Driving in Eco Mode, Starting From A Stop

You will get a lot of varying opinions on this. So, I will give you mine

I tried all three modes and settled for Normal mode, no mode lights on the dash. The only difference in the modes is the mapping of the accelerator pedal movement for the first one-half of travel. In Eco you just have to move the pedal further for the same acceleration in the other modes. Power gives you more acceleration for much less pedal movement. Normal is in the middle of these two.

As for starting from a stop, I have found that if I accelerate with the HSI monitor pushing hard in the PWR range on the right hand side that lets me get up to speed quicker. Then I can either coast or glide quicker once I get up to speed and that seems to help my overall mpg.

 

Brisk acceleration is my choice. That's hitting 3500 RPM briefly, just enough to get up to speed at a slightly faster than normal rate.

I strongly believe in the JUST DRIVE IT motto and don't mind being in the PWR zone on the eco-meter at times. The system takes advantage of the engine when you do that. It generates a little electricity as a result. So, you don't see the overall benefit right away.
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Acceleration will dramatically reduce impg. Sad fact of physics. Some go a little faster than others to get it over with. Short low mpg acceleration or longer not quite as low mpg acceleration (me, usually) makes less difference than learning to conserve the kinetic energy of the vehicle once the acceleration ends. In town, this often involves gliding.

You certainly want to stay below the point at which the battery helps the ICE. I think optimal mpg comes by using battery off the line, then the ICE kicks in at 10 or 15 mph where it starts to have some torque.

In the gen3, I generally accelerate just below the PWR section of the HSI, sometimes well into PWR, until I near target top speed. Then I'll either P&G or hold a pretty even speed depending on the situation. I use ECO mode all the time so I can better hold a glide.

 

Assuming a clear road ahead with no additional stops, you want to accelerate to your cruising speed with the least amount of energy. Accelerating slowly minimizes the instantaneous use of energy, but uses it over a long time. Accelerating at full throttle minimizes the amount of time that you are accelerating, but does so at a very inefficient engine setting. Someplace in between is the sweet spot. Speaking in general terms, the sweet spot comes from brisk acceleration, but still well away from full throttle. Try to avoid drawing from the HV battery, and try to avoid wide open throttle.

Tom

 

I don't mean to go off topic, but I wondered what it meant when no lights were shown on the dash. Couldn't find it quickly in the manual (not that I tried that hard).

I thought there was only EV mode, ECO mode and Power mode. Duh!

Dumb Mike

 

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If you press the PWR a green light will appear on the dashboard, if you press the ECO button another light also green but different will appear. If you press once or twice either PWR o ECO (depending on which mode is active at that time) no green light will be active. This is the Normal mode, which is something between PWR and ECO. ECO is particularly useful if you turn A/C on (since it lowers A/C power consumption) and if want to hold a glide as makes throttle less sensitive to foot movement, PWR is nice if you want to drive aggressively or uphill.

 

So what is better? ECO or Normal mode. I've always driven in ECO and rarely in PWR. Thanks for the explanation.

 

One isn't better than the other. It depends on your tastes and needs. Full power is available in all modes, although ECO will downplay the use of AC and heat, which can help with your mileage.

Tom

 

I really appreciate the information. I didn't think this was something that was explained very well in the manual. Plus, I couldn't figure out why the ECO or PWR light would go off when I pushed the button a second time. An in-between mode! Go figure.

Maybe next time/generation, Toyota will have a "gradation" switch in which you set it between 1 to 10, where 1 is ECO mode and 10 is PWR mode and you get all of the gradations in-between. But not sure whether it's worth it.

Dumb Mike

 

I love this idea! It'll save Toyota money too cause all they need is a rotary dial like the radio volume, or another sliding lever besides the gear knob. You push forward for PWR and pull back for ECO. Yeah, this is better than a rotary dial. That makes it very futuristic and high tech like an airplane!

I want this in MY25 Toyota! (That's my target year for retiring the current and getting a new Prius.)