Is it better not to?

We've just had a nice discussion on how to accelerate. Perhaps you could try this link:

http://priuschat.com/forums/best-way-to-ac...highlight=floor

 

Some folks assert that you get better mpg if you avoid using the battery, because of the inherent inefficiency of batteries. (Energy is lost to heat both when charging and again when discharging.)

However, the Prius is a hybrid. It's designed to fully integrate the gas and electric components into a single system. At the heart of it is the use of a small engine, appropriately sized for the majority of driving conditions, and the use of an electric motor (MG2) to provide additional torque & power for those brief periods when the engine is inadequate. Acceleration is the principal condition when the engine would be inadequate on its own.

So to answer your question, no, it is not wrong or bad to see energy flowing from the battery during acceleration. That's what allows your car to perform like a car with a much bigger engine, while burning only half as much gas.

A courteous driver does not hold up a whole line of cars behind by driving as though his Prius was underpowered. And not everybody agrees that driving that way would actually save gas, since the simplistic analysis that considers only battery inefficiency ignores so many other factors, such as the characteristics of the PSD and engine.

 

Agreed. If you wanted to save gas by driving as though your car had only a 110 horsepower engine (and no electric motors) you would have saved a lot of money by buying a Kia.