763 MPG Cons.

    I plugged it in at work but set the timer to start charging at 10AM (gotta let that battery rest a bit, I guess, plus if I go out to lunch, I wont need much juice anyway).

    So how did I do? Did I miss any data? I have a Kill-A-Watt that I forgot to use last night but I'll use it at home tonight.

    Other comments:

    When in EV, I was hesitant to give it too much gas (I'll get over this soon). I was watching the HSI, trying to make sure I didnt get it up too high as to trigger the ICE. At first I tried to keep it under the half way mark. But towards the end of my drive, I was using more throttle. I think you can go all the way up to the PWR section without kicking on the ICE. It did seem the range would go down more quickly (obvious, I know, but it is fairly noticeable, which is my point). When I regen'ed, you could see the range go back up.

    My ICE didnt start at the end of my drive. Maybe its because it started this morning. Not sure, maybe others will have more information from that standpoint.


    UPDATED: I added my commute home here
     
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  2. COIllini1

    COIllini1 Junior Member

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    Great info. This is the type of data I have been waiting for. Hope that there will me more!
     
  3. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    How's the radio/nav unit?
     
  4. DianneWhitmire

    DianneWhitmire High PRIUStess

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    This is a fabulous post.
    Tracksyde was the first PHEV sold in the nation.
     
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  5. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Great, so you made it to work without starting the gas engine (ignoring the accidental start).
     
  6. Jeff N

    Jeff N The answer is 0042

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    The car is probably charging at about 1.4 kW (120V at 12A). If the total charge is 3.0-3.2 kWh then it should only take around 2.5 hours.

    I'm looking forward to seeing your kill-a-Watt result.
     
  7. Tracksyde

    Tracksyde Member

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    I havent tried any of the Entune stuff. I've actually been using my hands-free for most of my drives so far (mostly answering question from curious friends, like "dude, whats your Cons at now? whoa!".. "dude dude, whats it at now??"). The hands-free part works great. I can hear very clearly and the other side can hear just fine.

    One thing I noticed was the unit is not "navigation centric". Like, in my wife's Sienna, to me, its a nav unit, that also plays music. It has navigation buttons and it defaults to the map, etc. With the Display Audio + Nav, the navigation portion is an app. Like if you think of your smartphone, when you want to navigate somewhere, you open the map or nav app. Same thing here.

    The screen is a little small. But I could've done without the screen anyway. So its still nice to have.

    The rear view camera view is not the same as it is on my wife's Sienna. That camera is really clear and relatively colorful. The camera on the PiP doesnt seem as clear and very "noisy" in low light. It gets the job done, but I was just expecting something more like the Sienna.

    The knobs on the unit feel really "inexpensive". Light, plasticky knob with a lot of "friction" (takes more effort than I'm used to just to turn the knob, if you know what I mean). Not a big deal, just pointing that out.

    The audio quality isnt great, but its better than I thought too. I tried the XM a bit last night and it sounded good. I used to be into the whole car stereo stuff about 15 years ago, but not anymore. I'm usually listening to news radio now so no big deal for me.

    Thats it so far.. I'll try the Entune stuff later today.
     
  8. jerrydelrey

    jerrydelrey Member

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    Wow you can charge at work!!! Do you get charged? If it's free, that would be a great motivation to own a plug-in.

    Hmmm, if it had a longer range you can just charge while at work,. and not have to charge it at home.
     
  9. Tracksyde

    Tracksyde Member

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    Yeah, we have two simple outlets right now (wonder what'll happen when more cars start plugging in). One for me and one for a Leaf owner. We don't have to pay anything.

    I dont know how much the company pays for electricity, but it cant be more than $1 per day for me, I think. A Volt, Leaf, or Tesla would probably be better if you really wanted to take advantage of "free" electricity from work :D
     
  10. andi1111

    andi1111 Member

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    As I've been testing a Pre-Production PiP this week, I can report that it charges at 2400-2500W @ 230V (EU).
     
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  11. ely105

    ely105 New Member

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    My first Prius ever so lots of things to learn.

    I have a commute of about 8.5 miles one way and mostly surface streets. I too noticed the same thing as Tracksyde, that i wanted it a little warmer inside (outside was 46) so ICE came of for that. It seems that if ICE is on for things like warming up the car it throws a little bit of energy at the wheels as well.

    I wasn't able to charge it yesterday because we only have 2 level 2 chargers at work and there are 5 Leafs that hog 'em. :)

    I drove home and got almost all the way home before I had to go to ICE, but I know it wasn't always pure EV.

    I didn't notice the gas mileage every time. I saw 93mpg on last nights trip home. The very first day we got the car i did a lot of freeway driving so historically more miles on ICE.

    I did get to work a little earlier today and got some juice. With Level 2 it only took 1 hour of charging.

    Acceleration is what I would describe as a golf cart. I know you can put your foot into it more but i don't mind a more gradual acceleration. Very quiet and smooth.

    Entune:

    Some cool stuff here - with advanced package and Safety Connect I can check the charge on the car remotely, stop and start charging.

    Pandora - I have tried a dozen times to make this work and have only made it work once. Sometimes I get app errors and have to restart app on iphone. Several times i get into the app and it says its playing and I can skip to next track but no audio. Only once has the audio worked. Was hoping this feature would work better. Will check to see if it's cabling or something else..

    XM stuff:
    I seem to receive all the radio stations which leads me to believe that the trial subscription is working. But I don't seem to be able to access any of the XM data services. Not sure if they are not available on trial or if i'm missing something.

    -mark
     
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  12. LenP

    LenP Member

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  13. Jeff N

    Jeff N The answer is 0042

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    In the U.S. the charge rates are nominally 3300W @ 208V at 16A (3 phase power in large buildings and parking garages) or 3800W @ 240V at 16A.

    At least that is what the Volt pulls, I think. I'm not sure about the PiP.
     
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  14. 9G-man

    9G-man Senior Member

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    Good info. Thx.
    Lets see some pics of the leather interior you patiently waited on....!
     
  15. Tracksyde

    Tracksyde Member

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    I posted these is another thread since someone asked.. but I'll repost these here for now.. I should have some time later to take some more pictures

    Just a quick pic with my cell phone of the driver seat
    [​IMG]

    Here's the lower rear vent for the battery on the driver side (only on the PiP I think) - there was some concern in an earlier thread that the existing leather kits may not account for this additional vent.. but looks good to me
    [​IMG]
     
  16. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Mark, have you driven the no-plug Prius liftback? Just want to ask how the EV performance compares to the regular Prius.

    I have been in the prototype PHV and it was much stronger.
     
  17. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    thanks guys, i'm getting all tingly reading your posts!:p
     
  18. LenP

    LenP Member

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    That would be with the Clazzio leather seat covers , for now.
     
  19. ely105

    ely105 New Member

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    No, this is our first Prius other than a few passenger rides in my friends older Prius. So nothing to really compare it too. I've been driving Audi's the past 10 years and the accelerators are pretty responsive. I kinda like the Prius's natural "long-throw" gas pedal that naturally encourages you to accelerate more gradually. I'm waiting for the "Damn Prius Driver" looks from other drivers soon. :)
     
  20. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Yea, the linear pedal is easier to control power in city stop and go traffic. Once you get used to it, you can't go back.