? about Regen Braking and Gliding to Hybrid and EV Battery

Hmm I'm reading all this and thinking there are few things to try when I get my PiP. Its easy to get my Gen II Prius to go into one of 6 modes with just the accelerator pedal:
1) Accelerate -- no battery assist
2) Accelerate -- battery assist
3) Accelerate -- Pulse
4) Glide
5) Regen -- coast
6) Regen -- light

My Gen II can recharge the battery with modes 3, 5, and 6. So I'll be trying these although 3 is sometimes difficult to maintain for long periods. There are some on this forum though that actually take their shoes off to maintain a pulse.

 

With bigger battery, do you find the HV battery bars fill up much faster? You should be able to regent brake more aggressively.

 

The owner's manual has a good graphic to show how after EV is depleted it takes more regenerated energy to be able to utilize EV again after it had switched to HV.

 

Thanks, Lurk. I remember seeing that when browsing the manual before I got my car. It makes more sense now

 

Very interesting, I was going through the same material and found this paragraph on page 39 of the Manual:

After EV mode has switched to HV mode due to low hybrid battery
(traction battery) charge
If the hybrid battery (traction battery) is regenerated by driving continuously
down a long slope, the EV driving range will be displayed on the multi-information
display and EV mode will be automatically switched to.
If EV mode is not switched to even though EV driving range is being displayed,
EV mode can be switched to by pressing the EV/HV mode selection
switch.​

Clearly the regen can affect the transition from HV to EV and increase of the range of EV driving by affecting the SOC. What I'm still trying to find is if the ICE running while driving above 62 could also affect the SOC. I'm trying to think of a scenario where the ICE would be driving the wheels and sending charge to the pack. Coasting would shutter the ICE and acceleration would draw energy out of the pack so maybe simply holding the same speed on the highway would support both recharge of the pack and maintaining highway speeds. The energy flow might be small...not sure. A way to test it would be to enter a freeway with EV range still available. Maybe switch on the energy monitor to watch for flow from the ICE to the pack. And see if the range increases without the use of regen from the brakes.

I'm not sure...but it's interesting to think about.

 

I frequently do the 57 over diamond bar, and I would be lucky if I can regen 1 EV mile coasting down from the S to the N side.

 

Actually, from that graphic it doesn't take more to be able to utilize it, it just doesn't switch automatically until you get it up to 3/8 of the additional capacity, presumably because it expects that it's a temporary gain from terrain.

 

You can't turn EV on manually, either. It is unavailable.

 

Lurk,

What does the EV/HV switch do?

 

When you have depleted EV and it auto switches to HV, you can't return to EV mode again. You may be able to when it gets to the #3 point on the chart. I haven't been able to get enough regenerated energy to test that though.

 

It should be able to pulse like any Prius but it would be difficult to maintain for a long period, since the computer is pretty aggressive about using stored charge if it's in the green range on the current Prius lift back. The question should be how long can you hold the PiP in pulse?

 

Drash,

Isn't Pulse when you accellerate up to a Speed higher than the limit and Glide when there is NO Power flow?

I mentioned yesterday that I have a problem getting into Glide.
I wish when I lift off the gas pedal that the Prius would NOT default to slight regen to mimic a normal car. I wish it would just Glide, no power flow if you're not depressing the gas or brake pedals. Then Everyone could experience Glide.

 

I have witnessed both of the scenarios asked about... I've seen the ICE putting power back into the EV battery while driving at highway speeds. And I've come back out of HV mode into EV mode due to a long downhill regeneration. So they both happen!

I got 83MPG commuting 30 miles this morning. That includes one big hill (680 from Sunol to Fremont) and still had 1.3mi of EV left when I got to my office!!

 

I've been able to get up to 2 miles of EV mode back by going down a relatively short but steep hill by my house. In my 2005, I'd get half way down the hill and the battery would be full, so I wouldn't get the benefit of any additional regen. Now it continutes to fill and fill.

At some point in the near future I'll be driving the grapevine in SoCal. I fully expect to have a full battery by the time I get down the hill (either side).

 

Nicely done calbear! That is great news about witnessing both of the charging scenarios...I'm really looking forward to lots of great video's capturing the energy flow and increased EV range during those scenarios. Of course, I'm REALLY looking forward to testing it out myself!

Thanks again -

 

Latest success - did the same route this morning, but further optimized my use of EV/HV and Eco/Power. Worked it out so I got to my office just as EV hit 0.0mi. Total trip 29.1mi. 96 MPG!! And that included plenty of highway speeds and going over the 680 pass.

I actually find commuting is fun now - a combination of video game and optimization puzzle.

 

Better and better! :cheer2:

I do like the per trip data, I think that really helps communicate how well the PiP does for any given trip. I know that the MFD has been upgraded for the PiP to track and show more performance info (e.g. MPG for the month, etc.) but I'd love to see the MFD capture, track and share PER TRIP performance as well. I'm sure it would be limited to the last XX trips but I think it would be very useful. Can anyone tell me if the MFD has this capability? I haven't seen it in the manuals but I might have missed it...

Thanks!

 

The MID does give you a per trip performance report. When you power down the car it tells you how long your trip was (time-wise), miles driven, and MPG. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a way to have it capture the data for later review. I've been writing things down on a note pad I keep in the car.

The car will also tell you how long it charged for and how much Kw it pumped into the battery, and estimated charging time remaining, but it only displays that when you power on the car while it is still plugged in. Again, it would be nice if kept track of historical data. Perhaps in a later version, or maybe they'll release a firmware update that would let us get at that. Meanwhile, it's back to the notepad to record this stuff (or take a picture with a cellphone camera).