Any way to automatically default to hybrid mode (non EV) when starting car?

Simply do not recharge it.

 

Two philosophies in conflict.

I am a long-time technology enthusiast. Before we got the Prime, I had already read the Owner's Manual. It is our 4th Prius, so I mostly new what to expect. I typically drive in a manner that I believe maximizes the capabilities of the car. I manipulate the driving modes in anticipation of the planned trip. The nearest grocery store is 2 miles from our house, and my daughter's school is only 1 mile away. Walmart is 13 miles. In my way of thinking, we are saving tons of wear and tear on the ICE by eliminating the effects of short drives where the ICE never reaches full operating temperature. If I know that the ICE will need to run sometime during the drive, I manipulate it so that it runs at the most advantageous time. I switch to EV mode when it is better, and I try to ensure that I use all of the battery capacity before arriving back at home, thereby minimizing fuel consumption.

My wife is a proud non-reader of instructions of any kind. She expects that cars will work in intuitive ways, and simply drives in whatever mode the Prime defaults to in her current driving conditions. She learned to drive in Boston. Decades later, in rural New Hampshire, she still drives like she is in downtown Boston. Hard acceleration and hard braking are the rule. She drives in EV mode until the Prime switches to hybrid mode on its own, regardless of current or anticipated conditions.

The Prime seems well-designed to accommodate either approach to car usage. It runs the ICE when conditions (mostly cold ambient temperatures, until the battery is exhausted) force its use. I would not want the car to default to Hybrid mode, as it would result in many trips under 2 miles in length if the driver operates with no knowledge and no intent to employ the features of the car to their best advantage. For me, the ability to select running modes is an advantage. For my wife, who, after 18,000 miles, still asks me "What does this button do?" I think Toyota has chosen the best default driving mode. There are probably a lot more drivers like me on this forum, but we are likely a very tiny percentage of any Prius model. It's configured to work well for the the blissfully ignorant.

 

Yep, just don't recharge it. Toyota's system will take care of itself. Whenever I plan a trip into the mountains; I always switch the car into HV mode on startup - that way I have the extra omph of the battery to get me over the mountains.

 

i suppose if you're really concerned about detrimental efects of long term low state of charge, you could put a few miles in between drives. i don't see it as a problem though, and toyota doesn't either.
in fact, they recommend running it down to hv mode for long term storage.

 

Saving the battery for slow speed driving and using HV mode on the highway is a good strategy too.

 

This is somewhat akin to people who preferred PWR mode: if you set it, turned the car off, next start up it’d be back to Normal mode. By design, it never learns.

 

i think toyotas idea is pollution driven. if it always comes on in ev, and you want hv, push the button.
but if you can lock it in hv, and you decide you want ev next time, you have to remember to switch it before you power down, or else you're going to get smogged inadvertently on the next startup

 

I have a similar problem living in San Diego (Gas at Costco is $4.19/gallon and electric at SDGE is 45.2 cents/kwh, non-TOU) with a 17 year old 3 kW Solar Array still on NEM 1.0. Solar meets or exceeds all my needs except during a few critical months when it's very cold or hot. And I have a 19 SEER 5 stage AC and 98% efficient variable speed furnace so not much to be gained there. I was looking at if I should replace my 3 kW system that is still producing 4900 kwh/year. The answer I've come up with is I can probably make this existing system better serve me for possibly another 10 years by doing a couple of things. But the main one is to drive the Prius Prime in gasoline mode most/all of the time during a couple of really hot months and maybe a couple of months in the winter when I typically use more than I generate. It's that or spend $25K now on a new larger system that won't really payback for a long, long time. Being able to have the car default to what I like would be a convenient option, since I find I sometimes forget, hit the freeway and use up all my charge at times. Instead I'm just making a sign for the car to remind me to hit the HV button in extreme weather conditions, lol. If I was not retired and driving more I would probably put the larger solar array in now and drive the Prius in EV as much as possible, which is what I've been doing up until now.

 

You can always leave the front defrost on

 

Up here; local libraries and city buildings has free chargers. Most of the time; cheap-skate Tesla owners are monopolizing them. Our utility charges $0.12 winter and $0.14 in the summer; up to $0.35 in the highest tier.

 

I resemble the cheap skate Tesla owner. Further, I'm a frugal Prius Prime owner. Thanks for the complement

Oh, the F18 is neither cheap nor frugal.

 

I've seen an empty gas station, and one across the intersection with lines that was just a penny cheaper per gallon.