2023 Prius Prime - Share Your EV Mode Range, Rate

2023 Prius Prime XSE, Toyo Asencia, 36 all around, Florida "Flat", w/AC

Longest so far: 40.2 miles to 11% (estimate 45 mile range)
Most Efficient Rate: 4.6 mi/kWh (estimate 50 mile range)

 

Did the ICE start right when the ----% appeared? (The additional 5 miles were HV mode in other words.)

 

In “hybrid mode” there will be some speed under which the ICE will not start if there is more charge than some minimum. The ——% point on the prime is possibly equivalent to the battery full point of my hybrid only 2009 Prius. There the ICE only started if I was above 42 mph, or demanding more acceleration than the electric motor could supply, or the battery was only showing one bar of charge.

Out of 24 EV days, I have only had two “long” days, 39 miles at an indicated 4.3 mi/kWh and 40 miles at an indicated 4.2 mi/kWh. Both trips only got me down to 11% charge remaining.

Yesterday’s trip included some 55mph highway miles so I was interested to learn what the power consumption rate would be. When I started that segment my average (for the day) rate was only 4.0 mi/kWh and it went up to 4.1 mi/kWh during that segment, then went up further at the slower close to home segment.

As long as the EV mode indicated rate is greater than 2.84 mi/kWh EV mode is more economical than gas for me at my current gas and electric rates, but I don’t know how my close to home MPG is relative to my highway MPG. That starts to be beyond the “just drive” and see what happens philosophy that I am trying to hold to. Overthinking this will likely result in only saving pennies, if any at all. Thinking about this results in great pleasure regardless of the cost.

 

The formula I use is:
Predicted Range From Trip Change In SOC = Trip Miles / Delta SOC

With my estimate: Your "Predicted Range" = 20 / .39 = 51 miles

====== 2023 Prius Prime XSE Predicted Range Analysis ====

My "Predicted Range From Whole Day Delta SOC":

• Minimum: 40 miles (Total Indicated 3.7 mi/kWh)
• Maximum: 50 miles (Total Indicated 4.6 mi/kWh)
• Average: 46 miles at Total Indicated 4.3 mi/kWh (with AC)

Conditions Of Test:

• Number of Days In Analysis: 16
• Range of End Of Day SOC: 11% to 76%
• Start Of Each Day SOC: 100%
• Outside temp 90-96F,
• AC on 75 eco,
• Drive mode Eco,
• Regenerative Braking Setting: Highest, Memory On
• Acceleration from stop lights advanced gently ending slightly into Pwr (white segment) until close to speed limit,
• No hills - flat Florida
• Most trips 1-3 mile stop lights with 45 mph posted limit
• One 40 mile day included 10 miles at 55 mph yielding 4.3 mi/kWh rate
• 2023 Prius Prime XSE

 

That 11% is the car displayed SOC (state of charge) which is the percentage of the 10.6kWh "EV mode" capacity.

"Car SOC 11%" works out to (0.11 * 10.6) + 3 kWh HV mode reserve / 13.59 which is roughly 31% of the total battery capacity.

The totally confused Toyota App displays "44% charged" when the car says "SOC 11%".

The "not updated yet for the 2023 Prime" Dr Prius displays "SOC 27.5%".

The SOC % will read ----% when there is roughly 22% of the 15.59 kWh total battery capacity remaining, and will switch to HV mode. HV mode will sometimes display HV and EV briefly during starts using energy from the "HV mode reserve" and when coasting or braking it will put some charge into the battery.

The battery meter has a dark separator marking the bottom of the EV mode available capacity, and when the charge falls below that separator, it is possible to see that the battery level is actually made up of partial width blocks/pixels. Starting up from a stop will remove one or two pixels leaving one little nib lit at the top of the HV reserve level indication.

Where do you view this 30% value?

 

No. The app is totally crazy. It has not been updated for the 2023 battery. It is using a wrong total capacity of 14.7 kWh, and using wrong value of 10.3 kWh for total EV capacity.

A full charge of 7.21 kWh means EV mode would only be using 53% of the 13.59 kWh battery. The app is wrong about the SOC % and the power charged. The only thing it gets right is the time of the charge.

 

Correct, at least that you know of so far…

 

DRIVING TARGETS FOR 2023 PRIME OWNERS

Interesting consumption rate targets for 2023 Prime owners come from the official EV range estimates.

Prime SE 44 miles = 10.6 kWh at 4.15 mi/kWh
Prime XSE 39 miles = 10.6 kWh at 3.68 mi/kWh

(10.6 kWh is my estimate of the battery capacity available for EV mode, derived from displayed rates and SOC.)

My average EV mode rate for the first 3 weeks owning a Prime XSE was 4.3 mi/kWh (45.6 mile estimated range),with a maximum rate achieved of 4.6 mi/kWh which suggests a possible range of 49 miles “on my best behavior”. (Flat Florida suburban/town driving with AC on 75F, outside 90-95F)

Interesting to note best 2021 Tesla Model 3 reported consumption rate at 60 mph was 4.17 mi/kWh!

 

2023 Prius Prime XSE, Toyo Asencia, 39/38, Florida "Flat", w/AC on 75degF, 91degF outside, 70MPH except for 10 min stop and go for accident:

42.6 miles with 4.0 mi/kWh indicated

(42.6 miles / 4.0 mi/kWh = 10.6 kWh EV Mode Capacity)

Also of note this 4.0 mi/kWh efficiency is higher than most of the BEV tested at 70 MPH in
What's The Real World Highway Range Of Today's Electric Cars? We Test To Find Out