Quote:
Originally Posted by Cd
My dads' 2008 Prius' ICE starts after only a few seconds.
He starts in electric, and get around 10 feet before the ICE kicks on.
On a recent trip from Houston to Austin, the car struggled to do 41 MPG.
This was at a smooth 70 MPH and with the A/C set to low.
Tires at " factory 35 / 33 psi "
Surely the car can do better, and I'm wondering if there is some technique he should be using to keep that ICE from coming on so much.
Is the ICE coming on so much a sign of battery problems ?
While we are at it, he is wondering if there is a way to shut off the annoying backup beep.
- Thanks
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Sounds kind of normal to me for a cold start. Unless you modify the hybrid system the engine will always start up a few seconds after turning on the car in order to warm up the engine and catalytic converter.
After that, if everything is warmed up to normal then you can keep stopped without the engine idling.
An old battery will have the enigne come on more often. A 2008 Prius will be needing a new battery sometime soon, maybe next week or in a few years from now.
But the best way to save fuel is to just pulse and glide. In other words don't rely on the electric motor since essentially that electric energy comes from the ICE anyway. By maximizing the ICE's efficiency by accelerating with the accelerator pedal closer to the floor, but not floored, you can then let off, and if the engine and all is warmed up the ICE will turn off at speeds under 35mph or so. You can even slap the shifter into N and let it coast down some 5 or 10mph or so and then shift back into D and speed back up again.
Also coast to stops as much as possible from a long way back so as to not use a lot of regen braking and definitely as little friction braking as possible.
Driving around in an "EV" mode in a 2nd gen Prius doesn't help unless you have a bigger battery and a way to charge it modded into the car as a plug-in hybrid mod.
Unless you're using up the battery before parking for the night. That way in the morning your engine will be doing more than just warming up, it will be charging the battery too. To do so determine how far from the house you need to do this (about a mile or so) and then just be really easy on the accelerator pedal and drive around at like 25mph or less and watch your charge meter. The goal is to have just two bars once you get home.