How quickly to get up to speed?

The simple answer is -- YES

Actually there is no simple answer. I have tried the pulse method where you accelerate fairly hard (maybe 3/4 full) and then coast versus the very gradual acceleration method and have not noticed a significant difference on a full tank of gas basis.

Until you have experience it is probably best to just drive like a normal car and watch what the computer does. Over time you will develop a strategy to try to do better by observing the terrain and the traffic which it is not capable of doing.

Generally you don't want to drive in electric only mode as you suffer a penalty in converting electrical energy to mechanical energy and then another penalty in converting mechanical energy back to electrical to recharge the battery. There are significant exception to this. If you are in a hilly area it is possible to use the electric on flat areas and then reclaim "free" energy when you go down a hill. Also I find that I try to use electric only in my development for the last mile to my house as I know when I start the car up in the morning it will run the engine anyway to heat it up so I let it charge the battery while it insists on running anyway. Remember YMMV

 

if you are not good at coasting.. or generating electricity through braking, then start of slow. If you know how to coast once up to speed or know the tricks for long periods of braking so you can make good electricity gain.. then use the 3/4 method.

in the long run. it's better to just drive the car and not fiddle with the little things. do what's most comfortable to you. then adapt tiny things here and there to get better mpg.

 

Someone more knowledgable than myself posted that the most efficient acceleration was when no arrows were going to or from the battery.

 

While that may be the most efficient, one should not be afraid to have energy coming from the battery when you need to accelerate hard or climb a hill - that is what it is there for.

 

Agreed. You can also turn off the MFD and just drive the car normally and still do very well.

 

Using the pulse method made me dizzy!

 

Don't mistake "most efficient" for best way to do it! If you aren't using the battery-motor power you can say it uses no energy and is therefore 100% efficient in effect! But it was put there to be used, and generally the car computer knows best when to do so.

I regularly accelerate and purposely have arrows going to the battery.
I also try to use the no arrows method, depending on other factors.
And sometimes arrows from the battery is clearly the best.

Some of the comments presented seem to forget that you can't turn off the battery usage, it has a set point it will go to, and though you can affect when it charges or discharges it will do it somewhere. When I cruise along at 55 there is no such thing as no arrows on level highway. Cruising at 40 mph I will wind up with battery mode and motor much of the time. So setting the arrows is a matter of helping the car to choose the best places to charge or discharge. You know things the computer can't like the terrain and traffic conditions ahead down the road.

Think in terms of where you want and will need the battery level, and if you use power whether the replenisment will be effectively free, and the goal of keeping the engine off as long as possible. Engines that are off use no gasoline. And a too low battery can make engine run when it isn't otherwise needed.

But this is all separate from acceleration rate!

No arrows is not an acceleration rate. You can get lots of no arrows points at lots of acceleration rates from very slow to quite fast. Just press the accelerator a bit more and then let up a bit and you have a higher power and rpm step and a new zero arrows acceleration point!

My best route to work I generally try to max battery charging going up hiills. This is because almost the whole rest of the trip I am on engine off battery power mode. it is the only place to get recharges! If hills were steeper and I was in danger of getting 10 greeen I would have to adjust this procedure!

Recently I drove from Boston area to central MA and got this experience first hand.
I got 10 green bars and I had to work to use battery power before the car just cycled to throw it out the window! Forced me to modify my normal techniques. Lots of people have posted that terrain matters, but it needs emphasizing that this explains some of the different techniques people use successfully.

Very slow acceleration is generally the lowest loss way to accelerate, but just too slow for most people. Brisk is great for pulse driving. Medium acceleration which probably lots of auto test writers and typical drivers would do is likely the worst. At least the curves I remember had two peaks one at 1/3 power and the second up near full power like 70-80%. In between was a dip.

When I say slow acceleration is best I mean setting the accelerator once to match what you need for final cruise speed and let the car slowly reach that. Obviously you need that much to cruise, and pushing any extra for any duration clearly feeds the car extra gasoline!

Finally consider that acceleration rate is somewhat minor in mpg effects. I live in a heavy traffic area and I rarely get to choose much about how I accelerate.
I still think I get pretty great mpg. I don't get over 60 like some, but it could be because I do more highway driving. Driving at 65 mph on flat road I never get mpg bars of 60 so I can only get a 60 mpg tank by staying off the big highways! For me this is not practical.
But with more 40 mph roads I could get over 60 no problem, at least in summer.

Currently I am getting 56. Driving 70 mph on a trip I'd be happy with 50 mpg. Acceleration rates effects are generally hidden in the mud. A few degrees change in temperature or a windy day has more effect.