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Best "arrows" on Energy monitor screen?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by harper42, Jul 26, 2006.

  1. harper42

    harper42 Member

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    I'm new to the Prius and I'm really not certain about the Energy monitor screen. I basically understand what they are telling me. I know that the ideal screen in the "no arrows" screen, which I am learning how to do. I still have to get the feel of how much pressure to apply for the "pulse" but I have managed to do it many times. But the rest of the arrows: At first, I thought the idea was to use the battery, to not consume gas; however, I have read more of your postings and realize that it is not a good thing, as it requires too much energy to regenerate. Beyond that, I'm confused. There are pinkish arrows and orange arrows and green arrows (which seem to be good, as my mileage goes up when I see them), and they appear to be when I coast, and am regenerating battery. Could you please help me understand this screen. Thanks so much for your help.
     
    #1 harper42, Jul 26, 2006
  2. sl7vk

    sl7vk Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dulcimer @ Jul 26 2006, 10:13 AM) [snapback]292534[/snapback]</div>
    Yeah... Blue is coasting and regenerating your battery.... As well as braking or decelerating. If you are getting blue and you are going your desired speed this is ideal

    Orange is the ICE working. I've found that the best Orange to have is when It's running your powertrain and recharging your batter at the same time. At speeds around 40mph you can get the ICE to run your powertrain, and recharge your battery and get 50-70 mpg... Not bad. The yellow of course is the electric. This is really best at low speeds. If you are cruising down a street with no stop signs and doing 25-30 mph this works great. Running on electric only at 35-40 mph tends to use a bit too much battery for my liking.
     
    #2 sl7vk, Jul 26, 2006
  3. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Hurray, a fellow Hoosier!
    I use the battery when I can. Don't shun the battery. But you have to use it intelligently for optimal results.

    When I explain the car, I specify that the engine will run in order to recharge the battery. Therefore, if you use the battery too much, the engine will run more to recharge it and there's really very little you can do to stop it. So it's best to not over-use and drain it to a point lower than half if you can avoid it.

    On the other hand, at speeds above 40 MPH, the engine is most likely going to be running anyway. And as my father used to say, "if you're going to be doing something, make it worthwhile." For that reason, when I'm maintaining a speed greater than 40 MPH, I will try to make sure that the engine is turning the wheels and recharging the battery. This is actually pretty easy to do and I've found that for me, 44 MPH is my ideal speed: not 43 and not 45. Second-best, when I need to go faster, is 51 MPH: not 50 and not 52. I can't explain why these two speeds work best for me and your ideal speed will most likely be different.

    Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, such as steep hills and rapid acceleration, but as soon as those requirements are over, I aim for one of those two states.

    I really hope that helped. What's most important is that you keep in mind that what's best for me may not be what's best for you or anyone else for that matter. Once you get a feel for your car and your personal driving preferences, you will find our own zone.
     
    #3 TonyPSchaefer, Jul 26, 2006
  4. harper42

    harper42 Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Jul 26 2006, 09:02 AM) [snapback]292579[/snapback]</div>

    Thanks. That gives me another way to drive intelligently with my Prius, and it makes sense, to not only power the wheels, but to recharge at the same time. I'm learning............
     
    #4 harper42, Jul 26, 2006
  5. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Oh yeah, I have to also mention that it is possible to do this incorrectly. At all times, the goal should be to use as little pressure on the accelerator as possible and therefore, less fuel. In other words, you can maintain the same speed with the same battery recharge arrows and see radically different MPGs. The key is to continuously lift the pedal little-by-little until you are at the lightest touch possible while still maintaining speed.

    It takes practice.
     
    #5 TonyPSchaefer, Jul 26, 2006
  6. santoro1

    santoro1 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Jul 26 2006, 11:04 PM) [snapback]292960[/snapback]</div>
    As a new owner of a whopping 3 days...I am "listening in" to your conversation. Thanks for the imput. I have found that so far I tend to accelerate at a modest rate to keep up with traffic when starting from dead stop...I notice the MPG is low.. Then at around 40-45 or so, I take my foot off the accelerator for an instant and suddenly the MPG flies upward and stabilizes at about 55-60.. My first 50 + miles have all been in stop and go traffic with lots of lights. AC on low, but on constantly because of the heat and yet I am still averaging 43.8mpg on the MFD. I am sure I will improve on this, but I am impressed, considering that my two other vehicles average 21 and 23 respectively....Thanks for all your help..
     
    #6 santoro1, Jul 27, 2006
  7. sl7vk

    sl7vk Member

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    So I'm just starting to figure out that you can't glide over 40mph... Is this right? I have a hill I like to coast down on my way to work. If I regenerate I lose too much speed. So I just throw it into Neutral... Is this the right way to go about it? Speed limit is 45.
     
    #7 sl7vk, Jul 28, 2006
  8. BenR

    BenR New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Jul 26 2006, 11:04 PM) [snapback]292960[/snapback]</div>
    So true. I'll be on the highway, look at the speedometer, discover that I'm going 68 (much to my surprise, since the car is such a smooth ride), and then glance at the MFD and see current MPG in the 80s and 90s. The fact that I can sustain that type of performance is really blowing my mind. Then, of course, some jerk-o does something stupid that forces me to interrupt my fuel-saving harmony. Hehehe.
     
    #8 BenR, Jul 28, 2006
  9. troe

    troe New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sl7vk @ Jul 28 2006, 09:43 AM) [snapback]293792[/snapback]</div>
    Not exactly, you can lightly hit the gas and you will either have the battery showing the arrows or the ice, but the mpg will be at 99. the key is lightly on the gas, just barely touching it. Try it next time. If you start going too fast then go back to regen. :D
     
    #9 troe, Jul 28, 2006
  10. Autosmiler

    Autosmiler New Member

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    Actually, I was just reading up on this other topic post that says the best is to not have any arrows showing at all! It's called gliding, and here's an excerpt from this discussion which helped me to finally understand this concept:

    I just haven't been able to find a good explanation of how to do it, but from what I've gathered and experimented you have to pull ahead from a stop to get to the speed you want as soon as possible, then let go of the gas pedal almost entirely. If you release gas all the way, you get those blue arrows and you will end up coasting.

    Topic can be found here: http://priuschat.com/coasting-vs-gliding-t22622.html
     
    #10 Autosmiler, Jul 28, 2006
  11. mtsarpilot

    mtsarpilot Junior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Jul 26 2006, 09:04 PM) [snapback]292960[/snapback]</div>
    When on the highway for a long distance, is it better to let the cruise control run the car, or are you better off trying to be smart about it yourself and work the accelerator to improve highway efficiency? Is the CC smart enough to be maximally efficient?

    Joel
     
    #11 mtsarpilot, Jul 29, 2006
  12. sl7vk

    sl7vk Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pcflorida @ Jul 28 2006, 12:11 PM) [snapback]293838[/snapback]</div>
    Yes, I've done that. But I've seen bars come off of my bttery when the yellows come on in that scenario, and it seems pointless to me to be wating my batter to go down hill!
     
    #12 sl7vk, Jul 30, 2006
  13. rufaro

    rufaro WeePoo, Gen II

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mtsarpilot @ Jul 29 2006, 05:28 AM) [snapback]294257[/snapback]</div>
    Well, as a still very new Prius driver (May 10, a date that I believe should be declared a National Holiday! :rolleyes: ), with one 1k roundtrip roadtrip to my credit (and a grand total of about 1700 on the odo), cruise control, sadly, is NOT the most efficient way to go. AND it doesn't work at all on a long/steep downgrade--you will just keep speeding up...Gravity: it's not just a good idea, it's the LAW! AND using the B gear cancels cruise control...

    Now I just know one of our MANY MANY techies can say much of what I just did in engineering terms, which I won't understand, and I have no doubt there still will be tech input on the topic in any case! :)

    AND the tech input will undoubtedly tell me just how wrong I really am...

    No, wait--some of that, from my own observations, is not quite right. If you are on very flat long stretch (in my case, it was chunks of CA Central Valley) cc does do pretty well. It is just when there are frequent variations the terrain that cc performance is well less than ideal.

    For my regular drives around home (southern Sonoma County/Marin/SF), on the freeway, I mostly do not use cc anymore--too much variation. BUT, regardless of efficiency, on VERY steep and long upgrades (Waldo Grade in Marin Co just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Grapevine on the road to/from LA, for two)--I WILL/DO use cc--too much else to pay attention to the speedo...Like loony drivers behaving unpredictably. MUCH easier to occasionally reset the cc than watch my speed AND them fools out there! <_<
     
    #13 rufaro, Jul 31, 2006
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