EV mode at every stop

3/4 to 7/8 is working great for me, but I personally don't think you are going to see too much change at 1/2

I actually use a little bit of them all depending on where I need my glide to start, pertaining to hills, lights, and turns.

 

That's a good point. If I have a shorter section of road between lights/stops then there is no point going all the way to 41mph/45mph so I may accelerate up to 35mph or something then start my glide. Whatever it takes to reduce ICE and battery use but still get to my next stop.

 

Great, simple advice for typical hybrid drivers! Once you've done all the basics, vehicle maintenance, tire pressures, etc, just getting experience keeping the ICE off as much as possible will give you the biggest gains. Minimizing battery use is a close second. Those two things are the same things never done by the mainstream automobile magazines and most internet auto media, and also why they get such mediocre fuel economy numbers when they test hybrids. The best part is that just by learning the feel of when the engine is off and glancing at the readout to monitor the battery and impg, you can master pretty good fuel economy without much research. You don't even have to go into the realm of the more extreme hypermiling expert strategies that might make you feel uncomfortable in terms of safety, especially if you have kids in the back!

I also have to chuckle because my wife drives a gen3 Prius and still dropped the mileage on my Highlander Hybrid the previous tank. She does very well on the highway with pulse&glide, but not as well around town when I suspect she's more often in a hurry. I only got 31mpg on that tank, but up to 39mpg on my most recent tank where she didn't drive it at all lol. I note the Highlander nearly always tells you "EV mode not available", so you often can't even turn it on manually. Even so, with careful driving, you get get the EV indicator to stay on automatically pretty well, even up to 40-45mph.

 

Does the highlander hybrid drive pretty much the same as the Prius?

 

As far as driving it to maximize fuel economy, it's similar, but the displays are quite different. On a percentage basis vs. EPA estimates, I find the Highlander does better around town than on the highway for most of the year. I seem to be able to cruise farther on EV mode in the Highlander so that may help. With the Prius, I do much better on the highway. Aerodynamics are certainly part of that.

In the winter, the Prius gets almost double the Highlander in fuel economy around town. In cold weather with all my short trips during the school year, the Highlander actually does a bit better on the highway than it does around town. In warmer months, the Prius is around 50% better, plus or minus. That's why I don't have all that many miles on the Highlander, even though it's considerably more fuel efficient than the minivan it replaced and a lot better than any other midsize SUV with AWD and a V6.

As for road manners, the Highlander is much quicker from a stop and has a quieter, smoother ride than Prius. On the other hand, it's bigger and much heavier and drives like it. There is simply no sportiness to it at all. The Prius isn't all that sporty, either, but compared to the Highlander it's pretty nimble.

I'm getting the Prius V for review in 2 weeks, so maybe that will fit somewhere right in between.

 

Do you pulse and glide at all around town with the Prius?

 

Where does it say it won't? Why is it there? Is using EV mode the means by which hybrids work and increase mpg?

The logic in hybrid is by capturing and storing normally wasted energy in the form of electricity and reusing it to the fullest one can get much higher mileage in cars so equipped....ergo the Prius.

Increasing EV mode even more, the Plug-In Prius, will increase MPG further.

Going to pure EV mode, Tesla, Leaf results in the most MPG (thought the "G's" disappear).

Do we detect a pattern of more EV mode equals greater MPG?

 

If the PiP is never plugged in it will get almost the same FE as the Gen III Prius. You are still paying for the energy one way or the other, but a lot of times it is cheaper in the form of electricity coming from a plug in than through electricity made through gasoline.

 

I do, not sure how much my wife does. She is the main driver of the Prius. For me, many times, it's pulse & coast, depending on the road and traffic and such. I've only been driving a hybrid daily for just over a year, so I'm not an expert hyper-miler, just a basic enthusiast.

No reason is given. It will sometimes be available on warm days, after you've driven a while, if the battery is full, if you are going slow, etc, but it's not like the Prius where EV override is more readily available to use.

Keep in mind that this is just the manual override to force EV mode. Even without pressing the EV button, the Highlander Hybrid (or Prius) does a good job at going into EV mode automatically and the indicator lamp allows you to keep it there with practice.

Of course, the problem is that in a regular hybrid, pure EV mode isn't available for very long, as it would be for a car like the Volt or other plug-ins. As mentioned earlier, forcing EV mode to be on may not be the best way to increase fuel economy, depending on the situation. In the Highlander, I find it works pretty well to let the computer decide, and once you know how the computer manages it, you can keep it there when you want to do so during stop and go traffic or a long, steady cruise under 40mph.

 

It is fun and you can accelerate away from a light at reasonable enough speed. I find putting car in ECO seems to allow me to apply more power at startup without accidentally kicking in the engine.

Some folks say stop at 18 mph, the EV mode will kick off automatically at 25 mph so I run it up to 25 mph. The explanation for the 18 mph seems more of guess than based on any real evidence. Toyota set it at 25 mph and they've probably done the most testing so I'll go with Toyota's setting.

Depending on traffic, you can stay in EV mode for a while if traffic is under 25 mph and that always jumps the mileage.

I have the solar sun roof (and tinting and white paint) so don't need to use the remote AC. I find putting the car in ECO mode (which I do anyway to help me make the most of EV mode) keeps the AC energy efficient. Hot days, lots of AC and my mileage is running 54-56. I think the aggressive use of EV mode at stop/starts is the reason.

After using EV mode and getting good results, I'm wondering if I should have purchased a Plug-in even if I can't plug in (parking on the street). The ability to go 50 mph in pure EV mode and for longer periods should give the PIP better mileage even if one never plugged it in and just recharged via braking and engine power as in the regular Prius.

 

It's not a "problem" in the context of using EV mode as much as possible to get higher mpg. It is how the car is designed. It is designed and built with an EV mode only button. Since EV mode, complete or partial, is how hybrids get high fuel mileage, it is reasonable to assume using EV mode button will further increase mpg. This seems borne out by driver experience. Certainly Toyota designed and built the car with the EV button to be used for that reason.

Use as intended to keep car in EV mode for longer periods up to 25 mph. It is what the button does. Use as intended and get better mileage.

 

Wow, don't know where to begin.

First, Wayne and other experts of FE have said around 18. And yes, they test these things and have reasons for all they say. Just because they have set the EV to stop at 25 doesn't mean that is what you should do. In ECO you can go in EV up to 46. Does that mean that is what they want me to do?

I'd be curious what you are averaging in MPG (with pictures).

 

Even though the "EV" indicator may not be illuminated, you can still glide and sometimes even apply a little power with the ICE off above 25 mph and even at much higher speeds. Manual override EV indicator lit or not, the computer will kick in the ICE if you accelerate too much or whatever. Running with the ICE off is definitely how hybrids get high mileage, but this benefit is still obtained even if you never press the manual override button to force the EV indicator on.

The main benefit of the manual override EV button is for when you know you are in stop and go traffic for an extended period or otherwise won't be accelerating rapidly or going above 25mph. You have information the computer doesn't and a mile or two on EV may be a big benefit. In other conditions, the computer does a pretty good job of deciding when to turn ON/OFF the ICE. You enhance that a lot by pulse&glide or coasting, even if you don't press the button.

I don't think drivers in general would observe significantly less fuel consumption on average with the plug-in Prius vs. a normal Prius if they were never able to plug it in, would they? I'm sure an individual might be able to gain a benefit, depending on their conditions, of course. A larger energy storage reservoir does let you go with the ICE off for longer periods of time, but eventually, if you can't plug-in, the ICE then has to run longer to recharge the bigger battery. I'm guessing Toyota probably picked the sweet spot for most drivers in the regular Prius, but of course everyone's conditions vary. Heck, some pro hypermilers get amazing results without any battery, just using stop/start techniques.

The main benefit I find of ECO mode is that the throttle response is much finer. That helps a lot with allowing you to glide and avoid kicking the ICE on inadvertently.

 

Almost as in 60 mpg vs. 56 mpg? That would be worth it to me. I know I often fully charge the battery so the extra battery capacity of the PIP would likely let me recover more wasted energy and get more "free" EV miles.

If the PIP came with the solar sun roof and I could reasonably expect 60 mpg vs. my current 54-56 mpg, I'd be trading in my 5 month old PriusIII/3.

 

My travel from Corning, Ny to Syracuse,Ny and back taking advantage of EV mode resulted in average 55ish for interstate drive at 70 mph and 63 for the driving between Cortland and Elmira (small towns in between with many opportunities for EV and ECO mode.)

I do have to say I had many occasions where I started with EV, got to 25 and kicked automatically to ECO and then continued increasing speed to the flow of traffic at 30-35 w/o kicking in the gas engine! I found that making sure I brake more aggressively (rather than my old glide to the light before breaking) gave me renewed battery energy to sufficiently recharge until my next EV moment and next 25 mph to 35 mph zero gas consumption "wave". Pretty nifty in my book.

For those new to the thread....this test trip was my first ever where I paid close attention to braking and EV mode.

 

Getting the most out of regen is key. As you note, not coasting to the light and then wasting regen by hard braking and not turning the cars inertia into stored energy.

I think Toyota put the EV Mode button in there to lure us into the buying Plug-ins with even more aggressive EV mode.

It worked on me, if 2013 PIP's have solar sun roof, I'm trading up even though I can only plug in at work, not at home. I'd bet driving as we are doing now in a PIP that didn't get plugged in we'd be getting 60 mpg.

 

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I TOO HAVE THE SOLAR ROOF BUT VEHICLE IS CHARCOAL GRAY....I don't think the color is as relevant as my liking AC

 

Wow, everyone please stop listening to anything Proximal has to say. He has shown total disregard for any Prius truth out there and is making his own up all the while spreading it like it is truth.

 

I gave up on him in this until we see real results that contradict my own observations. Going to 25mph can be useful but i don't see how you can do it at every stop without getting into conversion losses and reduced glide potential. For the average Joe who doesn't care about getting 60+mpg then it is still viable. I think. LOL

 

Too funny. Real results being those that confirm your "observation", unreal results being those that contradict your observations.

You have no reason for your 18mph cutoff choice yet you ignore Toyota's factory 25mph setting. Toyota seems to have spent a lot of time engineering the EV mode but you reject those setting in favor of some WAGS and self fulfilling "observation".

This from a guy who drives in a 100 deg car to get 60+ mpg vs those getting 56 mpg with AC on using Toyota's EV mode as Toyota engineered it.