Steering paddle for EV mode only.

They already did. It is called the Prius Prime. The Liftback is an HEV - Hybrid Electriv Vehicle, not designed to run much is solely EV mode.
The Prime is a PHEV, Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicle, with the larger battery and EV modes designed into it to support more EV driving. The Prime can be recharged by plugging in, greatly reducing the need to run the engine for many people.

 

Toyota did. It's called cruise control

 

(Your profile shows a 2015 PRIUS - I'm answering assuming that's an error)

It won't improve fuel efficiency much, if at all - forcing it into EV mode on a hybrid is, in most cases, self defeating. The only time it's really an advantage is if you want to move the car a small distance where it can prevent the ICE from starting up - I have two places I do it - one situation where I turn 80 metres past a traffic light and then it's downhill, the other is 200 metres starting from home cold and out of my slow speed cul-de-sac, after which is a hill when the ICE kicks in - but I haven't found many situations like that.

If you use up all the battery capacity by playing with EV, it means that the next time your PRIUS comes to a place where it would normally go into EV mode it says "whoops - someone has used up all my hybrid battery, I'll need to use the ICE instead - plus I'll have to keep it on longer to recharge my battery".

For most of us, and most of our driving, it's best to just drive it in an economical manner, anticipating stops, moderate acceleration etc.

You can hypermile if you want to improve your fuel use, but that's absolutely different from forcing EV Mode.

 

does prime have steering paddles?

 

I don't think so, but is has more aggressive EV modes.
I believe the Corolla S has paddle shifters for its CEV. Other than handicapped equipped vehicles, I am not sure hand speed controls are used in the US in cars.
Just to further confuse things, the thread title refers to paddles for steering.
Are we confused enough yet?

EDIT: I found a car with a hand throttle - the Model T.

 

Only for when you're afloat, I guess. I think they come with a collapsible bailer and red & green navigation lights in an optional kit.

 

Amphicar still lives??

 

Never did in my mind. They had one in Maala when I was there in the sixties. Not absolutely certain but think there were water ingress problems.

 

I actually saw them when I lived in Canada.
I remember them at a car show in a water tank and at least one parked on the street.

 

Plus - there have been many unsuccessful tries:

 

I think the confusion in this thread will be reduced if we reworded "EV" to "neutral". It's the pesky, yet useful "creep and engine brake" feature. For example, speed up to 75 mph on the highway and press a button to disengage the ICE and coast without battery or engine assist. I would love for Toyota to put that switch on the steering wheel. That way I can cruise after speeding up with the ICE on the highway without using a bit of throttle or switching to neutral and hearing that beep.

 

Running the Prius Hybrid trying to maximize EV like that will generally hurt your fuel mileage. Some people believe it can also shorten the useful life of the traction battery.
You want the EV Mode that is in the Prime that has a larger traction battery. From the Prime manual;

 

I don't see that it is necessary or will improve system efficiency.

One of the things I have notice with the Gen4 compared to my previous Gen2 is how aggressive the system is to turning off the ICE.

Even when cruising at 60mph or so I will often notice the ICE is at zero RPM (I have an Ultragauge).

If the required power demand is below what the ICE can deliver efficiently (~10kW) and the battery is at a suitable SOC it will automatically run on battery alone.

I'm sure that if I forced it to EV I would then run the penalty of the 25% energy loss from the ICE to battery and then to MG2 getting an overall lower efficiency.

kevin

 

If you are seeking to improv your mileage and reduce accelerator fluctuations, some users here are testing a product called the Smartprdal that will be released soon.

thread: (5) beta testers sought for new technology | PriusChat

Website: Smartpedal | Smartpedal

 

Yes, this is the right thread - just that your profile shows you've got a 2015.

I love the adaptive cruise control (DRCC) too - I couldn't go back to an ordinary car again.

True, the EV MODE Button is only useful in limited low speed situations - and with the relatively small battery, it would not be very useful at higher speeds.

I know what you're saying - but letting the Hybrid system sort it out seems to make little difference compared with trying to maximise the time in EV at higher speeds. My experience (on a reasonably empty highway where I wasn't annoying other drivers - which is easy to do with hypermiling) is that at highway speeds, pushing EV use to the limit drops the battery quite quickly, and when it drops, you have no alternative than to let the ICE run to charge it up. It will actually keep running at that point till it gets to at least ½ charge, even on dead flat or downhill situations.

The hybrid system is programmed not to stress the hybrid battery, and I notice that it will try to re-fill it, so it is ready for places where it can be used to best advantage.

I concur that hypermiling has an advantage over the Hybrid system's computer in that you can see the road ahead, whereas it doesn't, so there are places where you might be able to eke out a little more distance from your fuel. And, for sure, you can improve mileage by intervening - unfortunately not while using DRCC.

With 15 vs 17" wheels, I saw a few threads about changing rims (both going bigger and smaller). Check out the threads to see what they said.

 

Seems that the points are hammered home, but I'd just like to reiterate that these senior members here in this thread/forum are very helpful. They are very patient with they're responses. I was in the same situation before, thinking it's better to utilize the traction battery, but these guys led me in the right direction. Then I found plenty of old threads where these same guys offered the same responses for others. Very patient and helpful.