1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Prius Prime: detail about Charge-Mode

Discussion in 'Prime Technical Discussion' started by john1701a, Oct 20, 2018.

  1. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    i leave mu pip in the hybrid charge zone every winter for two months. after 6-7 years and 40,000 ev miles, plus 20,000 hv miles, self discharge is minimal, in terms of dropping bars.

    but i don't recall a warning in the o/m like prime. perhaps a change in chemistry?
     
    #41 bisco, Jan 27, 2019
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 28, 2019
  2. barbaram

    barbaram Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2006
    911
    70
    9
    Location:
    Trenton, NJ
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    My normal commute uses about 20%. If I have appointments after work I will go through the full charge. I’d really like to go 2 days of normal charging before plug in. Just wondering how many hours I should charge it at the slow rate. Thanks
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    what do you mean by '2 days of normal charging before plugging in'?
     
  4. barbaram

    barbaram Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2006
    911
    70
    9
    Location:
    Trenton, NJ
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    i think my previous comment was out of place now that I have a better understanding of the modes after 3 weeks
     
  5. Olegoat

    Olegoat Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2016
    6
    2
    0
    Location:
    Central, Fl.
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    Anybody have a idea why my "fully charged mileage" would drop off? I live in central FL. where 40 degrees is cold, drive 25-30 mile local trips. I was getting 28-30 miles per full charge. MY MPG gauge stayed on 199.9mph forever, not so anymore. It dropped to 20-21 miles per charge before the gas motor kicks in. Dealer says it has no codes. Any thoughts?
     
  6. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2004
    12,747
    5,243
    57
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    That gives the impression you are generous with the heater... which consumes electricity, hence range reduction. Here in Minnesota, where 40 degrees is considered a wonderfully warm winter day, I don't even bother zipping my jacket. So, I'm not going to see as much of a heater penalty.

    Simply reduce the temperature setting on the heater. That should make a difference for you.
     
  7. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2017
    712
    1,048
    20
    Location:
    Boston, Massachusetts USA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    As noted above, the use of the heat pump will use quite a bit of energy. Keep in mind that when the outside temperature is 40-degrees and you've set your cabin temperature to 70-degrees, the heat pump is trying to make up for a 30-degree difference. That's as much effort as bringing your cabin temperature down to 70-degrees when it's a scorching 100-degrees outside. (Of course, the climate system is not equally efficient in both cooling and heating modes, but you get the idea.)

    When I had a sudden drop in mileage about a year ago, I discovered it was caused by the Prime not being in "ECO mode". I always leave the vehicle in "ECO mode" but notice that it's usually de-selected after I get the car back from periodic maintenance at the dealership. So, be sure to check out the indicator light on your dashboard display.

    More information and illustrations about "ECO mode" in this earlier post: EV range | Page 5 | PriusChat
     
  8. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    44,767
    16,016
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    If your A/C load ratio has gone up significantly, that's one culprit. Mine went from 12% to 30% from a 10-15°C temp swing.
     
  9. Chazz8

    Chazz8 Gadget Lover

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2008
    744
    234
    61
    Location:
    Central New York
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    “Charging to 30% will last far longer than charging to 84%. For example, charging the batteries to 100% usable/84% "real" SOC and discharging them before charging again will give about 1200 charge cycles before losing 30% of its capacity, but charging to 30% usable will get you about 3,000 charge cycles before losing 30%.”

    I like this break-down. I’ve seen the graphs but seeing it written down made me think, what do you get out of the battery before losing 30% capacity in each case.

    84% x 1200cycles = 100800% battery capacity used
    30% x 3000cycles = 90000% battery capacity used, self limit EV miles to a third of normal.

    I say just drive it and just charge it. For over a year we have plugged wife’s Prime in every time we park, and after a year we still have a happy traction battery that can give 38 EV miles in the Summer, and in 5F polar vortex drive all EV (no heat, less that 55MPH).

    If Toyota thought full (more like middle 60%) traction battery charges would significantly effect vehicle (8 - 10 year warrenty claims) they would have tweaked the min/max charging points more. If there was a real battery problem we would have heard from Arizona owners like we did for the early Leaf deterioration battery problems.
     
  10. barbaram

    barbaram Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2006
    911
    70
    9
    Location:
    Trenton, NJ
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I had a great day here. It was in the 30’s in the morning, less than 3 miles. In the afternoon it was 50-60 degrees. 33 miles on 1 charge
     
    sistersinhim likes this.
  11. Chazz8

    Chazz8 Gadget Lover

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2008
    744
    234
    61
    Location:
    Central New York
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Oops. We don’t get to use 84% of traction battery charge, only the middle approximately 60%. So the math changes;

    60% x 1200cycles = 72000% battery capacity used
    30% x 3000cycles = 90000% battery capacity used, self limit EV miles to a third of normal.

    I also realized that to use 30% of the traction battery you need to charge to approximately 50% because of the unused approx 20% buffers. Also I have to check how low the study discharged the battery in each cycle. I’m sure they didn’t stop discharge at 20% like the Prius does. So the math is not accurate.
     
  12. Landon51

    Landon51 Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2018
    190
    63
    0
    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
  13. sistersinhim

    sistersinhim Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2007
    21
    9
    0
    Location:
    Central Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Technology AWD-e
    I use the remote warm-up while plugged in.
     
  14. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    how does thatwork, did they change it on the 20?
     
  15. sistersinhim

    sistersinhim Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2007
    21
    9
    0
    Location:
    Central Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Technology AWD-e
    You just push the 'auto a/c' on the remote. It will cut on the climate control on your last setting.
     
    bisco likes this.
  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    cool! that must be a new feature
     
  17. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    44,767
    16,016
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Don’t think so. Unless it wasn’t present on the base PiP. Even the regular Gen 3 had it but it was only for cooling and if you had the solar roof.
     
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    i have remote a/c, but he says remote warm up.

    does prime remote start heat with the heat pump while plugged in?
     
  19. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    44,767
    16,016
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    AFAIK, yes.

    well the fob says “Remote A/C” on the Prime as well but it’s for both heat and cool.
     
    bisco likes this.
  20. PiPLosAngeles

    PiPLosAngeles Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 18, 2012
    1,549
    719
    0
    Vehicle:
    2021 Prius Prime
    Model:
    LE
    I can't get this to work. If I precondition the car it throws off the charging so that it takes another 30 minutes to get back to 100%, and by then the cabin isn't warm anymore. So, unless I'm willing to leave with less than a full charge preconditioning is a useless feature.