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ECO button to put MPG extremists out of work?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by usbseawolf2000, Mar 27, 2009.

  1. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    To start this off, I have never driven a hybrid with an ECO button. This ECO feature will come standard with the 2010 Prius, 2010 Insight, and 2010 Fusion Hybrid. The question is, will this ECO button replace or compliment MPG extremists?

    My belief is that technology will automate manual labor work. In the past to get eye popping MPGs, extremists used many techniques that hybrids are able of doing like engine shut down when slowing to a stop. As hybrid become more and more advanced, we now have the ability to get those eye popping MPGs with a flick of a button.

    Suddenly, one won't need to work hard with sweat or kill your brain cells to get those eye popping MPGs. Turn on the ECO mode and just drive it and the intelligent advanced technology will take care of the rest. You can even keep the creature comfort features turned on!

    That sound so simple but I want to know if a MPG extremist can use ECO button as a tool to further improve MPG. I am seeing the opposite case as the ECO mode leaves the extremist very little room to improve MPG. One of the few ways left to boost the MPG is to drive slower.

    Case in point, during the 2010 Prius test drive event at Napa, California, a MPG extremist took twice as long to complete the same course to gain 20 MPG (75 vs 95 MPG). It looked like all the drivers but one turned on the ECO mode (obviously). This leads me to believe that either a) 2010 Prius ECO mode is very good. b) There is not much room left for a driver to do to improve MPG.

    What do you think? Will the ECO button put MPG extremists out of work or will it become a great tool for average Joe that the only extremists left are those driving twice as slow?

    P.S: We cannot assume all ECO modes are created equal. ASSIST hybrid may not have the same engineering freedom to enable wide range of features that a FULL hybrid can explore.
     
    #1 usbseawolf2000, Mar 27, 2009
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    I'd say it complements the driver. It'll help hypermilers squeeze out every drop but it will also help but Joe schmoe and thus bring the mpg gap between your average driver and a hypermiler closer.

    In the short drive, I didn't find it any easier to glide but I appreciated the decreased sensitivity. However, I did feel a litle constraint so I had to dig the throttle in a little deeper to get decent acceleration but again it's easier to find that sweet spot because the sensitivity has decreased, allowing for greater fine tuning. Those with a scangauge will be able to hit the sweet spot (rpm) quicker and easier.
     
    #2 Tideland Prius, Mar 27, 2009
  3. JimboK

    JimboK One owner, low mileage

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    I agree with Tideland. The button might make efficient pulses a bit easier, but it won't do a thing for gliding.
     
    #3 JimboK, Mar 28, 2009
  4. timwalsh300

    timwalsh300 Member

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    I pretty much agree with Tideland and JimboK. It will help the average person who usually accelerates too quickly and ends up wasting a lot of energy. But I don't think it will do much for someone who knows what they are doing.

    Getting great mileage is about "buying" exactly the right amount of kinetic energy with the accelerator, and then not wasting a drop of it by gliding and avoiding any use of the brakes (friction or otherwise). That only comes with experience - knowing exactly how far the Prius will glide, being able to anticipate hills and turns and stops, etc.

    Tim
     
    #4 timwalsh300, Mar 28, 2009
  5. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Yea true, planning ahead is something ECO button can't do (yet). With the optional GPS with real-time traffic and the radar detector (used in pre-collision crash) they can be used to optimize MPG though. However it wouldn't be nice to have the car cut off power because it sees you approaching the car in front of you quickly. They are cases when you plan to change lane to pass the car in front.
     
    #5 usbseawolf2000, Mar 28, 2009
  6. MSantos

    MSantos EcoAccelerometry

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    Since you made a reference to MPG extremists, perhaps I would offer their interpretation of the 2010 Prius on this. You can read it here as it too, offers a little bit more detail on what took place at the NAPA event. The AutoBlogGreen folks obviously are allowed to slant things a little as they see fit.

    My initial conclusion regarding the ECO button experiences on the Gen 3 is that there are diminishing returns for a dedicated 2010 Prius pilot compared to the Gen 2 Prius. In fact, an "MPG extremist" will likely choose a Gen 2 Prius in an MPG competition since it may offer "better known" and wider opportunities in achieving higher MPG performance - particularly above 100 MPG. The other thing that had to be factored in is the displayed MPG over-reporting which was verified from a tank top-off to top-off.

    What I believe is very important though, is for the community to start putting the 2010 through its paces in order to either find the typical and reproducible MPG "Easter eggs" or the areas of the MPG vs Speed envelope to avoid.

    Cheers;

    MSantos
     
    #6 MSantos, Mar 28, 2009
  7. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    I respectfully disagree. All the "eco" button does on the Prius is decrease pedal sensitivity. The whole range of techniques will still be available for the driver to use to achieve extreme mpg numbers. And if (as I seem to remember) mashing the pedal to the floor still provides maximum acceleration (for emergency situations) then the lead-footed driver will do no better in eco mode than in normal mode.

    Eco might make it easier to get better FE. But it does not automate the process by any means.
     
    #7 daniel, Mar 28, 2009
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