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Blank bars in the Consumption screen?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by avusblue, Jun 16, 2009.

  1. avusblue

    avusblue Junior Member

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    Still a relatively new Prius owner. Love the car. Wanted to ask about a scenario that's happened to me on a couple of occasions:

    After crusing at 50 - 70 mph, I'll hit a traffic jam during my commute and I'm puttering along at a "slow & go" pace. Moving exclusively on battery power, probably averaging 5 to 10 mph. The consumption bar should be almost, if not completely, maxed out for that 5 minute segment, because I am making consistent, albeit slow, forward progress while burning no gas. The ideal setting for a Prius, right?

    But now and then I'll get a "blank" bar in between two segments that I assume means that the car thinks I scored 0 mpg during that segment. The bars to the left of the blank seems accurate, as does the one that eventually appears to the right as the time chart moves along.

    Interestingly, the blank segment still shows the little car-shaped leaves representing the energy captured during regenerative braking . . . which proves that I was indeed, moving along, speeding up & slowing down as the traffic flows.

    Any reaction? Is this normal, an anomaly, or seem like a fluke? Does this mean the 5 minute segment at 0 is being averaged into my overall MPG (which lifetime to date over almost 3,000 miles so far is 50.3)

    Thanks for the input. Not a huge deal, just curious.

    Cheers,

    Dave
     
    #1 avusblue, Jun 16, 2009
  2. firepa63

    firepa63 Former Prius Owner

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    That's normal when running on just the battery.
     
    #2 firepa63, Jun 16, 2009
  3. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    If the engine came on at any time, it'll be near blank. (and the arrows don't have to be flowing for the engine to come on)
     
    #3 Tideland Prius, Jun 17, 2009
  4. avusblue

    avusblue Junior Member

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    That's interesting. So basically, a blank bar means you achieved "infinity" gas mileage rather than "zero" gas mileage during that particular 5 minute segment.

    That's not the way I would have done it, but I'm glad its normal!

    Thanks and cheers,

    Dave
     
    #4 avusblue, Jun 17, 2009
  5. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    The U.S. Prius has a divide by zero issue when no fuel is used. Normally this is displayed as 99.9 mpg, but when not moving you get zero divided by zero, which is undefined. A blank bar is displayed in this case.

    Tom
     
    #5 qbee42, Jun 17, 2009
  6. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    My opinion is that the car didn't travel far enough in 5 minutes to recognize a distance. 1 mile in 5 minutes is 12mph. Less than 1 mile and a little gas rounds to 0mpg.
     
    #6 JimN, Jun 17, 2009
  7. ken1784

    ken1784 SuperMID designer

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    The behavior is different between 2004-2005 model and 2006-2009 model.

    When there was no fuel usage at all and the vehicle moved during the 5 minutes period,
    the 2004-2005 model displays full (100mpg) bar on the screen and
    the 2006-2009 model displays no (0mpg) bar on the screen.
    That's the feature, not a bug. :)

    Ken@Japan
     
    #7 ken1784, Jun 18, 2009
  8. CharlesJ

    CharlesJ Member

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    Do you have that screen open when you are in that traffic jam, slow progress? What indications you get from that right bar showing instant MPG? When I am in such a condition that it is running on battery only, flat terrain, coasting, etc, I see full 99.9 reading and have after 5 minutes seen the full bar in the 5 minute segment.
     
    #8 CharlesJ, Jun 19, 2009
  9. avusblue

    avusblue Junior Member

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    Yes - and the instant MPG bar over on the far right is generally pegged at the max ("100mpg") because I am moving along making forward progress while using no gas.

    Again, the real mpg is "infinity" in this scenario -- where the Prius is really in its element! :)

    Dave
     
    #9 avusblue, Jun 23, 2009
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