Manual Pulse and Glide at Slow Highway Speeds

Does the ICE in the PiP turns at speed above 40 mph? With the standard Prius, the ICE would turn at speed above 40 mph even though no fuel is pump into it. If the PiP behaves the same way, I doubt you would get good result from P&G at highway speed. In addition, the wind resistance is too great to make it worthwhile.

 

Is there a policy saying the forum is only for positive comments. I would apologize if I said something that is not true. If there is such a policy stating I'm only allowed to give positive comments, I will comply.

Before I purchase my Prius, I was glad that people were making negative comments about the Prius as long as they were true. I would buy a PiP as soon as I feel the price is reasonable for me. I would buy any EV's if the price is reasonable for that matter.

PS: Aren't the PiP owners spending too much time in the Prius forum?

 

PiP HV mode - 46 mph
PiP EV mode - 62 mph

You can accelerate to 62 mph in HV mode and glide with engine off in EV mode. You need to press the HV/EV toggle button. I find it fun like manual transmission. I am shifting between HV and EV modes.

I do it to keep the engine/coolant at operating temp so I won't get hit with (near) cold start warmup later on. This is an advance technique and hard to quantify the benefit. I find it fun to manually manage both power sources by using them when they are most beneficial. It keeps the drive interesting and enjoyable. Of course I can just leave it in EV mode and "just drive it" but that will be boring.

 

How will you make sure both trips use the same number of EV miles? Perhaps, just charge it up to a few miles.

 

Ok, that's fine. You can do that test first.

I think part of the benefit is to extend the glide (depending on terrain) with some electric. So you minimize the engine start/stop penalty.

 

I'm reasonable confident in the following (just my own) opinion: at highway speeds 'driving with load' (DWL) is effective. All the other tricks -- and particularly P&G -- is a waste of time and effort.

P&G below 45 mph is the cat's meow.

 

There is smaller window to glide as the air and rolling resistance is about 15 hp. The gas engine can be at optimal BSFC at 15hp.

It may just come down to the friction loss of ICE vs MG1 (at higher rpm).

 

My argument, which is admittedly reasoned and not backed up by quality data, is that the ICE is still beholden to the transmission (in the Prius case, an e-cvt) to enter a low rpm, high torque condition. More time spent hunting is less time in that magical 38% efficiency state.

Years ago Hobbit wrote that his highway fuel economy reached a peak when he stopped messing around and just let the Prius enter into 'overdrive' (high gear in a manual.) To that I add: get there, and stay put.

Gentle rolling hills in a car that can glide at the speeds driven would be an exception to my 'just DWL it!' rule.