Calling all Prius Drivers! Need Advice

[broski499]

Originally Posted by vskid3

How long are your trips? Warm up will hurt you even if it's hot out and having to cool the cabin multiple times/for a short drive doesn't help either. I usually use auto AC and set the temp in the mid-upper 70s. Shorter trips take a hit, but long trips use similar amounts of fuel as not using the AC.

For driving technique, I usually accelerate briskly (usually about as fast as regular traffic) and P&G under 40MPH where possible. At higher speeds I just use cruise most of the time. I get right around 50MPG with cruise at 70-75MPH with auto AC. If I'm going 80 it'll dip down to the mid-40s (not that an ecomodder would ever drive those speeds...).

My drives are usually around 20 minutes so yeah the warm up is definitely hitting. My drive to work is almost entirely downhill, but my drive home as you might imagine is uphill. I try and take the drive home that is more gradual incline vs the steeper options. My daily commute is entirely city driving. I'm in Southern Orange County, Laguna Hills. So yeah the hills kill me.

I need to master my P&G technieque. 80MPH gasp!!!!

[Xist]

No no no! Mythbusters proved air conditioning does not affect fuel economy!

They are scientists!

Everybody knows that everyone who wears white coats is a scientist!

They are coming to take me away ha-HA!

I know my comment is not necessarily germane to the discussion, but it is not necessarily relevant to the argument, either.

Do push-ups, Mythbusters!

[vskid3]

Originally Posted by broski499

My drives are usually around 20 minutes so yeah the warm up is definitely hitting. My drive to work is almost entirely downhill, but my drive home as you might imagine is uphill. I try and take the drive home that is more gradual incline vs the steeper options. My daily commute is entirely city driving. I'm in Southern Orange County, Laguna Hills. So yeah the hills kill me.

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.

[broski499]

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.

[vskid3]

Here's the post I made about my EV button. I can't seem to find the guide I used, but here's the jist of it. I stole an unused pin from a connector in the steering column and added a long wire to it. Unplugged the ECU connector and added the pin to the correct spot. Routed that wire through the dash to the far left side. Added a switch next to the dimmer, wired the switch to the wire from the ECU and the other side to ground. Not too bad, especially if you've ever done any car wiring.

This page describes the requirements and limitations of EV mode.