Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
Is it possible to coast by finding the "sweet spot" on the accelerator?
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Yes, but nowhere near as easily as in the Prius. The display for power useage
is an analog needle guage, and the no-power used, no regen zone is very,
very small. To find it/stay in it visually demands that you take your eyes off
the road far too much/long.
I can find the spot by listening carefully to the null sound zone between the
different sounds the direct drive motor/drive gear makes between the two
power used/made states. This is complicated by having to change the
accelerator position because the needle creeps out of the null sound zone as
vehicle speed changes.
Quote:
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If not, can it be shifted into "Neutral" for coasting?
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Yes. The shift sequence is Park-Reverse-Neutral-D(rive)-E(con). You only
get regen in E, so you only have to go to D to get no regen at the zero
accelerator position. This is something that I use sparingly for very long
glides whch I see but rarely in our mostly urban driving. i'll be surprised if
my wife picks up on it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG
... There's nothing like a little range anxiety to cause a person to pay
attention to driving style vs. energy use.
Solution: replace the Prius' fuel tank with a 1 gallon unit!
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LOL! But an excellent idea at first blush... But, given the high level of
computer monitoring of the tank/bladder venting and leak testing, mounting a
smaller tank would be quite an undertaking. Well beyond my meager skills at
any rate.
My Gen II Prius has the infamous fuel bladder in the tank. When fuel level
gets down into the last quarter of the tank, fuel readings are sketchy at best.
For this reason, just to be on the safe side side, it is best to refuel at "two
pips," out of the 10 graduations on the "guess guage," or 20%. The very low
fuel alarm is but a one time, single beep, very easily missed
But what really kills this idea with the full-size tank is that the guess guage
doesn't register any amount of fuel put in the tank/bladder less than 3 gallons!
I haven't the slightest idea why this is. Arguably I could work around
this with my ScanGuag. But what a PITA that would be, a 1 gallon refill being
solely the result of selfdiscipline as opposed to necessity. And then a one
gallon refill wouldn't register on the guage anyway.