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Observations from a skiing trip

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by lensovet, Dec 26, 2012.

  1. lensovet

    lensovet former BP Brigade 207

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    Took a trip up to Tahoe yesterday and discovered some things. For reference – the bottom of the mountain to which I drove is 6000 feet above sea level (while I'm essentially at sea level).
    –Trip to the resort took 3h45m, 189.5 miles, 39 mpg. Note that I started with an empty battery because my apartment garage is flooded and I didn't get a chance to charge the night before.
    –The resort is below the peak at Donner Pass. On the way down, I regenerated about 1.9 miles of EV range.
    –When I parked the car, I left my parking lights on. Imagine my horror to discover that, 5 hours later, they were still on! Apparently, while headlights will turn off automatically, parking lights will NOT! Fortunately, the car still started. The EV range meter showed 1.5 miles, which were gleefully eaten up by the car completely for radio+interior lights+seat heaters+driving half a mile around the parking lot before we even left the resort.
    –The trip back was 3h08m, 189.3 miles, 57 mpg (seriously, amazing)
    –Low fuel light came on with 44 miles remaining. I didn't bother stopping for gas until we got home. The car took 9.112 gallons, which seems to corroborate the idea that the low gas light comes on when there's two gallons left. My total for the tank was 395.4 miles, 47 mpg displayed, 43.393 mpg calculated (though I still think that the car knows better than some gas pump how much gas was actually used).

    I'm now at 2500 miles. Going to LA and back, which will add another 800, for a total of 3300 miles after three months of ownership.
     
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  2. Nice post, how was the traction in the snow?
     
  3. lensovet

    lensovet former BP Brigade 207

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    there was barely any snow. the reason the trip there was 35 minutes longer was because of traffic approaching the chain control checkpoint on I-80…except that the checkpoint was removed right in front of my eyes. So on 80, there wasn't any snow at that point. There was a short stretch on CA-89 that wasn't fully cleared, but basically, I didn't really have to deal with anything serious. My car was dirty as hell from the trip though – so much so that I washed it today even though it was raining and I'm driving to LA on Friday which means more dirt coming.

    Btw, forgot to mention in the original post: I fit my 165 cm skis in the back without folding the seats. Coming back I was with a friend who also had 165 skis, so we had to lower the seat for that.
     
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  4. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Was there a lot of water on the road? What speeds were you driving on average? Temperatures?
     
  5. lensovet

    lensovet former BP Brigade 207

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    The trips were with no stops, so you can easily calculate average speeds. On the way there, we had some intense traffic approaching the chain checkpoint. In the higher altitudes there was some water but nothing big. Temperature going there was 45 in the beginning dropping eventually to 25 at the highest point and settling around 30 at the base of the resort.
    Going back there was no real traffic, just a few sections where we slowed to ~40 for no apparent reason. Temperature was 19 at the resort and around 47 when we came back.
     
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  6. douglas001001

    douglas001001 smug doug

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    Was the 1.9 Miles EV range regenerated from donner summit down to truckee? if so, what did you regen going back from donner summit down to Auburn?
     
  7. lensovet

    lensovet former BP Brigade 207

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    To the first question, yes. Though the exit to 89 is a bit before you reach Truckee.
    Going back I want to say 2.2 but I honestly don't remember. Keep in mind that we were going much faster on the return trip, generally about 75. So there wasn't as much of a need to brake and the slope going back isn't as steep.
     
  8. I think you probably know this already, but going down any hill, one should keep his foot on the brake pedal and regenerate. Not to the point of slowing down, unless you want to slow down. It's just like money in the bank.
     
  9. lensovet

    lensovet former BP Brigade 207

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    Sure, but if that reduces my speed below what I want to be driving, I won't be doing that :)
    Btw, on steep enough slopes, regen happens without brake pedal application. It's like engine braking on regular cars. I cover it in the FAQ under the B mode operation question.
     
  10. True, the car generates better with mild pressure on the brake pedal.