I admit I was a bit fearful at first when I consistantly dragged beween 45 and 47, but the group consenus was be patient and wait until the engine was broken in - one month and 4000 miles later, I am walking around with a little 50 MPG swagger. Now a question - the EV switch upgrade is obviously not being done for show - I have an electronics background and have worked under the dash of conventional cars, and I sure don't like going in there. But for a good cause I will. If you have done the modification, what sort of gains are you seeing? Are the gains mostly from avoiding engine warm up on short (battery only) trips? Why isn't this mode simply "the standard" since the engine comes on as needed at speed or discharge? (Thanks for any help!)
Re: Wooohooo! 50 MPG realized at 4K mile mark! + EV switch 50 mpg with winter blend fuel and cooler weather is an accomplishment! I typically would get in the low 50's in the summer with mixed driving, but lately have taken a dive into the mid 40's. However the discovery of a tire at 13 psi (!) was at least part of the problem. I've had the EV switch since forever and find I don't use it that much any more. I would relegate it to the geeky novelty category. However, it conceivably could save you some mileage if you drive for very short trips and would like to circumvent the inefficient warm-up procedure.
It IS standard in Europe and Japan, but not North America. I don't know why. Not too many people here have added an EV switch but I think the concensus is that you aren't going to see any significant gain. They have said short parking lot trips are one reason. I'm thinking about doing it. If for no other reason than to reduce the frustration of having the engine run in situations I KNOW it can do EV because it has done it before! There is one trip I make 3 times a week. Sometimes I can stealth a solid mile of it, other times if the engine kicks on in the middle, I can't get it to go back to stealth even though the battery SOC is high enough. Last night I made the last mile of a different route on EV except for about 50 feet of slight incline. And the battery is all but 1 bar blue at the end because the route is generally down hill. Other times, I can't get it to stealth at all. Again, battery SOC and engine temp should be high enough. :?
I've noticed the 'smiles per hour' go way up using my EV switch! No real MPG gains...or losses for that matter. When not cold (so not at this time of year!), I use the EV mode to get me out of the driveway, down a hill and onto a faster street (35 + MPH). Then I let the engine kick on automatically when up to speed (35 MPH or so). I use it at work as I'm pulling into the parking lot at the end of my commute and then again when going home (leaving work parking lot and near my driveway) It's a great 'turn-your-head-and-look' feature. More than a few people always remark about how quiet that car was that just tooled past them in parking lots. Enjoy, I think it's an awesome (and exclusive) 'extra' geek feature. Drive fun, drive clean, drive Prius!
I'll use it to delay warm-up until I am actually driving rather than manuvering, now that morning temps are a bit cooler. No sense in running the ICE on idle than warming up at 35+ MPH
