SSC50P like a new car!

Got my Prius updated with the SSC50P today. Dealer took under 2 hours.

Just driving to work from the dealer it was like having a different car. No longer had to work
really hard to get battery mode operation, or use the EV switch! It did it a lot and it was 32
degrees this morning. I got more battery mode than I ever saw before without workking at it for temps under 50 degrees.

Otherwise car seemed to run as before.

(My car was an early 2005, so other era cars may not change so much.)
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Starting to notice the specific differences with my updated Prius comuters:

1 Temps have been getting colder, so mpg is hard to compare, but I think it is holding up around the same or a little better when driving slow roads.

2 Temps in 30's and I am getting more engine off operation without the EV button than I used to get on 50 degree days. Electric mode is coming on by itself on some roads going up hill where I never got it before at any temp.

3 Car used to stop engine during warm up starting around 130 deg coolant. Now it holds off till engine gets over around 153 degrees. Then I get tons of battery mode without really trying. But at these temps the car cools very fast and all the battery mode stops when the coolant gets to like 146 degrees.

I used to get full stage 4 at about 163 degrees F on the coolant, but seems like I have it at the 153 degree point now.

4 Sometimes I accelerate with engine off without trying to. This never happened before except going down hills, or when I was really trying to do it.

Can't wait for summer now to see what this all does to my mpg. I've never gotton over 60 mpg no matter what speed I drove for a tank. I could see this change might make it possible.

5 Car goes into engine off mode much faster and easier, once temperatures are OK. Seems like much less delay.

6 Battery seems to go even more up into the green. (Some green is normal here at winter temperatures.)

7 Some places where I go uphill approaching lights I know I will stop at I used to click the EV button, but now don't seem to need to!

8 Accelerator is different. Seems less touchy. Also feathering etc has less effect. Car decides more when to switch modes.

 

Only thing I notice is more battery current period! More battery power used during times when engine is going but not warm enough to switch off too. It's like a new warm up stage way past the time the car used to favor the battery. It will go into a mode running on battery power with to 20 amperes drain, but engine still going around 1300 rpm. Even sounds like it is running on battery power! this is while driving around 30 mph. I have not had my can view long, but never noticed that kind of fairly sustained current before with engine on.

Charging seems about the same. MPG remains at 99 with engine off, and like 35 to 45 with engine on while charging so the combined average is just fine, with a 50% duty cycle or better.

I'm not really getting longer engine off due to the rapid cool down. In summer I expect I will. I just get engine off in lots of my route to work where I never did before, or had to do it with the EV button, or really work at it with feathering.

The engine cool down starts the engine up long before I have any significant drain on the battery.

Definitely getting engine off on some slight upgrades where I never would have pressed the EV button thinking it was too steep and inefficient for battery power.

With the new code my mpg seems to be holding up fine with some of my commutes breaking out above 52 mpg again. Typically get 48 mpg commuting in these temps on my 12 mile trip.

 

No big changes to any of these things. Current limits remain about the same. Just the new warm up mode current looks bigger but still in range of what battery mode did before: allowing current to 20 amps at these temperatures. (35 degrees) When it is warmer I get more like 30 amps.

My temps today with my 50% engine radiator block was 186 peak on highway and typical 146 to 168 F cycling on roads at 30-40. Only difference is more cycling low due to more engine off mode.

Battery got to 70 degrees end of trip.

SOC ranged 46% to 75% min and max. Mostly at the high end, as before when cold weather.

RPMs about same as before, high for warm up then lower.

 

If anything gliding might be easier. Don't know yet because I can't really do it on my commuting routes.

But this may all be my imagination due to the extra battery power mode. I used to have to work the accelerator carefully to get this mode and stay in it, and now it just happens more by itself.

The changes are all small, and I may be exaggerating to try to explain clearer But I do feel like I have to learn to drive the car over again a bit! But mostly I like it way better.
From descriptions I've read here I get the impression my car now works more like people describe the early 2004 Prius cars.

Update: Last night got to like 22 degrees, so too cold for much of any electric power mode.
I managed to glide a little, and it all worked as before.

 

Not sure how cold it is where you are but note I mentioned the car has to get warmer before the engine will turn off than before. And it is normal for the display to show engine off when it is going sometimes during warm up. That is where a scan guage, or can view really helps.

So you may have to wait as Evan says for warmer weather to see the real benefits. And then only when driving slow. I would expect highway speed driving mpg to be about the same.

Actually I should point out I think my mpg will be helped in summer. Others who live in more flat areas may see no real effects from this more agressive battery mode. And people who just pulse and glide likely won't see a difference either. But I use battery mode a lot and the hills around here were just enough to make the engine cut it in and out too much, without lots of effort. I won't know for sure till spring.

Regarding the mileage I tested my car on a loop I could easily get 55 mpg on in summer, and got 53 mpg, with some battery mode operation last night. Temps 37. I think tihs is fully equivalent or better than the 55 summer number, considering I am stuck with winter fuel and it is colder now.

Today going to work I got virtually no electric mode. It was too cold for it. I think it got to 22 deg last night, so the battery was too cold. Engine was warm from my block heater. MPG was about like I got before the update, 48 or better mpg. (This is low due to my short commute.) Same as before the update.