What would a Prius Driver Training Curriculum look like?

The local Department of Motor Vehicles driving manual should be adequate. Drive it like you would any other car and your fuel economy will be excellent.

 

Simply drive the speed limit to get maximum mpg's

 

"What would a Prius Driver Training Curriculum look like?"​

Every day I drive, I ask myself a more comprehensive question: "What would ANY Driver Training Curriculum look like for some of the incompetent and worse drivers on our roads?"​

 

Some thoughts come to mind:

1. Super Highway Mode
2. Grill Blocking
3. Drafting (reasonably)
4. Heat/Fan control and how it affects ICE

 

Drive as if you had no brakes.

Gas pedal, drive as if you have an egg under your foot.

 

In addition to teaching techniques, reinforce by classifying them:

Conserve momentum

DWB
Smart braking
Rabbit timing


Accelerate wisely

Reduce rolling resistance

Conserve engine heat

Maintain vehicle performance

Reduce weight

This takes it back to the underlying science.

 

The bar display with the little cars has been my wake up call to my own braking issues.... I am working that screen hard to keep those little cars away.... but luckily I found the Prius easy to adapt to and while my baby keeps setting levels for me to beat it is a fun ride.

Pulse and glide is my favorite Prius motion - still working to achieve my best with winter fuel and temps... did manage one day two weeks ago with a 62mpg reading on a 34 mile trip...

 

Start the class with this video tribute to the Prius.

YouTube

 

With some drivers, old habits are hard to break. I would start by showing them how they should drive ANY vehicle so they'll get better mpg's no matter what they drive. Once they've mastered that, then it's time to show what the Prius can really do!

 

That Gen II definitely deserved some movie credits... I read somewhere on line there were three Prii that played the part and one was souped up with a big ICE in the back to create the drifting moves but due to the engine the actors could not sit in it very long due to the fumes it emitted.

Gotta wonder if you get a Prius option in Grand Theft Auto...

 

Agreed. IMHO, one has to focus on driving safely and not divert so much attention to managing a machine that has comprehensive computer controls that you cannot realistically override.

 

To start, Hybrid 101: all energy comes from the gasoline, so don't try hard to keep it in EV mode.

Then onto the hypermiling. But before kstat's tips I would emphasize a couple of essentials.

Zeroth Law: never let tire pressure drop below the door jamb. That means most of the time they should be higher.
Golden Rules:
- anticipatory focus: focus in driving, look well ahead in distance all around and think well ahead in time
- buffering: try to leave much more than 2 seconds to the car in front.

The Zeroth Law and in particular the Golden Rules make good hypermilers safer than the vast majority of other drivers.

The Golden Rules help them see things earlier and act in a measured way in response to things around them, and the measured response will automatically make drivers more efficient. They're also fundamental to applying effectively the techniques that kstat mentioned, in particular Driving Without Brakes.

After seeing the results of Hybrid 101, Zeroth Law and the Golden Rules I'd introduce the other techniques in groups I call
Free Money: eliminating waste without giving up time or comfort. Light timing, smart braking, threading the needle (smart merging), eliminating idling, no creeping, smoothing stop and go, communication with signals.
Trade-offs: simple things and techniques that swap time or comfort for fuel economy. Full driving without brakes, gliding, driving with load, parking for departure, combining errands, efficient acceleration, raising tire pressures, restricted climate control use, dumping the junk, driving below the speed limit, partial grill blocking.
Advanced: techniques that need to be done right. Pulse and glide, high-speed neutral glides, full grill blocking.

Oh and something that should never be forgotten.
Altruistic Hypermiling: understanding your impact on others. What's efficient for one is not necessarily either convenient or efficient for another. You can help others save time and gasoline with courtesy and consideration.

PS if he even mentions drafting, just say no, it's dangerous.

 

One thing I would emphasize is to accelerate with flow of traffic from a stop and don't try too hard to keep the HSI indicator out of the PWR zone when doing so. Insisting on staying out of the HSI PWR zone will merely piss off drivers behind in many situations.

Some believe they are supposed to nurse the car from a stop as long as possible on EV before allowing the IC engine to take over. That is so Not how to accelerate from a stop in Prius or hybrid.

In summary, let the gas engine supply the power for acceleration, hill climbinb, higher speeds and enjoy the EV when you get it.

 

That's truly very generous of you to train someone else --- that person must think very highly of you.
You're curriculum covers quite a bit - I'm not sure how far the rabbit hole you and your friend are willing to go but since you asked - below is what you might consider adding...


1. 6 Traction Battery State of Charge display
avoiding automatic battery recharging by the ICE

3. Conserving Momentum
a. Pulse and Glide (P&G)= flat terrain, traffic jams - using mini-P&G
throttle control - eco, normal, pwr, synching the pulse with a downhill
b. (4.1) driving without brakes
c. (4.2) smart braking
d. (4.3) Rabbit timing - traffic cues to look for
e. (4.4) accelerating - traffic cues to look for
f. (4.5) braking
g. avoid going in reverse (front facing parking)
h. turning - wide turns are more fuel efficient than
sharp turns - centrifugal force loss.
i. Time shifting - driving with no traffic/traffic lights are off

4. conserving potential gravitational energy
a. Driving with load - low speed, using normal or pwr
Warp Stealth Mode using HSI (40-50 mph)
b. Driving with load - superhighway speed
c. stopping with the best gravitational potention position

8.1 reduing rolling resistance
a. matters most under 40 mph
b. tires and tire pressure
c. road surface - weather, construction, potholes and other perils

8.2 Maintain vehicle performance
a. acceleration in EV, Eco, Normal, Pwr mode
b. speed vs. fuel efficiency, i.e. hi speed kills MPG
c. cruise control - runaway prius?
d. braking
anti lock brakes - how they work
regenerative braking - how they work
what is the most effective way to
use regenerative braking?
panic stops
e. why use the "B" driving mode? or coming down
the Mountain side driving... using a Prius...
when the SOC > =7 bars the Prius will force the
electric motors on and turn off the CC to try to
keep the traction battery from overcharging
f. aerodynamic drag - roof racks, bike racks, and other distractions
g. fuel types: 100% gas , E10, E15 to E85, Octane level, hi altitude driving


8. 4. thermal efficiency -startup cost
long trips yield better Fuel Efficiency and
short trips yield worst fuel effficiency

9.1 minimized automatic coolant/catalytic converter reheating
sequence in subfreezing temperatures traffic jams by using
PWR mode.

9.2. Hot Temperature driving
a. rolling down the windows when driving...
b. climate control usage

9.4 cold temperature fuel efficiency tricks
A. grill blocking
B. using a heated garage
C. Engine block Heater
D. combining short trips into one long trip

15. Avoiding distracted driving scenarios
a. cellphone/bluetooth tech
b. navigation system
c. radio/passengers/pets

16. Emergency!
panic stop & stability contol s
jump start
changing a tire/ using the spare tire
emergency flashers
my key battery died
how to manually open the rear hatch when the battery is dead

 

I started my playing with MPGs by working the Energy monitor as I did not know how to switch screens. Got the stellar 92.+ mpgs on a 10.7 mile trip that corresponded with my Fuelly data and it almost had me faint when I shut the car off.

Now found the hybrid system monitor and the screen with the bars/little cars and am learning a bit more about driving my car... had one winter driving day with a 10+ mile trip and got 62.5 mpgs.... am learning to lay off the brakes and rejoicing when the EV light comes on...

Who knew driving was this much fun?! Five years ago I would have laughed if someone said "you will have a Prius in the garage..." Now I am passing out the Kool Aid samples....

 

I agree the car is a pleasure to drive.