To those with the EV mod...

Never use the EV mode to accelerate. This is very inefficient. (Though you can do it if you find it fun and are willing to waste gasoline. You'll have to be gentle on the pedal, though, or the car will issue an EV DENY and start the engine.)

The proper time to use EV mode is when power demand is very low due to steady-speed driving on level ground AND the battery SOC is high BUT the car won't go into electric mode for whatever reason. OR when you are approaching a stop and you want to shut off the engine sooner than the car would otherwise do it. HOWEVER it's good, once the car is warm, to allow it to shut off the engine itself once, as this will encourage it to enter Stage 4 operation, where it makes the best use of its hybrid programming.

 

Daniel, what are the stages? I haven't heard of them before. Thank you for your help.

 

i asked about EV a couple days ago and got some interesting replies! i'm going to be an EV newbie when it arrives next friday!

check out "my" thread

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=3...mp;#entry458196

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bc104 @ Jun 9 2007, 09:01 PM) [snapback]458918[/snapback]</div>

http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/five-stages.txt

 

It's rarely that I use the EV mode. Mainly if I'm in a large parking lot and need to move the Prius. It isn't necessary to run the ICE during such a short trip and the amount the battery goes down generally doesn't effect the amount of time the ICE runs when I'm on the way home.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(treehggr @ Jun 9 2007, 05:27 PM) [snapback]458826[/snapback]</div>

[Everyday] Pretty much, yes. There are places where I might not have had to stop before the engine warms up enough but the car would go into EV on its own if the engine were warmed up.
[Battery depletion] No, because I don't use it THAT much On a nearly flat road at 25 MPH, I can go a mile and only drop a couple of bars. There are some VERY little rises that cause the car to drop out of 'automatic' EV. The computer doesn't know just how small or short that rise is!
[EV to accelerate] In a sense. There is one place (25 MPH) on my commute where there are 4 stop signs in 1/3 mile. Rather than have the ICE run, I force EV for that section, the battery SOC (as seen on the MFD) does not drop. A couple of the stops are so close together that I don't even get up to 25 MPH before I start slowing for the stop. I surely wouldn't use it to get up to 32 MPH just to keep the ICE off for a short time if there isn't another immediate stop.

Other places you might use it - if you have a line of cars at a stop sign but the car isn't warmed enough to stay in EV on its own. Cancel EV mode when you leave the stop sign. I also use it in big parking lots when I expect I'll get to the main road and have to sit at a signal.

I never (intentionally) let it drop the battery SOC below half before canceling EV.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bruceha_2000 @ Jun 28 2007, 03:36 PM) [snapback]469637[/snapback]</div>

Actually, you needn't worry about this. The computer babies the NiMH battery rediculously! (Toyota rightly prefers the better-safe-than-sorry approach on this in order guarantee no loss on the battery warranty.)
I read here (2nd paragraph) that the SOC display on the MFD isn't 0-100%, it's actually 40-80%. So even if you drained the battery to zero bars (which the computer will refuse to do,) the battery would still be perfectly fine. (I also own an all-electric car and got my education on batteries since in that one I routinely take them from 100% SOC to 10% and back again in a day. )