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Prius > LA traffic

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by errantneuron, Aug 12, 2011.

  1. errantneuron

    errantneuron New Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I bought my Prius 3 last Saturday, and words cannot express how thrilled I am with this engineering marvel. It has changed my life!

    Every time I think I have it figured out, it comes up with new ways to surprise me. Today's was remarkable: 86.0 mpg for a 16.6 mi trip in LA rush hour traffic. (I realize pump mpg will be lower.)

    I used P/G on the jammed freeway to great effect. I kept an easy gliding speed of about 10-15mph. I would use electric motor pulses to ~20 when the gap in front of me opened up a bit but the cars ahead were stopped, and ICE pulses to ~30 when the gap widened more and cars were moving, or there was a small uphill ahead. I only used the brakes a few times, and then lightly. I never had to hard stop.

    Question, related to the bold statement: Is it ever a good idea to use an electric motor pulse? Sometimes I want a little speed, but I don't want to start the ICE. So basically, if you have to do something less than a high-load ICE pulse, is a low-load ICE pulse better or worse (or depends?) than a high-load electric motor pulse?

    _

    This is a breakdown of the four-segment trip. Outisde temp ~79. Tires filled to factory psi. Battery started and ended the trip at 6 bars of charge.

    Segment 1: Vermont Ave. Distance: 4.6 miles. Elevation drop: 67 feet. Windows open. Average speed: ~10 mph. Average mpg: well over 100 mpg. The ICE was on at the beginning for a full warmup cycle and after that only twice, to pass a bus and to cross Wilshire on a yellow.

    Segment 2: I-10 (jammed). Distance: 8.3 miles. Elevation drop: 22 feet. A/C set to 77, fan at 1. Average speed: ~10-15 mph. Average mpg: ~100 mpg(!!!)

    Segment 3: I-10 (open). Distance: 3.3 miles. Elevation drop: 22 feet. A/C set to 77, fan at 1. Average speed: 55 mph. Average mpg: ~55 mpg.

    Segment 4: 0.4 miles of surface street driving at low speed, A/C off.
     

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    #1 errantneuron, Aug 12, 2011
  2. robby3

    robby3 Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Switzerland
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    My personal experience is that MPG dpends on the location of traffic. We had a stop&go for 30 minutes a little up hill and the ICE went on about 3 times. I switched to AV mode what allowed me to accelerate more without kicking the ICE in. Another day I sat in teh same trafiic again and I idid not use AV. The ICE kicked more in and the battery dod not get depleated like in AV mode. But I haven't seen any difference in MPG (bad 40mpgs in traffic).

    It was a total different story in traffic going downhill. The ICE only kicked in once in about 35 minutes low speed 10-15km/h driving. MPG war very high during this time.

    So to give an idea for an answer, use AV mode if you don't want the ICE kick in and have the ability to have a decent acceleration up to 49km/h speed. The batt will then get depleated faster and the iCE kicks in to load it and not to drive the car. But as said, I haven't seen a differencein the same traffic.
     
    #2 robby3, Aug 12, 2011
  3. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Very nice :)

    I only get that kind of MPG going downhill. Traffic jams can potentially inflate your MPG pretty high. Especially if you can pulse and glide.
     
    #3 F8L, Aug 12, 2011
  4. ItsNotAboutTheMoney

    ItsNotAboutTheMoney EditProfOptInfoCustomUser Title

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    I don't think you should really "pulse" on EV. EV's best when you're at lowest load. When on EV you want to accelerate slowly. I've read that up to about 17mph can be OK in the Gen 3. So, if you hold it a little longer for the 20mph it's probably OK given that you'll avoid turning the ICE over, but if you'd be at the higher end of the EV zone in order to accelerate, you're probably better off with an ICE pulse.
     
    #4 ItsNotAboutTheMoney, Aug 12, 2011
  5. GSW

    GSW PRIUS POWER

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
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    Hi errantneuron and welcome! Yes I pulse and glide the ICE when I have enough room in heavy traffic. It helps keep my HV battery charged. I also do a slow pulse sometimes with the electric motor, but rarely a quick pulse.
     
    #5 GSW, Aug 12, 2011
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