Quote:
Originally Posted by vskid3
Do you have any instrumentation besides what it comes with? It helps a lot to be able to see exactly what the car is doing. My personal favorite for the Prius would have to be the Android app Hybrid Assistant (I posted about it here). If you haven't, read up on the specifics of how the car thinks. The stages of hybrid operation ( link) are important to know in order to maximize what the Prius is doing, especially on shorter, city trips.
A mod that could end up helping quite a bit is the EV mode button. It's not too difficult to add. The way it can really help isn't to try driving around on just battery power, but to use it as an ICE kill-switch and then coast. This is very handy if the engine isn't quite warmed up enough/hasn't advanced to the full hybrid stage to turn off on its own. On my short commute starting with a cold ICE, I can end up having the ICE run almost any time I'm moving. With the EV button, I can kill it when coasting, allowing me to do up to half the distance with the ICE off. There are limitations, though, like it can only be engaged under ~35MPH and you have to have at least 3-4 bars of battery. |
I have an Ultragauge. I saw that coast kill switch but was a little intimidated on getting it installed, but I think I will give that a go. I like the idea of mainly using it as an engine kill switch. I really didn't see any benefit of getting it to just drain the battery trying to drive on EV only, but using it to make coasting more efficient is a great idea.
Which one did you get? The one where it uses the cruise control to activate it or an actual button you press?
That app looks fantastic. Unfortionally I'm rocking an iPhone. That data, espically the feedback on breaking and acceleration would be super valuable.