Just bought mint 2013 V 3, a few questions

The power light is a square box on the right side of instrument panel. DRLs were not available in the US on the Prius v. Canadian versions have them. The normal headlights will automatically turn on and off with the car if you leave the headlight switch on while in Ready.

 

See pic for Power indicator. The switch could be bad. A Toyota Techstream scanner could verify. There are three modes EV, Eco or Power. Normal is all three deactivated. I believe Eco is default and well reset every time the car goes to Ready. There is no real advantage to Power other than less gas pedal push to get the same acceleration. Eco will moderate ac use and fuel trims to get max mpg.

 

Good Certified dealer question on the Power mode indicator.

The “DRLs” referred to in the owners manual since launch in 2012 never appeared in production until 2015 (?), except in Canada. There were aftermarket retrofits that drive the fog lights as DRLs.

 

Mode affects the sensitivity of the throttle pedal. In ECO mode, you have to press the throttle further for a given amount of acceleration than you would in the other two modes. The pedal is more sensitive in Normal mode and most sensitive in Power mode.

Braking is part mechanical brakes like any car plus electrical regenerative braking above 8 mph on the front wheels in a Prius. Front wheels do most of the braking on any car.The regenerative braking is more pronounced in ECO mode and recovers more energy. I have a ScanGauge on my Prius that can show a number of parameters. When I look at traction battery current, regenerative braking in ECO mode charges the 200 volt traction battery at up to a limit that seems to be about 110 amps. Regenerative braking is proportional to brake pedal pressure. Soft braking regenerates at a lower current levels and harder braking regenerates at a higher current levels. If you brake harder than the 110 amp limit, the system just applies more mechanical braking and dissipates that energy as heat in the mechanical brakes.

The air conditioning/heater is also minimized in ECO to conserve the traction battery. There is an electrical heater in the ductwork that can speed cabin warm-up. They still work but they would not recover (heating up a cold car or cooling down a hot car) as fast as if the Normal or Power mode. It is like having the A.C. set on medium instead of high.

As far as the lighting switch, I have a 2015 V 2. My switch has 4 positions. Off, DRL, parking and then headlights. On DRL or parking lights, the lights are switched off when the car is shut off. The headlight setting beeps to inform me that I have left the headlights on.

 

The front turn signals make for excellent DRL's. Several of us accomplished this by installing the WebElectric DRL-2P kit which was designed for the 2004-2009 Prius sedan. There is a link to my thread about installing it in my signature below and there is also a link to my instructions on the WebElectric website: http://www.webelectricproducts.com

Toyota added high beam based DRL to the U.S. market Prius v for the 2014 model year.

 

My 2014 V has drl

 

I was one who absolutely wanted DRL's and my '12 Three didn't have them. I discovered a kit that Toyota sold that supplied the DRL capability and my dealer installed them. Not cheap but I have seen too many cars t-boned that I demanded them no matter the price. A search here will I am sure find the part number.