I,ve had my prius a week plus now and am getting the hang of P/G. But I have noticed that when I'm glidding with very light throttle pressure the ICE will still come on. So I have been lifting off the gas again to turn it off and continue glidding. Does this sudden on/off cause a problem for the car? I mean I can feel the jump everytime the ICE come on and goes off, It feels like it may wear out engine mounts pretty quick. Should I just take advantage that the ICE is on and accelerate for a hwile B4 glidding again?
No, you won't damage the car. YOu're probably putting a little too much pressure on the accelerator if the ICE keeps coming on...watch the Energy screen (when safe to do so) and make sure you're in a "no arrows" condition when gliding.
wait a minute, I may be doing something wrong. When I glide, I hold down just enough acc pedal to keep the yellow arrows driving the front wheels but no orange. This will usualy maintain speed or just barely drop MPH. That is not correct? I thought when no arrows are present that was "Dead Band"? Some one please explain.. :blink:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hoyosilver @ Nov 12 2007, 01:04 PM) [snapback]538508[/snapback]</div> When you see the arrow you're technically in what we call stealth. You're giving power to the wheels and actively draining the battery to do so... It's certainly OK, during a glide, to give it a little 'juice' to get over a rise or to extend the glide for a specific goal. A true glide shows no arrows...there's some small passive battery drain during the glide (~6 amps or less). Dead banding is when you're using the ICE but there're no arrows to or from the battery....we used to think this was a useful efficient state but current thinking is that it's not ideal.
So here is the question..(Sorry if it's been beat to deat in another thread) Is it more efficient to be in stealth mode or to be gliding with no arrows..
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hoyosilver @ Nov 12 2007, 05:47 PM) [snapback]538560[/snapback]</div> Gliding with no arrows, for sure. You are essentially moving along at infinite MPG under the shear power of momentun and gravity. The next best alternative would be stealth, almost infinite MPG, but that electric power did come from previous gas usage. What's cool is you augment, or extend glides with stealth, and as the topography allows, return to gliding. With the right SOC I can sustain that type of driving for the 3 miles from interstate exit to my house/work everyday. Huge impact on overall MPG. Same technique can be applied to rushhour traffic, if you keep enough spacing with the cars ahead. In the time and distance they mindlessly accelerate/stop... accelerate/stop....Im just gliding in from behind and as they accelerate........pulse or stealth forward and glide again, all seamless, without braking or loss of energy. Or use of gas.
Site crash deleted my first (fantastic) post...in any case the short verson is that gliding is probably more efficient, but you need to do what's necessary based upon the prevailing conditions. Also you shouldn't worry to much about those details yet...take a few months to find the best route to your regular commute, learn how the car behaves under various times/conditions. And have fun. You can go to cleanmpg.com in a few months to start learning the serious hypermiler techniques.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hoyosilver @ Nov 12 2007, 08:43 AM) [snapback]538334[/snapback]</div> Your probably still in stage 3a mode. Accelerate to ~36mph and then try again, the ICE will "fake" S4 mode if you start your glide above 35mph. An alternative is to come to a complete stop (you should see the MPG hit the display cutoff as you slow to about 18mph) and stop for ~6 seconds... If the engine turns off roughly, you should now be in stage 4 mode. For more information about the 4 stages of prius operation, please look for hobbit's guide which should be floating around somewhere.
