This actually points out something I realized the other day. One of the things that best helps with Prius fuel efficiency is the psychological reward the Prius gives you in the form of the bar chart/MPG reading on the MFD. It's largely the driving habits of the person behind the wheel the get the best MPG vs. the actual car. It's almost addictive to see the bars hit the 100MPG+ mark on the stretch of road you're driving after you pulse-and-glide your way along. Then again, if the car encourages you to have good driving habits, maybe it really is the car. Hmmm... Anyway, I think it's interesting the kind of mind games hybrid cars play with you. I'm sure the effect of visual rewards on the driver is intentional in the engineering, which is another reason I find cars like the Prius so brilliant!
You're right. The engineers gave us the info screen so we can make the best use of the technology they built in to the Prius. The more we know, the better we can do. The great thing about the Prius display is that it is THE dominant part of the entire dash display - as it should be.
DH had a hycam customer who was absolutely obsessed with seeing that "excellent" message during each trip. he got a real kick out of that guy.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ May 26 2007, 09:27 AM) [snapback]450424[/snapback]</div> That "Excellent" message comes on when your average for that drive (the time you turned on the car to the time you shut off) is 35mpg and higher.
I can see it now, just like a great many of those video games nowadays Ranking... *drumroll*..... B-CLASS!
