Higher than normal EV miles after charging

With one years experience, I'm averaging 10 miles on a charge. My work commute is 80% highway. With the same charge, I get increased EV range on a more rural drive. I like my Prius, and any EV driving is a plus. With two plug-ins, different routes, different drivers, there will be different results. Eighteen to twenty miles EV available on a charge? What is the distance of her commute in miles? Does she actually achieve 12-15 miles ALL EV?

 

Distance is much less important than route and speed. Any thing that sucks power -- hills, lots of stops, high speeds, accelerating close to the upper EV limit -- will use power faster and cause the car to estimate fewer miles. If you switch cars, you'll find they swap estimates.

With my former standard Prius, I once shadowed a co-worker with a very different, longer commute, who regularly got 10 MPG or more above mine. With careful driving (slow starts, moderate speeds) on MY route, we were both able to achieve the same high mileage.

 

Next time you come back from Vegas save your EV until your a few miles from Mountain Springs. You need to use some before the downhill so you don't have the hilltop overfull battery ice start problem. Then EV with no heat below 60 mph all the way home. I think there is just one little hill about half way. Approx. 40 miles?
(18mph would be best but you might get shot if you tried that on that hwy)

Had a senior friend (passed on) who lived next to KNYE. Ate a few times at Irene's.

 

when you mix ev and hv, all kind of goofy things happen.

 

My first thought in reading this was that there is not a good outcome from this.

I'd try swapping cars and see if she can increase your range.

Mike

 

You are going to have some crazy EV MPGe numbers. Would be interested to see what your HV alone numbers look like.

 

Please remember that the "EV Range" indication is just an ESTIMATE. A guess. Its based on recent history to be sure, but nonetheless it's still only a guess. Toyota had to give buyers / drivers something that indicates available stored electricity but the "EV miles" display label is remarkably (overly) stolid in its communicative appearance, whereas actual EV reality is elastic.

On the other hand, perhaps an "EV battery capacity remaining" display label would be more chemically precise, but then would an average human being be able to cognitively translate it on-the-fly into meaningful information? in a new-to-market car that has to sell well enough in its 1st model year? People think of these displays as "miles to empty" which is a negligibly variable factor in a gasoline tank measurement and a grossly variable factor in a traction battery capacity measurement.

It's a fascinating problem in informatics design. Should EV range be depicted in a time-to-empty ratio? in a "miles remaining" number? perhaps it should be best depicted not on a dash display as today but as a shrinking or expanding tinted circle on the NAV display. Drive faster, the tinted circle shrinks; drive slower, the tinted circle expands...

 

it works fine for me, just the way it is. but perhaps that's because of my 65% ev ratio.

 

Exactly!
There is no free meal

 

Route Details: Pahrump Nevada, elevation ~2600ft (793m) located on Hwy NV-160.

Valley stretch is an almost straight 4 lane Hwy rising to the south at a constant slope to an elevation of ~3800ft (1160m) over a distance of 23 miles (37km) to arbitrary point where Hwy turns east. Southeast bound up the grade I didn't even try to pulse and glide (P&G) the ICE rental car, just set the cruise control. Northwest bound down the grade however is an excellent P&G opportunity. 100+ mpg possible everyday?! with a PiP or even a HB?

Mountain stretch is a definite hill climb southeast bound (due east) rising from 3800ft (1160m) to 5500ft (1675m) in 9 miles (14.5km) with the top 3 miles (5km) at 7% grade. Northwest bound and down I remember being in 3rd gear and fuel cutoff (FCO) for the steep section and some long FCO glides in D for the rest (ICE rental). I have 2 pictures, looking west from base of mountain and the Welcome to Pahrump sign but I'm getting upload errors. Maybe add later.

Well that's the Pahrump side and it definitely lends itself to some high mpg and mpge numbers headed to Pahrump. Maybe you could P&G the uphill valley section to some effect but for how much effort?

NV-160 E to NV-160 E/Pahrump Valley Rd - Google Maps

 

Potorap,

I see related posts that you have a scangauge. As you coming through a mountain pass with your ICE fully up to temperature and then EVing quite a distance, perhaps you could collect some data on the drop in coolant temperature on your way down the hill. The Effect of Highway Speed Air Cooling on Engine Coolant Temperature for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles Operated in Electric Only Mode. This would go with the discussion on the effectiveness of Grill Blocking. A set of data with ambient temperature, miles traveled, and mph from the cars display and the coolant temperature from the Scangauge would fill in a void in real world data related to this efficiency technique. If it's convenient for you to do so.

What tire pressures are you running?

How many miles of urban city stop and go low speed (<35mph) driving are you doing near your workplace? It might be more efficient overall to use some EV in town in exchange for a little added HV on Hwy 160 as you're having to use some there because of the distance.