Questions About Display, AC

Not that I've ever heard of.

Don't think so. I've just learned to deal with the poorly designed display. The map is always at the top using space whether I'm using it or not. I generally keep the climate control at the bottom.

Do you mean this?


It is set with the buttons on the right of the steering wheel. The meter you refer to is the HSI (Hybrid System Indicator) and it's far more useful than the car's guess at the speed limit.

 

You must have somehow turned off the RSA (Road Sign Assist) in your setting. So that you are now seeing the Split Screen info on the spot where RAS use to display. Toyota implemented TSS2.0 with RSA on 2021 model PP as an afterthought. They did not have a place to display the RSA info such as speed limit, without disabling the more valuable split screen information. On your split-screen, you can toggle seeing mpg or miles/kWh efficiency depending on which mode HV or EV you are on, battery SoC, or Hybrid System Indicator.

Go to setting and toggle the RSA back to ON, then you will see the RSA information (i.e. speed limit) again on the position of the split-screen right to the speedometer.

BTW, I have RSA turned off and keep the miles/kWh (or mpg if in HV mode) on my split-screen. It is far more useful information for me than showing the speed limit which no one ever obeys anyway.

 

You misinterpreted me. The options for the bottom are climate, sound, and a few other things like the mpg bar chart. Or nothing at the bottom and the whole screen occupied by the map. The only thing that can be at the top is either the map (when the bottom of the screen is otherwise occupied) or the top half of the map.

 

No blind spot monitoring on XLE, Premium/LTD only.

 

#1. No. PP XLE does not come with BSM. On PP, only Limited trim has that feature. IIRC, on regular Prius and eAWD Prius, I believe BSM is standard on all trims.

#2. The last switch is for EV-Auto mode. In that mode, the car will make changes between EV and HV automatically as you drive. In theory, the car will switch to HV mode in high power demand situations such as merging into a highway or climbing a steep incline. But in my experience, EV-Auto only shifts to HV mode if you floor the pedal full throttle. I almost never drive like that for my regular commuting. Therefore, for all practical purposes for my driving conditions, EV-Auto behaves exactly the same as EV mode that is it stays as EV mode until the traction battery depletes the EV range then HV mode starts automatically.

BTW, there is another mode that does not have a dedicated button. You push and hold the EV/HV button, then you enter Charge Mode. In this mode, the engine will run to generate electricity and replenish the traction battery up to 80%. However, the efficiency drops quite a bit. Unless you have a very good reason that you need the traction battery charged this way, you will be better off just driving on HV mode.

 

I believe you mean Advanced/LTD only. Premium is like mid grade like XLE.

 

That has not been my experience. I often select EV Auto once I am on the autoroute or interstate (depending on which side of the border I find myself) and it behaves as you describe in theory. Perhaps there is a velocity threshold or it works more effectively in conjunction with DCC (usually on when I’m in EV Auto mode).

 

It is possible that Toyota might have adjusted the EV-Auto threshold for the engine to kick in. My experiences were limited to my previous 2017 PP. After several attempts on using EV-Auto on the 2017 PP, I could never get the engine to come on unless I floored the pedal which I almost never do for my driving habit. I did not drive my 2020 PP enough to even test that feature. I will have to test the EV-Auto responsiveness on my new 2022 PP. As you said, the speed may also come into play. I almost never drive my PP on EV mode on the interstate where I get above 65mph. My regular commuting is on rural state highways and roads with speeds less than 50mph. My average speed for commuting is well below 30mph.

 

With my 2017, even if I floor it and keep it floored for several seconds in EV Auto, the ICE won't come on.

 

Well, I just came back from running an errand. I drove my 2021 PP all the way on EV-Auto. 33.5 miles EV only. The engine never fired up. The average speed was 32mph, but at a segment, the top speed reached 56mph briefly. I did not try flooring the pedal on this trip. I will try that later on a road where I can do that safely. But it is safe to assume that Toyota has not changed the EV-Auto threshold substantially from the 2017 model. For all practical purposes, for my regular driving conditions, EV-Auto mode behaves just like EV mode.

BTW, this was with a full charge in the battery. After the 33.5miles round trip, the car still had 11% SoC left on the gauge. I am averaging ~35 miles on a full charge. I drove 37.6 miles yesterday all on EV before it switched to HV.

 

I've also tried EV/Auto on the Interstate at over 70 mph. ICE never came on.

 

Did for me yesterday in NH. No stomping on the pedal. Did have DCC on. Perhaps that’s the key.