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EV mode and range questions

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by PikRok, Mar 22, 2010.

  1. PikRok

    PikRok New Member

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    What's the furthest you've gone in EV mode (distance and speed attained)? Does using the EV mode regularly harm your battery or shorten it's life?


    Thanks again :)
     
  2. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    I have made it over half a mile, but not a full mile. Using ev mode alot is hard on the battery, and will also lower your overall mpg.
     
  3. nooaah

    nooaah New Member

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    Not necessarily true. If you have the right elevation, you can use it pretty effectively. I use EV for about half a mile of my commute and I don't lose any charge.

    OP- EV is mainly only useful for parking lot situations, though. If you can't find a way to get that energy back without using the ICE, it's not worth it. Also, I'm pretty sure EV doesn't work if you run out of gas.
     
  4. Exponent

    Exponent New Member

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    Just before I arrive at my apartment complex in the evening, I have a stop sign and then a reasonably steep hill. Climbing up that using the ICE feels painful, and the MPG agrees. I realized that I could switch to EV, however, and make it up the hill usually with 4 bars left on the battery, though sometimes only 3. Then I coast through the complex to my parking spot. The next morning, the process of warming up and subsequently going down that same hill inevitably recharges the battery, energy that would be produced even with a full battery, so I think I get a net gain.

    Of course, going up a steep hill from a complete stop uses a lot of energy, so I definitely cannot claim any distance record on EV! :)
     
  5. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    If your using ev mode for a half mile you don't use any charge? A big down hill section? Then your using gravity i would think?
     
  6. That_Prius_Car

    That_Prius_Car Austin Kinser

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    I'v made it about a half a mine too :)
     
  7. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    PikRok,
    Can't say how far I've gone, but I think I've gotten up to 26 mph in a slow trip on the interstate using only electric power. Couldn't get any faster without the ICE kicking in.
     
  8. F512M

    F512M Member

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    I use EV sometimes and the max speed is 26. There are times where it's 13.
     
  9. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    I just wanted to add, if you guys didn't already know if you don't use the ev button and when the car warms up you can drive on electric only up to 41 or so mph. When i do this it doesn't turn on the ICE untill i exceed 41 mph or i push the bar past the middle point.
     
  10. nooaah

    nooaah New Member

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    No, I said I use the charge but then I regen everything before I go back to ICE. It's an up and down stretch of road which ends in a somewhat longer down. What I was getting at was in the right situations where you don't have to go above 25 and you can coast more than you have initiate motion, you can take the EV for a pretty nice stretch. It's a rare situation but extremely beneficial if you can find one on your daily commute. :)
     
  11. nooaah

    nooaah New Member

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    The trick to this, depending on your stage of warming up, is to let go of the gas completely for about a second. You need the HSI to maintain this and it's actually higher than 41mph. 41mph was the electric-only limit on the Gen2.

    Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but i believe the Gen3 can go up to 47 at electric only. 48 will trigger the ICE.
     
  12. ServoScanMan

    ServoScanMan Member

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    I have gone 1 1/2 miles. That is with a very slight downhill grade. We don't have enough flat roads here to test how far we can go on level ground.

    I think with the new tires I recently bought, I can beat my personal record.
     
  13. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    My car almost always starts the ICE around 41-42 i have noticed going down a hill it may not start untill 43-44mph.

    I'm just saying what i get. I'd also like to hear what others are able to get up to without the ICE starting.
     
  14. priushippie

    priushippie New Member

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    I have driven on the electric motor for about a mile on a level road. This has to be done at speeds less than 25 not in EV mode. When in EV mode I can't seem to get more than a few hundred feet. Why does my car keep telling me I have obtained an excessive speed at 15 mph when in EV mode?
     
  15. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    That's about the speed where the ICE must begin to turn, even if it isn't burning fuel. At higher speeds the ICE must turn to keep MG1 from spinning too fast.

    Tom
     
  16. nooaah

    nooaah New Member

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    Are we talking EV mode or just gliding? I'm pretty sure it's 46mph now but you really have to feather the sucker.:cool:
     
  17. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    What I'd like to know is your highest speed attained--STARTING FROM 0--without the ICE kicking in--regardless of the "mode" button pushed.
    My record is about 26 mph.
     
  18. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    With a warm ICE i have went from 0 to 41mph without the ice starting.
     
  19. pingnak

    pingnak New Member

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    I have NEVER been able to put my Prius in 'EV Mode' successfully. It could be just because my house is uphill from most of my destinations, so the return trip leaves it down a bit. It always tells me it's not charged enough and kicks back to 'Econ'.

    Rather than worrying about 'EV Mode', I look more toward the overall fuel economy. Keeping it at '100' without regard to where the power is coming from is more my goal, because every minute and eventual hour that I can keep it above 75MPG, I'm making up for the poorer MPG that I get elsewhere (i.e. initial warm-up, red lights that I don't manage to pace right, braking/acceleration to avoid collisions with people who take a 'following distance' as an invitation to cut me off, etc.).

    Realistically, until the battery is bigger and plug-in chargeable, 'EV mode' is not a very good deal. It's just a gimmick that depletes your battery NOW and then forces the engine to run a LOT more later to recharge it. So you'll more than pay for the 'free distance' a little later on by burning gasoline.

    That same depleted charge could have contributed power for sustained speeds while the ICE ran intermittently. Instead, the engine runs continuously and delivers 'Power' in a lot more situations until the state of charge comes back.

    The lowest I've seen the battery was after over an hour of LA 'rush hour' traffic. (Why do they call it 'rush hour' when nobody's moving?) Intermittently creeped at a crawling pace on electric from Pasadena for miles past downtown LA until the engine HAD TO start, because the battery was showing its last bar. I could've gotten out of the car and walked faster, or even just pushed the car to keep up with traffic.

    I really #@*( hate LA.
     
  20. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    Pretty [Joe Biden bleep] good.