I've now had my 2013 Prius v Two for a while now and I absolutely love it. It's such a wonderful car! One thing that drives me nutty, however, is the fact that EV mode automatically drops off at 25 mph. Is there a way to force EV mode to stick to a higher speed? I'd love to bump it up just a tad, even to just 30 mph. Does anyone know of any way to do so? Thanks!
Yea and no. In my G3 I can moderate the throttle and keep the ICE from playing up to 40mph (42?) ---actually more easily done for me in Normal mode than Eco. I think that Prius drivers call it stealth glide, or something like that. This isn't really "EV" mode, which is valueless for the car unless you want to reposition it in a driveway without starting up the car, or sneak up on a cat---and cats always hear the tires at the last second anyway. True efficiency lies in forgetting about the battery altogether and concentrating on throttle and brake. Good Luck!
Forget that the "EV" button even exists. "EV Mode" is available to you all the time using throttle control. Its exactly the same thing that the "EV" button offers below 25mph. The EV mode indicator works up to 47mph, but in fact there is a functional EV mode working up to about 68-70mph - it just doesn't light up the EV light. Forcing EV mode beyond what the system normally does doesn't save you anything, it just discharges the battery and costs you gas to recharge. Pulse-n-glide technique will get you EV mode near to 1/2 the time and result in maximum efficiency.
I never use the EV button, that is a gimmick. While the v will not go into EV mode at as high a speed as the Liftback, due to a different 'rear end' gear ratio, I can get it in EV at 37 MPH, briefly. If I drive for over 20 miles at 55, then slow into a city without stopping, I get about 3/4 miles of EV. It is interesting but not all that useful, remember all that energy still comes from gasoline, Unless you have a Plug In, it HAS to come from gasoline.
Once ran out of gas in my 2008 at 60 mph and the car drove two more miles at highway speed to the service station. Light show on the dash. The HV battery was absolutely flat but after refilling it started but drove with very little power until the HV battery charged enough.
