"Coast" Button

But that would take all of the fun out of it.

As has been stated, the car will glide already. It's a matter of skill and practice. Putting in a button would take all of the fun out of it.

You too can pulse and glide

 

I'd take a coast button. But I'd be really happy to just be able to swap the D and B positions!

 

F'krissake, just learn to go between neutral
and drive without really thinking about it. The
shifter is so close to the wheel that you
can steer and lightly rest a finger or two on
the shift knob ready to pop right back into
D when you want to start regen-drag again.
.
_H*

 

From the article in your link:
On August 7, 2005 five men took an unmodified Prius nearly 1400 miles on a single 12.87 gallon tank of gas. That’s 109 mpg! They did it by using a technique called “Pulse and Glideâ€.
Where did 12.87 gallon come from?

 

Well if we have to stick with what we got, we should at least change the "N" labels to say
"G" so then we'd be legal everywhere.

 

is it harmful to swich to N while driving and back to D about 3-4 times a day?

 

Sid,
I confirmed that they overfilled the tank including the charcoal emissions cannister.

 

I Don't believe that the Prius has a charcoal cannister to trap vapors. The bladder does away with the need for it.

 

This article You too can pulse and glide says "When Gliding above 40 mph, the Prius’ engine spins, even when it is off, which creates extra drag that reduces the distance the Prius can Glide. "

I have been able to get NO Arrows indicating I am Gliding on my MFD going over 42 MPH.

So....I am thinking that the MFD could do a better job if there was indication when I hit a speed at which the ICE spins, so I could achieve 0 drag.

I assume the new upcoming Costal Mod "Brake/Engine Run Indicator" () won't be able to tell us when the ICE is spinning as opposed to running either.

Does anyone agree this would be useful information?

Al

 

I want a tach and temperature gauge as a minimum.
Car has too many lights already.

Battery current would be nice too.

 

Although a “Glide Button†would be a good idea . . . sort of . . . wouldn’t a “Glide Button†just be another goofy “fix†for a built in software design flaw? Wouldn’t it be better/easier/cheaper if Toyota just reprogrammed the accelerator pedal not to be so damn touchy?

Even on my first Prius test drive, I had noticed how touchy it felt. Just going over a bump in the road is enough to knock your foot out of the narrow Glide position, or from EV to gas . . . not good!

If I were King of Toyota, I would have the accelerator reprogrammed to the following specifications:

If starting from a dead stop:
The first 25% of pedal travel would be EV only - if conditions and rate of depressing pedal allow. This of course would also have to take into account starting from a dead stop on a steep uphill by allowing the gas engine to start too.

While already moving:
The first 25% of pedal travel would be Regeneration . . . from full Regen with you foot barely on the pedal to a slight Regen when you near the end of the first quarter of travel.

The next 15% would be the Glide range.

The next 25% would be EV (if conditions don’t require gas). Going from a slight boost to full electric only boost as you near the end of the range.

The last 35% would be “give it gas too, because I want to move, now!â€

To me the current accelerator programing seems to be too dependent on fine motor skills. I feel it would be better to change the programing to be a little more gross motor skills, and bump in the road, friendly.

Many people equate a touchy accelerator with the car having a powerful motor. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is a marketing ploy, not a “we can’t contain all that power†problem.

Jet aircraft and locomotives don’t have touchy throttles . . . neither should the Prius!

We do more things with the Prius accelerator pedal than a regular car. We should be given an accelerator pedal which takes into account the added tasks of Regen, EV, Glide, and "dead-band" accelerating . . . not just a pedal that mimics old technology cars.

I think Toyota, in its efforts to make the Prius feel like a “regular†car has shorted us on the ability to easily control this new technology, and also the ability to receive the maximum benefits that this technology can provide.

 

I don't think Toyota would ever put a glide button in the Prius. I think they want to make it work for the mainstream driver who is just going to drive the car. They are not going to pulse and glide. Rather they are going to punch the throttle and keep up with the Jones's and their SUV's. I personal just drive mine but keep the speed below 70 and get a nice 48 to 50mpg that I am very happy with. I would rather they concentrated on a better stereo, handling and some after market accessories that are not just available in Japan.

 

Oh, and why not mention this to Coastal Tech? I think they have a spot on their web site for suggestions. It might only take two or three years to be developed.

 

And another two or three years for delivery...

Tom - the Prius has a tach, temp (many), aux battery voltage, HV Battery voltage, HV current meter... and many more sensors that are available on the CANbus.
I'm working on some software to watch the CANbus. But that's another post...

 

I have used my Autoxray to watch some of this stuff, but a nice instrument panel with CAN data displayed full time would be great. I'm leaving room on my dash beside my Garmin Nav system.

 

I DO have a glide button, but its labelled 'N'. For the amount of time you'd be gliding, no harm would happen. All you are doing is disabling any power to come from/to any of the MGs.

I can't get it to glide over 30 or so MPH.