Trip Information screen - "E" "L"

It shows you how much energy you are regenerating by braking (not mechanical brakes) back into your battery. On my Prius III Model 3, each "E" equals 30 Wh (Watt Hours) generated.

Take a look at the top center of of the chart in the picture.

As you can see in the last few minutes (right side) of my daily commute I really try to use EV whenever I can. Although, I do accelerate to about 30 mph using the ICE and then reapply the accelerator to get into EV range (not mode). You would be surprised how far you can get using this method.

 

Plus, that isn't a 'L'. That's the 'E' with the upper half cut off. But it is as Jsfabb says, it is the amount of 30 Wh regenerated from the regen braking during the minute time.

 

That is exactly correct! When you are in ECO, Normal or PWR Modes the bottom half is the EV range. When I say EV Mode, it's actually pushing the button to put it in that mode.

I think I used the EV Mode once. I really don't see a need for it, since if you step on the accelerator and the EV Mode can't handle it, it will go to the ICE anyhow. You might as well keep it in another mode and just reapply the accelerator to get into EV range.

Anybody - is there any benefit of putting it in EV Mode???

 

for me yes - driving to and from the grocery store 2 miles away i never need to use the ICE - put into EV, back out of drive way, drive two miles, park, shop, return home, all without using a drop of fuel*

*if the engine is warm.

 

Could you do the same if it was in ECO Mode? You just don't have to accelerate fast enough to turn on ICE*. Did you know that there is no reverse gear? The electric motors just run in reverse, no matter what mode you are in.

 

Technically, you should be able to do it in any mode because I've seen our Prius drop in to "EV range" (the EV light comes up on the dash) regardless of whatever mode it's in. However, I believe if you are in "EV mode" (press the EV button on the armrest), the car will try harder to state in "EV range" when driving 23MPH or less. I'm not sure exactly what "try harder" entails, but it's just my observation when I run "EV mode."

Aside from "trying harder" to stay in "EV range", is there a difference between having the car go to "EV range" when ECO mode vs ECO+EV mode?

EDIT: as a side question, What is the point of the "ECO" light on the dash? It seems as long as the meter doesn't go into the red (PWR) range, the ECO light is always on. Seems kind of useless to me since you can get the same information just noting that the power meter is in the green range.

 

If the highest MPH in EV Mode is 23 mph, you are limiting yourself to max MPH. In the other modes, you can get up to 42 mph in the EV range.

I think the reason for the ECO light is just a visual reminder.