Good Use for EV Mode?

Not at the moment, you'll have to use the Search function. I've seen it many times over past three years, but don't remember the right keywords tonight.

My owners manual speaks only of responsiveness and fell, not get-up-and-go.

Here are some previous postings that popped up quickly. Note that qbee was one of numerous senior PriusChat members who had opportunity to talk directly with the Prius engineering team as the redesigned 2010 model was being rolled out:
Power Mode anecdote
More Voltage in PWR?
EV, ECO and PWR modes

 

As one of the many PriusChat folks in attendance, I asked the same questions regarding power mode and we were told by the chief engineer, Mr. Akihiko Otsuko, that power mode made the car feel faster but that it didn't produce more power or make the car truly faster.

As for "get up and go". That came from the 2012 brochure.

 

Here you go. Courtesy of our friend, Hobbit



HSI

 

Yes, but i guess what's throwing me is the cutting across traffic part... which normally means you are looking for more power.

Regardless, I don't see any advantage to turning on the EV button in this instance. Maybe explain why you don't want the ICE firing up? You do realize you bought an ICE car, right? It's not a Leaf!

 

What energy are we talking about? You said you are not interested in fuel economy, so do you mean battery energy? Running in EV is using battery energy too. And for a split second, how much are you really using and what's the total over the span of one tank? To me, it seems like there is more waste of energy spent worrying about this.

But WHY do you hate it? What's your reasoning? That's what I was asking. This isn't really a reason.


I'm not trying to argue with you, I'm just trying to understand what, if any benefit there would be. I am definitely interested in saving energy or gas or both whenever possible.

 

You may want to hit up Wayne Gerdes for a good explanation for delayed engine fire. It is a tactic used by hypermiling experts. If used correctly I could see a benefit to delaying ICE firing until at least 15mph.

 

All Prius modes are capable of full acceleration. The scenario described in the OP is exactly the reason: safety. Can you imagine the rash of lawsuits that would entail if any of the modes inhibited full acceleration? Drivers would blame Toyota for inhibiting their ability to safely cross traffic or merge; it would be a legal nightmare.

Toyota wisely designed the Prius throttle control system to allow full power in all modes.

The various modes are not a "useless novelty", but are there to better tailor the automobile's response to driver expectations.

The fundamental difference in Eco, Normal, and Power modes are the pedal response curve. Normal mode has a linear mapping of pedal position to power. Eco mode has a concave mapping, requiring more pedal displacement before higher power levels occur. Power mode has a convex mapping, applying more power initially for a given pedal input.

Note that Power mapping is quite common with most cars. Automobile manufacturers have discovered that a lot of power early in the pedal stroke makes a car feel powerful. Honda is notorious for this: Press the pedal a tiny bit and you spin the tires. Keep pressing and you discover there isn't much left. It's a game of perception.

Power mapping in the Prius is for the same reason: it makes the car feel more responsive. It really serves no practical purpose.

Eco mode, on the other hand, allows finer control over the low end of the power curve. Some hyper-milers like this for greater control of the throttle, much like driving with bare feet.

In addition to throttle mapping, the various modes have some subtle differences: Eco mode is quicker to turn off the ICE and reduces the use of air conditioning, while Power mode is more likely to keep the ICE running for quicker power.

My original source for this information is Mr. Akihiko Otsuko, the Chief Engineer of the Prius. We talked at length during the introduction of the Gen III Prius. Acceleration testing has also shown this to be true: Zero to sixty times are the same in all modes.

Tom

 

Before the alcohol kicked in right?

Man those drinks were good!

 

I should have had more. My inner geek got the best of me and I spent entirely too much time talking to the Toyota people and crawling under the cars. I regret the food and drinks that I didn't eat.

Oh, yeah, I also spent time doing that interview for the Toyota commercial. I should have had a *lot* more alcohol before that.



Tom

 

That's what you get for looking so professional. You were wearing a sport coat too. Right?

It's fun watching Tideland Prius get swamped with questions when attending an even like Green Drive Expo. He is dressed all nice with slacks and a dress shirt so he looks like a Toyota employee. The fact he is Asian just confirms that he MUST be a Toyota engineer so they flock to him and dont even give Tony a second glance. lol All this extra work just because you look professional.

 

Right, I've seen Wayne's thoughts on this and I can see it being useful when no other cars are on the road and you are just puttin along. But in the case of needing a quick boost of power to cross traffic, as soon as you punch the gas the EV mode will turn off. So it's literally only on for a split second. That's where i be mucho confused on the OP's original point.

 

Gotcha. Yeah, EV mode is useless if you need to get out of the hole quickly.

That being said, I started playing around using EV mode from a stop when possible and my mpg is climbing. Well, it was until the damned wind picked up today and may crush my dreams of a 60mpg tank. I'm at 58.8mpg and 260miles. Stay tuned..... LOL

 

Then we must have different ideas of what "punch it" means.
I have to feather it to keep it in EV.

 

You can give it a fair amount of throttle in EV mode before it pops out. Your wheels make it more likely to pop out because they require more HP to get rolling.

 

Thanks. I couldn't respond until now.
I didn't get to read all of it, just a little. So is it the delivering of horsepower by pedal. Pedal all the way down floored will deliver the same in all modes 100% but if you press the pedal a 1/4 of the way in power mode it may deliver more percentage of that 100 hp than the other modes?

 

Thanks. As I said before "I do not know anything about cars when it comes to the mechanics"
I'm just trying to understand this whole power mode/throttle thing. It is a little confusing.

 

Yes. You get more power for less push of the pedal, but it evens out toward the end.

Tom