I live at 6500 ft elevation. Yesterday I drove up the valley to an elevation of 8,500 feet. An 18 mi trip. I left with a full charge (approx. 13 mi). What I expected to happen was after 7/8 miles I would have exhausted the traction battery and would be on hybrid the rest of the way. That's not what happened! Because of the constant climbing I was registering in the PWR range most of the way. The dash indicators were showing EV and ECO but the traction battery was dissipating very slowly. I arrived at my destination with 1.5 EV miles left. I averaged 43 MPG. A very surprising condition. On the way down I averaged over 200 MPG and re-gained 3 EV miles. It almost seemed that while running in the PWR range under load not much of the traction battery was being used. Anyone have an similar experience an/or explanation?
If you were driving in EV only, going up, you would have registered 999 mpg until the EV range was exhausted and it would have been exhausted as you expected. The car was over riding EV and running in HV going up which explains why you did not use up the EV range. The extra pressure on the accelerator to climb the hills is what triggered the over ride. Coming back, you had enough regen to replenish some of the EV range. Our car is a HYBRID car not an electric car. In the circumstances which you describe, the car will use the ICE to supplement the electric motors to get you the most efficient and effective propulsion. What you experienced is quite normal. The car does its job VERY well. Those who pay attention to this car are amazed by it.
Sounds like you were in EV Boost mode and using both EV as well as HV to power up the hills, really the best way to go.
I would have thought with that elevation change the HV battery would have been fully recharged, a 600 ft drop is sufficient to recharge the NON PIP . and you have 4 times the battery capacity, and a lot more drop. Hmmmm.
This is all quite debatable, whether one is in Power, HV or EV, whether on is traveling on the flats, uphill or downhill, the final determinate is the gas pedal. As John has suggested leaving something in the EV ( 4 - 6 miles )when going to HV allows a better charge in EV later. Also it will also charge in HV.To drive identically the same in all conditions, Roads, Altitudes just ends up in waste of gasoline and defeats the purpose of the PIP, BUT, it is your gas to waste isn't it? With the antique Prii, if I got 50 mpg, that was great. Now if I don't end up with 90 - to 120 mpg, I think something is wrong.
2000 feet in 18 miles is just a 2% slope, which at highway speed is mostly coasting without much regeneration. Had it been a steeper slope to drop that elevation in just 5 to 8 miles, it should have regenerated much more. Lower speeds should also have produced more regen.
Indeed, I drop 600 ft over 4 miles and it overflows the battery and spins the ICE.and the max speed is 30 mph down a mountain road , so i guess its just not steep enough to regen the battery back to full....
