When do you use the EV button?

I always find it amusing when people respond to EV button questions by correctly explaining that to get a fuel efficiency improvement from it you have to know when it is beneficial, or by correctly explaining that incorrect use can actually reduce fuel efficiency, and then go on to explain the situations in which they use it which turn out to be situations where they are reducing their overall fuel efficiency.

 

Actually if you are refering to me I did not reduce my fuel efficiency. I gain roughly .2-.3 mpg every day using it how I stated in my other post.

 

With my use of the EV button I can constantly get my first 5 min bar in the 45-55mpg range or on the Can-View the first mile is 40+mpg and the next 2 miles are 50+mpg. This is because I have a short streach of slow road that I have to travel to get to another road that has a speed limit of 55mph.

When starting out from work its all city driving for about 5 miles. During this time I use the EV button to P&G between 34mph and 25mph.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Danny Hamilton @ Aug 10 2007, 10:43 AM) [snapback]493516[/snapback]</div>

Well Danny....since you seem to have all the knowledge then share with us. It is peps like you and frank that play stump the chump and never provide actual input. I believe using the EV button for the last 1/2 to 3/4 mile is good especially if you know you will be at speeds on the return trip to recharge the battery(going down hill).....remember at speeds greater than 41 MPH the ICE will run at about 960 RPM wether it charges the battery or not. At above 34 MPH EV mode is usually terminated anyway. Please mr. know it all Danny Hamilton Please Advise us of EVERY SITUATION someone should use EV to maintain higher MPG's. We want every instance that will save us fuel and not "be a situation where they are reducing thier overall fuel efficiency" Please don't take all day about it as you seem to know it all anyway. I really can not be any nicer than this. PLEASE ADVISE. We are waiting patiently.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bear68 @ Aug 9 2007, 09:24 PM) [snapback]493311[/snapback]</div>

It seems you have your answer. Your real curiosity should be to Toyota. "Why void the warranty for something that is factory equipment in all other countries?" Perhaps their claim that you'll get lower mileage is just made up to deter people from installing it. There's no liability for claiming lower performance, only claims of higher perf.

 

Like those responses from the UK, the EV switch is standard here in Australia. I use mine when visiting my mother. Something that I need do once or twice a week. She lives in a retirement village with 10 kph speed limits, but with just enough rises and falls that almost force you to use the ICE just to keep rolling. Everyone tries to keep the noise down in the village - I can just do it better than the rest .

I also use it when getting home late at night. Just being kind to the neighbours. I certainly have not seen any negative impact on fuel usage - just better mpg. I do let the ICE kick in when starting, and find that any charge used when running in EV is very quickly replaced, but still with minimal impact on the mpg.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bear68 @ Aug 8 2007, 08:02 PM) [snapback]492743[/snapback]</div>

Mine came factory-installed and I'm glad I've got it but I rarely use it. I'll switch it on for putting the car in the garage if it's parked cold outside on the drive. It can be useful in any situation where you just want to move the car a few yards.

Unless you frequently have to move the car a very short distance I doubt whether it will improve your mpg significantly but this is just a hunch. It's not worth the cost of installing in a car you're using unless you just like the novelty of it.

 

I think it was on TV I saw that the US Highlander was going to have EV factory installed?
I haven't been to PC as often as I was when my car was new but I haven't seen mention of this.

I have not installed the EV in my '06, primary reason was warranty issue.

 

No one here knows what they are talking about, but I don't want to explain why, because then someone might find a fault with my reasoning. Therefore, I will just say everyone is wrong and sit here smugly.

 

In Sweden, the EV button is a standard factory installed feature.
I use it in parking garages, and like others here, to show off at times ;-)

I also find it odd that a standard factory installed feature in one part of the world would potentially damage to the car in another country ?

 

kqu,

What is the warranty on the battery for your Swedish Prius?

 

>>"Why void the warranty for something that is factory equipment in all other countries?"

Doesn't the USA have an impressively long warranty on the battery compared to other countries? Maybe using EV mode does reduce the battery life - Toyota don't care in countries with shorter warranties because they won't have to foot the bill.

/just a guess

 

Warranty on the drive train including the battery in the UK is 8 years. I think that is the same as the US except California which gets 10.
I use the EV button on the way into work as there is a 400 yard stretch which triggers the ICE which irritates me as I will manage to be in stealth mode for almost the last third of the journey except this bit! Can't believe it makes any real difference but it amuses me to think it might! I activate it just for that stretch!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Winston @ Aug 14 2007, 07:06 PM) [snapback]495407[/snapback]</div>

Warranty for the Hybrid system in Sweden is for 8 years or 160.000 km, whichever is reached first.

 

Thanks, kqu. It appears that your warranty is the same as for most US states.

Just so you foreigners know. The warranty for the battery in California, Massachusets and a couple other states is 10 years or 150,000 miles. For the other states it is 8 years or 100,000 miles. The powertrain warranty for all states is 5 years or 60,000 miles.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Winston @ Aug 16 2007, 03:37 AM) [snapback]496137[/snapback]</div>

To us you're the foreigner B)

 

Since it takes about 5-8 mins to get the ICE into S4 @ 159 F, I use the EV button after a pulse < 34mph. The EV button will allow me to glide even though the ICE is not in S4. This reduces the wasted gas when the ICE Is running inefficiently to mainly warm the engine.

This strategy essentially stretches out S4 to 10-15 mins which warms the engine only when pulsing. I know for a fact that I have seen better mpg's, especually in the first 5-10 mins of a trip.

These time values are estimated on an ambient of ~34 F. Using the EV for other things such as gliding down a hill at the beginning of a trip and leaving/driving in and around parking garages are a no brainer too.


So when used properly, the EV button WILL increase mpg's.