Acceleration tips? Battery care?

Drive it like a normal car, gas is inexpensive now. Don't give other drivers a reason to hate you for trying to eke out maximum mpg.

 

I use about 3/4 of full throttle, until I get to speed then cruise control. I want to not hold up other traffic.

Internal heat seems to be the enemy. Use A/C when you are hot as the battery is hot too.

If you have long downhills in your driving, (more than 600 foot drop) then consider shifting to B at the summit and using engine braking to not over heat the battery with too sudden charging.

If you life where cabin temps get over 120F when stationary, consider sun shades.

 

The problem is that they don't blame you, they blame the Prius. Now in some areas, all Prius drivers are targeted as inconsiderate slow pokes, no matter what speed they are driving. Please help our image by driving normally when in traffic.

Thankfully, MS drivers see so few Prius, they do not recognize us, so we have less hate to contend with.

1 Prius in 1400 drivers.

 

B is only for long downhills where heat can buildup in the battery. Like US 219 near Backbone mountain in MD. Backbone Mountain - Wikipedia

Sunshade HeatShield for 2010-2015 Toyota Prius - Front - PriusChat Shop

 

When you try out B (just to see how it works) you will find that the harder you brake, the louder the engine gets. This surprised me when I tried them out near Asheville, NC.

Also B and Cruise Control do not mix, if you find you can't set CC, perhaps you are accidentally in B.

(They happened to me, why not warn new owners?)

 

Personally I try not to put the car into Power mode, eg. red line on the Hybrid System Indicator display when I accelerate. Beyond that I simply drive the car as normal, as was mentioned earlier. I just let the car computer do its thing so to speak. I used to watch the scores when we first bought the car but that drove me nuts trying to maximize them.

 

1. Power mode.
It won't cost you money, and it's awesome.

2. Some people here coast into stoplights (checking surroundings first , esp. rear view mirror), and may not always have to come to a full stop if the light turns green in time. I consider this an advanced...or maybe intermediate level maneuver....be safe.

 

No problem.

Also, Power Mode doesn't charge the battery.

Braking, because of stoplights and such does.

As to fear of Power Mode....why ?

 

Old wives tales I am still spreading:

Back before the 1980's almost all cars had carburetors, which mixed gas and air largely due to air speed. This process was very approximate and to protect the engine once you got above 75% throttle, it started really adding much more gas than was needed to burn, just to cool the mixture. The buzzword is rich, too little gas is lean. Since the 1990's almost all cars have fuel injection, which adds fuel based on the mass or weight of the air. It still slightly enriches the mixture above 75%, but it is no longer the 'dump all the gas in you can' scenario it was when I was growing up.

Anyway, this is why I was not recommending full throttle for best economy.
Carburetor - Wikipedia
Fuel injection - Wikipedia

 

congrat and welcome! nothing to add to all the great advice above, all the best.