I recently purchased a 2012 PIP and have just now received the plug-in equipment. I have viewed many articles on the subject but two questions remain. 1. When fully charged, does the charger shut down automatically? 2. When driving in ev mode, does it make sense to switch between ev and hv mode such as when climbing hills etc.? Thanks
Charging stops when complete. No need to try to "out-think" the computer on how to maximize efficiency of energy use. The one exception I would say is, if you KNOW that you will be overdriving your EV range on a trip, you can warm up the engine on a hill or a high-speed section. Just goose the go-pedal until the engine starts so you'll use gas on the less-efficient high-power-draw section, conserving the EV range for flatter or lower-speed driving.
The battery depletes pretty quickly at highway speeds. I'll sometimes turn off EV when entering a highway, to save for later non-highway portions. Probably doesn't really effect mileage or pollution in the long run, though.
Just drive the car. There's a long FAQ section here, and you can read it and learn all the little details, or you can just drive the car and it will work fine.
Just drive it...or Use EV first thing because you don't want the ICE to come on and then sit at a red light. On a drive longer than EV range...once you know you won't be stopping, manually switch to HV to start using gas. Then, once the ICE is warm you can switch to EV on slower and/or less demanding sections of your drive. Switch to EV on long downhill runs to regen more miles. Of course this will happen either way, but by switching modes it tends to keep them as EV miles available. Of course, be sure and use up your miles before you get to your next charging stop. Mike
I always begin by depleting the first 3 or so miles of EV range so that the battery has capacity to capture energy when braking. When it's full, braking just uses the friction pads to convert momentum into waste heat. EV is most efficiently used on low speed, flat, and downhill driving; any time little throttle is needed. The gas engine is most effective when more throttle is needed. The differences in MPG will be extremely small though. I switch between many things while driving just because it's interesting to me, and I try to maximize efficiency. With all my effort, perhaps I only get 5 MPG better than someone that just drove it without thinking. If you like making driving into a game, toggle the settings. If not, just drive it and know you are getting very good fuel economy anyhow.
