EV Auto or HV mode for long drives?

If the trip is by highway or freeway, best thing to do is use EV until you get to the highway, then switch to HV. Once you are withing the remaining EV range of the destination, go back to EV.

 

My understanding is that HV mode is effectively a "battery hold" mode, meaning that it it is intended to keep your battery charge about the same while it's in that mode.

I've been thinking that, independent of fuel economy, the best bet for a long trip is to charge up your battery and then take your long trip in HV mode. The advantage is that, if something entirely limited to the ICE (say spark or fuel injection) the should fail, you could still use EV mode to get you to the next repair shop, or at least hotel.

I should clarify that I'm partly speculating here, in that, if a failure limited to ICE operation should occur, there's still no guarantee that they won't just throw in the towel and shut down the entire drive system, or put it into "limp-home mode," so to speak, even if the failure has no effect upon its ability to function in EV mode.

 

'switching to ev auto quickly depleted the battery'. this is a very interesting report, compared to the 'ev auto' thread.
mr88cet is correct, if you drive hv, it won't use much of the wall charge. maybe 10% or so.

 

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but why would anybody believe they could outthink the computer that makes the decisions in EV mode? Unless you are making short enough trips to stay well within the limitations of running on the battery only including AC and heating when you run out of battery, you're out. Does it really matter where and how you use it?

For me, the biggest advantage of driving this care is the huge reduction in my stress level. I prefer to just let the car do it's thing. Between the fantastic headlight system, the radar assisted cruse control, the backup cross traffic warnings ... I haven't had to yell at another motorist for weeks.

YMMV.

 

Why?
EV auto is still EV driving unless there is a very high power demand, and return to EV afterwards.

 

wouldn't ev mode do the same? that has been the complaint, if you press too hard on the pedal.

 

EV Auto kicks into ICE when high speed is needed. EV mode kicks into ICE a lot sooner and more often based on my driving.

 

Humans, and the driver in particular, know a little more about the future than the computer. You, for example, know that your entire trip will fit into one EV charge, after which you'll recharge, so there's no need burn any gas in order to preserve battery power. You know that the next 5 miles will be slow and go, so there's no benefit to keeping the engine warm. So forth...

 

this is interesting. so ev auto keeps the ice off more than ev?

 

My understanding is that usually ICE will not start in EV mode even when you floor the pedal (unless over max speed or some other extreme conditions like very low EV charge).

 

and yet, we have post #8.

 

I would think just the opposite.

 

i know, right? but this car is confounding.

 

Post #8 is in total contradiction to the manual and to what Danny and all the reporters test drives, so maybe it is not the car that is confusing

 

[shrug] ? we have a lot of learning to do, and prime owners are not that interested.

 

Well let us hope not all of them.

As for your test drive, I found this in the manual:
Also, if a little electricity is remaining in the hybrid battery (traction battery), HV mode is automatically selected.
Page 84.
I read 'little electricity' as low EV miles (say 1-3 or so).

 

sounds right.

 

That's what I've ever been doing since I'm avoiding plugging in. The EV miles stay right up there too, when I drive in HV mode.

 

For the same reason a person can use less gas than cruise control. The car doesn't know the route ahead, and is reacting to changes that could be better handled in by being proactive. Take an upcoming climb. The best way to approach it for efficiency is to speed up and build momentum before starting the climb, and then let that speed bleed off while going up. Cruise control will wait until the car starts losing speed on the climb, and then 'floor' acceleration.

When taking trips longer than the Primes EV range, the car will go through the grid charge first before turning on the ICE for the rest of the trip. The driver can turn the ICE on portions of higher steady speeds, like the highway, and end up driving more miles total on grid charge.

If you prefer to leave it all to the car, cool.