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Old 09-01-2010, 06:06 PM   #117 (permalink)
RobertSmalls
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
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Prius C - '12 Toyota Prius C
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I did a 15mi trip in charge depleting mode, mostly on the highway at 60mph. I made very good use of my charge, using it to get in to lean burn earlier and hold it up inclines. I also tried out a few miles at 125-150mpg, using assist to hold my speed. It doesn't feel like an efficient use of a charge, since it makes the ICE too lightly loaded.

I've done this route before at 100mpg while deep cycling only my 12V battery, so I was confident I would beat that today. Unfortunately, my SoC gauge jumped from 3 bars to 1 bar about a mile from home, which means the ECU insists the engine stays on and is used to charge the battery back up to 4 bars. I hit the HV disconnect switch to stop it, but that meant I couldn't really do engine off at stoplights.

I ended with 98mpg plus 1KWh. Not bad, but it's clear I'm not going to match Peter Perkins' >125mpg(US) PHEV Insight, with its 5KWh pack. In the absence of traffic, and managing my SoC better, I'm sure I could hit 110mpg on a 15mi trip.
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