engine or battery start?

When the engine is cold it will start within a few seconds to warm itself up for emission control purposes. After the car is warm it will start out on the battery if you don't push the accelerator pedal down to far and it there is enough charge in the battery (there usually is). If you have a charged up battery you can actually ease it up to 45 or 46 MPH before the engine starts.

 

Good luck with that new Prius you will love it. If it is a Gen2 (2004-2009) you can only get up to 40 or 41 MPH before the engine must start, the Gen3 is a bit different because of some gearing changes. But with either of them you must be pretty easy on the throttle to keep the engine off. Your Gen2, being a European car, may also have an EV (Electric Vehicle) button. It will let you get up to 25 MPH with no engine (strangely you actually can go faster on the battery when you are not in the EV mode), but give it a try also.

Of course depending on conditions to much battery use can actually cut down on mileage but you need to read the Fuel Economy Forums on here to find out how all that stuff works. For now just drive it and enjoy it.

 

No the "B" is for engine braking and it works kind of like low range in a normal automatic transmission. With the Prius it is hardly ever needed because you have regenerative braking which returns energy to the battery during light braking and for heavier braking the car uses normal friction brakes. The only time I use the "B" mode is if I am coming down a long steep hill and my battery is already fully charged. Then B mode can be used to reduce wear of the normal friction brakes. Unlike low range in a conventional automatic you can use B mode at any speed. If you forget and leave it in B you will notice your cruise control no longer works, if you forget to shift back to D the car will shift itself back after a few minutes in B anyway.

You should try it and see how it feels then you will probably not use it again, or at least use it very seldom.

If your car has an EV mode switch it should be a button somewhere on the dash board. It doesn't actually lock the vehicle in battery only, if the battery runs low it will just kick you out of EV and the engine will run. The car always looks after itself and tries to keep the driver from doing any damage such as running the hybrid battery down to far. Comforting to know I think.

 

Try not to drive on electric, it isn't efficient. Don't sweat over trying to keep the engine off, search for efficiency threads to read the best tactics for good fuel economy.

 

Hi Ann Marie

In the owner french version manuel they say the gas engine have to start now and then to "put it self ""IN PHASE"". Now don't ask me what is the buzz around that "phasing" buisness under the Prius hood !

My Prius is very often is "phasing" at start up. Even if it's 32°C outside and that the car have run during last half an hour and is hot !!! Some other times it's amasing how long i can go from start up in time using only electric engine.

 

Hi Ann Marie,

Are saying that when you powered up the car (pushed the 'on' button, the gas engine came on immediately? Hope not.

When powering on my 2009 Prius, the gas engine never comes on immediately. I haven't timed it, but my guess is the gas engine comes on within 5 to 10 seconds after powering up the car. I'm usually most of the way out of the garage before the gas engine comes on (well, if I put it in gear quickly).

 

Can anyone confirm if it is possible to reverse in EV mode?

Just curious.

 

The short answer is yes, it will go backward just fine in any mode.

Actually the car always uses the battery to go in reverse, the engine can't go backward and there is no reverse gear such as in a regular car. But in one of the non-EV modes the engine could be running to warm itself up or to charge the battery while you back up; in EV mode it should stay off.