driving in EV mode

You only need to use the EV mode in the rare times when you don't want to have the ICE running, and Ive found there 2 situations when it is useful

1. when the car is cold and I want to move it a short distance, using EV means that the ICE doesnt suffer extra wear with an unnecessary start.

2. coming home late at night, or leaving early in the morning when its nice to be quiet for the neighbours.

In nomal driving - when the car is warmed up, the car will work out for itself when to be on petrol or electric so the EV button dosnt add much.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(silver-machine @ Jun 7 2007, 12:07 PM) [snapback]457425[/snapback]</div>

I agree, the EV mode sems to be very "Hyped" in the US, probably because it is not stock supplied.
I use it when I drive home at night, to keep the noise level down - and thats it!

What seems to be forgotten in the EV posts that I have read is "what you borrow you have to pay back"
The hybrid battery controller tries to maintain the charging level at ~80%.
When you enter EV mode you start to use power from the battery alone, the battery will last for ~2 - 3 km (1-2 miles) then it hits the last bar and EV mode is automatically kicked out and the car returns to normal hybrid mode. This means thet the battery controller does what its programmed to do, fill up the battery to 80%. Where will it take that energy from? Your gas tank! While it is recharging the battery from 0-50% it drains a lot of current from the generator, provided from the ICE. I can see the fuel consumption doubled or even tripled while charging the first half of the battery.
In a perfect world this would be a no-win-no-lose situation but not even the Prius is a perfect word (just very close) the efficiency of the ICE is not 100%, the efficiency of the generator is not 100% etc. so in each transition you lose energy=mpg.
The trick for high milage is to use each energy source for what its best at and keep the energy transitions to a minimum.

I´m mot saying that the EV mode is unneccesary, it is useful in neighborhoods at night, in close contast with pedestrians etc. I'm saying use it wisely and don't expect the EV mode to improve your mileage.

/e

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(desertbriez @ Jun 8 2007, 12:37 PM) [snapback]458136[/snapback]</div>

Sorry, it was not my intention to kill your spirit and anticipation!

The EV mode is cool.
It is a pretty neat option to be able to cruise silently into a gas station and say "No thanks, i'm driving"
Your neighbors will love it!
You can sneak up and get a real close look at bikers before they notice you.
In Sweden Toyota has a TV commercial for Prius where a guy is driving and shopping inside a foodstore, in EV mode of course.

Install your EV mod and have fun!
/e

 

I dont want to start a new topic just for another noob EV question so I'll tag onto this one.

I understand EV is for 0-35 mph. If you go above 35 does EV shutoff automatically, or will it force your electric motor to stay on and keep the ICE off? Can you go like 60 in EV? Of course that would be bad, but just wondering since I dont have it...yet.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Slair @ Jun 8 2007, 02:49 PM) [snapback]458189[/snapback]</div>

EV mode does shut off at 35, so 34 is tops for EV mode ... using the switch, that is. Between 35 & 40 you can feather the pedal a little bit past glide and induce what you might call a "mild" EV state.

 

I have a few situations where I plan on using my EV switch.

1. I have to drive about 1 mile every day to my Park and Ride lot. It is slightly down hill. I plan on using the Ev button to prevent an engine start up on the mornings that I leave my car in the carpool lot. Since the return trip is uphill, I will run the car in normal mode.

2. I turn off of a main street and drive about .3 miles slowly to my garage. If I have a high level of charge, I will use the Ev mode to drive my car for those final .3 miles, in order to reduce the charge level of the battery.

3. In stop and go traffic, when I have a high State if charge.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(desertbriez @ Jun 8 2007, 10:37 AM) [snapback]458136[/snapback]</div>

[shrug] define "wasted". As mods go the CoastalTech EV mod is fairly inexpensive
and you get a pretty neat, oooh-wow, feature that will impress your friends and neighbors.

I'm going to echo a caution you will likely hear many times concerning EV mode: use with
prudence and restraint. Over use of EV can actually hurt your FE. When properly used you might
(but not necessarily will) get a small increase in FE. More likely it will end up being FE neutral.
Mostly EV mode shows off a nifty and unusual feature of the car.

Here are the instances where I use EV mode in my everyday driving:

1) cruising into the parking lot at work when I arrive (at this point in my commute my SOC
is usually in the green)

2) tooling around the parking lot at the grocery store. This is probably my most profligate
use of EV mode. Mostly I do it for the surprise factor as I glide silently along.

3) the last 1/8 to 1/4 mile into my neighborhood is slight downhill slope. Perfect EV situation.

Other situations: the classic moving the car from the driveway to the street of vice versa.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(desertbriez @ Jun 7 2007, 09:19 AM) [snapback]457398[/snapback]</div>

No recommendations really, but I like to use it when the car is nearly fully charged, I know I have a long downhill stretch, and intend to stop it again before the engine goes on. I drive from church which is up on 29th street on Spokane's "South Hill", more than 2 miles mostly down hill, and stop for breakfast without ever letting the ICE start. The SOC% is about as high when I get to the restaurant, as when I leave my parking space at church.

Dave M.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Jun 8 2007, 12:04 PM) [snapback]458198[/snapback]</div>

If you accelerate too quickly it'll cut off even earlier.

 

Hmmm..... I use my EV as often as I can - especially when the speed limit is 30 mph or I'm in crawling traffic.
I leave and arrive home on EV - same when I arrive/leave work.
Have had the same commute for 20 years so know all the lights sequences and every bump.
I have certain stretches that I know I can max out the mileage using just EV - I call them my green stretches - so I make sure the battery is topped as much as I can before I hit the green stretches.
Can also go into hyper stealth mode in EV = no arrows in MFD, every little helps

I use EV in car parks too.

I think its a great tool
Love it when I check in my mirror to see people staring as I swish past them by soundlessly.

Just hit 68UKmpg

 

The Prius gets ALL its energy from gas, and needlessly using EV will waste fuel due to the inefficiencies of using gas to charge the batteries. The best example of wasteful EV use is trying to go as far as you can in EV mode.

Look at how the car, when fully warmed up, manages itself: When there is little or no demand for power (steady or decreasing speed on a level or downhill) the car will go into electric mode if and only if the SOC of the battery is high. It wants to keep the battery at around mid-point, so as to have energy available when called for, but also to have headroom to absorb energy from re-generative braking.

But there are times when the car does not go into electric mode, or does not go in soon enough, even though conditions are right. Those are the times you want to use EV mode. Or times when you know you will be driving very slow, and the SOC is high, as for example in parking lots.

To answer some of your specific questions:

You can engage EV before the engine starts when you first turn the car on. Once the engine starts, you cannot engage EV for a minute or two, while it warms up a bit. After that, you can engage EV any time certain conditions are met. Conditions that will prevent EV from engaging:

Speed is over 34 mph.
You are accelerating.
The battery SOC is too low (under about 3 bars).
The battery is too hot (over about 105 degrees F).
Car has not yet warmed up enough after starting.

The car will exit EV mode on its own if:

Speed goes over 34 mph.
You accelerate too hard (which is not very hard at all).
The battery SOC goes too low (about 2 bars).
The battery gets too hot (??? Not sure about this).

You can engage EV again as soon as you are within the allowed parameters.

Summary:

Use EV mode when your speed is slow and steady, AND your SOC is high, but the car won't go into electric mode because it's not warm enough yet. Stay in EV mode ONLY while the SOC is high. Once it's dropped down to 4 or 5 bars, go back to engine use.

Do NOT use EV when accelerating, and don't try to see how far you can go in EV, unless once just out of curiosity.

The Prius is not an electric car. It's a hybrid and it will perform best when you allow it to operate as a hybrid, which means that gas and electric are working together, simultaneously, in the way that uniquely allows it to achieve its maximum efficiency.

If you want to drive more than a very short distance without using your gas engine, buy an electric car. That's what I did, and I love it.

 

Japanese hypermilers use the EV switch when they don't want the engine running, for example coasting in S1b and S3a of warming up stages.

Ken@Japan

 

The fact that the Prius gets all it's energy from gas is an important point. The only way I can see the EV switch helping in mileage would be a situation where you can increase use of regenerative energy. For instance if you run the batteris down going uphill, and then use the next hill to recharge the batteries. Once the batteries are full, any regenerative braking you could have captured, is then wasted.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Per @ Jun 9 2007, 11:01 PM) [snapback]458623[/snapback]</div>

How long have you been driving Prius?

Ken@Japan

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ken1784 @ Jun 9 2007, 12:42 PM) [snapback]458699[/snapback]</div>

According to his profile, he doesn't.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ken1784 @ Jun 9 2007, 11:42 AM) [snapback]458699[/snapback]</div>

And just what does that have to do with the discussion?
Some people on this board are just too snotty!
Why don't you stick to the discussion instead of making childish comments!