Eco vs. Normal: HV vs. EV

Which mode in HV was doing this?

 

I noticed the same thing in my friend's Conventional Gen 4 Prius.
That is, in Normal Mode the ICE runs substantially more of the time than in ECO mode.
On as aside I've been running State Farm's "Drive Safe and Save" monitor.
Currently I save about 30% on my car insurance.
Things it "dings" you are are Fast Acceleration, Fast Stops, Fast Turns etc.
It will show you when you are speeding (more than 8 mph over the limit) but it's not a "ding"
unless you go over 80 mph.
I found even in ECO mode it's difficult to keep from getting a demerit for Fast Acceleration. It takes
concentration especially if the limit is 25 mph.
FWIW.
J

 

is eco anything more than throttle mapping in prime?

 

could it just be that it's easier to not call for the engine because eco requires so much foot pressure?

 

almost like it is trying to maintain a higher temperature

 

but eco doesn't suppress hvac in gen 4/prime, correct?

 

in gen3, there's no switch. so eco automatically suppresses hvac. in doing so, the engine has a lower coolant range, and comes on less and for shorter periods of time.

if you have it switched off, that kills my theory.

 

On different thread, I was testing PRIME's capability to preserve EV SOC when driven exclusively under HV mode. Then, I noticed that although PRIME loses a bit of SOC at start-up and EV drives even on HV mode, regenerative braking used under HV is sufficient to recoup all of lost SOC, thus I was able to bring back SOC from starting at 91% back to a full charge 100% under HV mode.
MPG in Hybrid Mode | Page 6 | PriusChat

Turns out when I did this I had changed my usual ECO mode to NORMAL mode inadvertently and did not notice the change. I have not tested the regenerative capability under ECO mode yet, but it is true that under NORMAL mode in HV, the car was much easier to get out of EV and start the ICE. I usually drive to maximize EV range, but if you are trying to regen the SOC without using CHARGE mode and want to recharge all the way to 100% SOC, NORMAL mode maybe the way to drive.

 

I tested regen in EV in both ECO and NORMAL modes, flat stretch of road, 2 ways to eliminate wind, etc. Zero difference in regen noted between the two modes.

 

There may not be any quantitative differences in those two modes. My thinking is that under NORMAL mode, it is much easier to get out of EV range and accelerate the car into the RED zone and then coast in EV to charge. I have not tried this under ECO mode, but I think I would have to push much harder to get out of EV zone due to lower throttle response. This qualitative difference makes NORMAL mode much easier to manipulate the the regen result one wants out of the car. Let me test this hypothesis on my way home today.

 

If I am going to the city, I keep it in EV mode until I reach the interstate, then switch to HV once I get up to speed. That way, I have EV miles to use in the city or in traffic. If I am just driving in town, I obviously keep it in EV mode, same with the state highway where I go 50mph or less.

 

I seem to be getting around 70 mpg in the ECO mode in HV driving -- both city and highway -- if I'm gentle on both pedals. Does this sound about right?