There have been some discussions of what, exactly, ECO mode does. So far, it's been noted that: 1. The Air Conditioner is somehow throttled in ECO mode for better mileage. 2. The gas pedal is less sensitive in the lower end of its travel, so you have to push farther to get the same amount of acceleration as in Normal mode. I think I've noticed something else, now that I'm trying Normal mode: the ICE's cutoff is less aggressive than in ECO mode. That is, you can let off the gas and, depending on speed, etc, the ICE will not immediately cut out. I particularly noticed this today when turning into a garage and the ICE -- as indicated by a low instantanouse MPG indication -- stayed on for 4-5 seconds after I'd completely let off the pedal. I've been driving exclusively in ECO mode for over a month and I'm used to the MPG immediately shooting to 100 within a second or so of letting completely off of the gas -- indicating ICE off I believe -- and really shocked me when the MPG stayed at 50 for 4-5 seconds. Anyone else noticed this?
The 4-5 seconds idling is the new idling check ceremony after complete warming up on the 3G Prius. Ken@Japan
The 2G Prius idling check ceremony is required a complete stop or very slow less than walking speed. Ken@Japan
I noticed slight pauses in ICE cut -- say 1-2 seconds -- a couple of times during the day, this was just so long I feared something was broken. It came at the end of a 12-mile drive, so I don't think it was directly related to warmup. Of course, Mr. Prius might've been a little cranky and not realized he was warmed up until he was about to be parked. I've not experienced anything like it in a month of ECO-mode driving, so it seemed like it was perhaps a Normal mode thing.
I have not noticed the shut off as being unusual (as compared to my old TCH). However what I have noticed as compared to my TCH is that the Prius will "hold" to EV mode a lot better than the TCH. If I lift my foot and reapply throttle I can go up a grade that previously my TCH would have kicked on the ICE. The Prius seems to be able to manipulate a lot more than the TCH. Yesterday I drove into town. On the way back I took a long route just to experiment. It's a rural road (a typical WV road with small rolling hills) with little or no traffic and the limits run 25, 35 and 40 most of the way. I went into town and on the first 4.5 miles my avg was reading 99.9. I was getting down to a couple of energy bars left and was curious then on a little bit longer drive when my ICE would need to come on, what would happen to my milage. Rather than repeat the trip I took the long route. The ICe would only run a short time to bring me back up a few bars, never to the higher levels though. I was getting 85+ mpg. By the time I got back to my garage (it's a quarter mile up a steep hill) I had a little over 70 mpg for the 11 mile trip. I typically average about 47. I can see though with a little practice and if you lived in a low traffic area with lower speed limits in flat land, this thing will perform unbelievably well.
I just bought a 2010 Prius iV. I read the manual which states as long as the traction battery is charged, you can drive it on EV (battery only) for up to 1 mile as long as you dont exceed 25mph. Everytime I try this, when I hit 10mph, it turns off as unavailable because "exceeded allowable mph" What am I doing wrong?
I can get up to about 20mph but anything over shuts off EV, It doesn't necessarily start the ice but the EV mode shuts off.
It also appears you can get bumped out of EV mode my pushing too hard down on the accelerator. I've been using EV on the last mile home in my neighborhood and noticed today going up a hill it kicked me out when I was trying to accelerate up the hill.
Where exactly is the "hybrid system indicator" showing when you get kicked out of EV? From what I gather the centerline isn't necessarily a hard visible limit, it's a little variable. . _H*
