Yes, you can charge the battery while driving: my plug-in experience

This is false.

Note I am not advocating that the car run on only battery power on the highway to use up EV miles, as that is a waste as well. And I do think that the ICE should be used exclusively going uphill. However, consider this: if you are pulling ~25A @ 210V = 7HP could be sustained for ~15 minutes, if you have 5 EV miles in the bank. At 79 MPH, the steady-state power requirement is about 35 HP. So you could have 20% of your propulsion coming from the battery, and have 50 MPG instead of 40, over the course of 20 miles.

I stand by what I say: if you are running in a blended mode, use up those EV miles before you arrive at the next charging station, in order to maximize your fuel economy. 100 MPG (gas) is possible for diligent drivers who are willing to drive the car like an EV, as opposed to those who bought the car to get a green HOV sticker.

 

I think you found a logical solution. Probably slow steady pressure on your landlord and Moms may produce at least a adequate 120V line. It could be profitable to share the costs with the landlord. It is going totake a long time to brainwash the EV illiterates. Have to go slow. :cheer2:

 

47 MPG? My Gen II does better than that. Your car can do better too. For starters, don't use the engine to charge up the battery. That's what the plug is for. Otherwise it is the same has coming home every night and firing up the portable Honda generator to charge it. Do whatever it takes to find places to plug it in. I'm done trying to point this out to you and everyone else that somehow thinks that the larger battery pack allows the car to violate the First Law of Thermodynamics.

 

Actually, considering the mountains and the speeds you were maintaining that is pretty amazing!

 

Seilerts: Maybe you missed his opening thread, he does not / Mother does not have the ability at his apartment to charge from a wall plug.

 

That's why they make extension cords. Use 10/3.

To everyone, I am sorry if I am coming across as harsh, but it is the only way that I can get the point across, that adding EV miles while driving is NOT A GOOD THING.

 

But, according to many of the posts, it apppears to be inevitable by Toyota design. Even after EV is depleted it looks like the battery pack will start showing EV charge miles again. If it is by deliberate engineering how could one prevent it, and why would one want to prevent it? Its just like money in the bank, use it later when coming into your neighborhood. Since I am Pip-less maybe I am way off base? :cheer2:

 

I'm going off of having spent over a year with a PHEV conversion. Having the engine charge the battery was the worst mileage killer. The best results are obtained when the car is (1) in EV mode (2) "warp stealth" car moving at high speed but the engine is off (3) blending ICE + battery at high SoC (4) normal aka HV (5) engine charging the battery/warm-up cycle. I have electronics from ccdise to mostly defeat the warmup cycle, and I took special care to avoid situations where the engine is charging the battery by keeping SoC high. Even though the kit is gone, I've leveraged what I learned and have been tanks of 50 MPG in the dead of winter, and have a 54 MPG tank right now.

You all must think I am a lunatic. It is just so painful to read these stories of 50-60 MPG in a PHV, when it would only take some small attention to detail (burn those EV miles) and a little legwork (find those charging stations) to get 100 MPG. Another thread over, a guy has 31 miles between charging points and has a 100+ MPG tank going. You all with PHVs should be doing #3 when on the highway, blending battery with ICE to get high fuel economy, rather than saving EV miles for later.

 

I know of no way to 'blend' EV/gas going 55 mph. I am, thus, forced to use some EV driving at that speed if I want use up my ful EV capacity on the way to and from work.

 

My morning commute is typically a full deplete using EV-blend (9 miles at 70 mph, engine with lots of battery contribution) and EV-mode all else the 16.7 total miles.

Today, I decided to EV-mode to the highway, HV-mode on the 70 mph and part of the 55 mph (rather then EV-blend), then back to EV-mode for the rest of the way.

The result was 108 MPG with 4.3 miles of capacity remaining.

Being able to decide when blend verses perserve is nice, especially since 50 MPG is what you get cruising without battery anyway.
.

 

The freedom offered the driver by the 'EV/HV Button' really is what makes the car fun to drive (in addition to seeing >100 mpg).

I only wish I could force blending mode at lower speeds. There is no way to use EV energy when driving at 60 mph unless you are in EV mode. Driving in EV mode at 60 mph, however, is very inefficient for EV capacity, and probably not good for the battery (as Toyota recommends avoiding going close to the top speed in EV mode).

An adjustable blending ratio for any given speed might be nice...
(although that is far and beyond what the average driver would care to worry about)

 

The whole point of a PHV is NOT to plug it. But to get the best mileage you can under any circumstance. This includes traveling at real highway speeds, not being the turtle on the right-hand lane.

Not all of us have the capability of charging at home or at work. For those who live in city apartments, where they have to park on the street or apartment garage, there may be ZERO ability to charge the car without entailing a large risk even with an extension cord from the 10th floor.

It is great that the Prius PIP can use EXCESS energy from the ICE to charge the battery.

Since the electric motor can only go up to 62 mph on the Prius PIP, it is useless when traveling on the highway where the speed limit is 70 mph. On those highways, keeping up with the traffic means traveling at least 75 mph on the right-hand lane.

My commute is 400 miles round-trip, 90% highway miles (speed limit is 70 mph), 10% local miles. It is great news that the Prius PIP can charge its battery when driving at highway speeds (greater than the electric motor can sustain). The stored energy can then be used for all-electric traveling on local roads.

 

The PIP engine doesn't continually run and fully charge the battery. It works somewhat similar to the regular Prius but with a wider range.

Mike

 

It's hard to believe that claim would ever be made.

That misconception helps explain the misled belief. It most definitely is not useless.

At 70 mph, you still get a major benefit from the electric motor. It uses the plug-supplied electricity in conjunction with the gas engine, bumping efficiency way up beyond what you'd normally get. This is commonly referred to as EV-BOOST.

For my daily commute, I see +100 MPG displayed while driving at 70 mph.

Just because the engine is on, doesn't mean there won't be an improvement.

 

I finally got around to driving up from Port Angeles, WA to Hurricane Ridge, roughly a 5000 foot climb. I made sure the battery was used up by the top, went hiking for a few hours and upon the drive down I managed to use only regen braking until the last few hundred feet of altitude. So, it took something less than 5000 vertical feet to completely recharge the battery. Incidentally, the round trip mileage was around 50 mpg, but went up past 60 as I burned off the charge gained on the way down!