Quote:
Originally Posted by F8L
The engine does not run, in the traditional sense, when trying to dissipate energy. Once the HV battery is over approx. 77% State of Charge (SOC) the motor will spin the engine to act as an air pump and dissipate additional energy. There is no fuel pumped during this situation and although RPM will raise to over 3000 no fuel is used and the car does not accelerate on its own. It still drives like normal just with a bit more noise due to higher RPM. It's a pretty smart system. 
Short trips are going to kill your mpg no matter what you do. Driving on the HV battery is not going to help you. You will simply have to recharge the HV battery via gasoline at some point and therefore you take a double hit to mpg. Using gasoline to charge the battery then using that energy to move the car is not very efficient. |
I guess its my EV that has to run during the winter, I plan on moving back to about 1.5 miles from work, during the freezing time of year sloshing through snow I think a prius might make it there and back on electricity if I could prevent the engine from starting, ah well.