Max MPG Driving Techniques Youtube Video

Thanks for video! I've been doing most of this already on my first tank, and so far I'm at 50.1 MPG with just under a 1/2 tank left.
The thing I'm confused on is the EV mode up to 40 MPH. I've only tried EV mode three times. Once I went above the power area on the gauge, so I get why it cut off that time. The second time, I guess the battery itself didn't have enough juice, so it kicked back into Eco. The last time, it jumped out of EV because it said my speed had exceeded EV mode, but I was at more like 25 MPH, nowhere near 40?

 

EV mode up to about 42 mph is achievable, I do it all of the time. It will kick out of this if the battery level is too low. This is the left half of the display. The easiest way to get up to 42 mph is to use the ICE to get to a cruising speed, say 30 mph, and then take your foot off of the gas pedal gently apply until the white EV icon lights up. Once you get past the center line it will use the ICE.

Using the EV button, a green icon will appear on the display. This is only good up to 25 mph or if you accelerate too fast it will kick you out. Many times, if the battery is sufficiently charged, I will start off by pressing the EV button and accelerate up to 25 mph. I will then back off or let the car automatically kick me out for going too fast and then back off on the gas pedal and re-apply to go into the regular EV mode. When the car kicks you out of the EV button mode it gives you a warning screen for about 2-3 seconds and then reverts back to the regular HSI screen.

I hope this makes some sense. The best way to understand it is to go out and try it.

Good Luck!!!

 

Makes sense. I actually played with it some more today after picking it up form getting the windows tinted, and figured that's what was meant. I was originally referring to pressing the EV button and getting kicked out at 25 MPH. I see what was actually meant in the video though about using battery only up to 42 MPH.

 

Nice video, very informative,.. thanks..

 

I tried these techniques and achieved (according to the computer) 61.9 mpg. I am going to try to pump the front tires to 40 psi and try the same techniques.

 

well done!

 

I agree that this is an excellent tutorial. It's also one that all hybrid salespeople (even non-Prius) should watch and study !
They would not only impress their customers but also get the newbies started on their journey in a positive direction.

 

very nice!!

 

Appreciate this video. I'm no smarty-pants, but it's good to see this video & see a few things I'd been doing as a new Prius owner were the right things. On some trips I can get anywhere from 60.7MPG-->62.9MPG on my 17-19 mile trip home from work using these techniques. I've bookmarked the video, I may ask my spouse to watch it in case she ever has to drive my car.

 

Very Well Done Bob!

 

Nice video! I tried this on my way home this morning. (Was already late for work, so I wasn't able to try to maximize that trip. It took 5-10 more minutes of my 28 mile journey, but according to the trip computer: 62.3 MPG. Well worth the extra 5-10 minutes if I can get another one-way's worth of gas every 3 round-trips.

 

Thank you for the video! It covered everything I've been trying to learn! I can't wait to try your tricks!

 

Thank you for the info. It has made a difference in mpg for me.

 

This was a very helpful video -- thanks! Though, as someone said upthread, my car doesn't get anywhere near 40mph in EV. I tried using it in the garage at work today and it kicked me out of EV when I exceeded just 10mph! Is this some kind of throttling setting the previous owner might have specified? Anyone else experience this?

 

See the warming up stages thread. You don't get EV if it is cold, if the state of charge is low, if the power demand is too great, if defrost is on, etc. Also, the speed limit in EV is 10 mph until fully warmed.

 

Got it, thanks! I think my commute is too short to use EV, then. I'll have to try it after a longer drive!

 

Here is the warm-up Stages thread over in the Technical Discussion forum. Gen3 warming up stages | PriusChat You can see that as the ICE warms, more features and capabilities are enabled. The key is that you need to get the engine through the stages before you can comfortably glide. A Scangauge or similar will show the actual coolant temperature, so that you can judge when to use EV more (and switch on the heater).

(There are similar start up stages in a conventional car. At start up it tries to warm the engine and catalytic converter while attempting to limit the emissions inherent in running a cold engine. My Citroën would even limit the fan speed of the heater until the engine was warm. Fuel economy is compromised for those minutes. You wouldn't put your foot to the floor in a conventional car until it is warm, right?)

Use the ICE to get to temperature so that you can use EV mode. The pulse builds speed (and battery and coolant temperature) and the glide as maintains speed.. The difference is that as the car is warming, you'll spend a bit more time pulsing and thinking about how and where on your route you can build ICE temperature.

And you control all of that with your right foot. Don't bother pressing the EV button for normal driving. Keep it in ECO mode.

You should also read threads about Engine Block Heaters (EBH) and grill blocking as a way to build temperature and maintain it.

 

I've gone back and taken another look at warm-up and have some data points to share:

• ~25C - the engine switches from open-loop, stored data tables, to closed-loop where the engine trims for optimum efficiency. Waiting while parked before moving ensures closed-loop, fuel trimming, operation.
• ~40C - without the heater, the first time the engine will 'auto-stop' while parked. Between 25-40C, the car won't auto stop the engine.
• ~55C - with the heater, the coolant has to reach this threshold before engine will auto-stop.

These data points don't change the original observations but provide another way to approach efficient Prius operation during cold weather operation.

Bob Wilson

 

this should help- have had my Prius only 3 days and am so far a little disappointed in the mpg- 45 combined....

 

Where do you live? When it is this cold your MPG will suffer as well.

Most people don't realize that cold affects all vehicles until they get a Prius or another very fuel efficient vehicle.