new Prius owner

[MPGranger]

UltArc, it looks like we were speaking at each other instead of to each other LOL

Daox, I live in Georgia. The four seasons of Georgia are almost summer, summer, still summer, and winter-lite. I routinely enter my vehicles with a sauna like interior. Plus if I want to improve my FE I want the traction battery working well. What is the ammeter exactly?

Also, I need to adjust my ultragauge to stay on when the ICE is off.

[Daox]

If its really that hot I'd recommend a window shade/reflector thing, cracking your windows, and/or parking in shade when possible. That'll really helps and won't heat soak the batteries.

The ammeter measures how much power (in amps) is being drawn from or put into the battery pack. Once you exceed the maximum regen the physical brakes engage and you're wasting energy that could be captured. This is very easy to do at higher speeds, and can be at low speeds too unless you have a meter saying so.

[MPGranger]

Isn't there a screen on the Prius that tells you that? I thought the Hybrid Indicator bar had the little regen section and if you maxed that bar out, the friction brakes. Or is this more of a half measure kind of the same thing deal?

[Daox]

Ah thats right you have a 2010. My 04 doesn't have that power bar thingy.

[NeilBlanchard]

You can coast in a Prius in neutral by holding the shifter in the N position for about 2 seconds. You can slow down with regen in D or with more regen in B. Use EV mode when you are stuck in traffic. Drive it in Eco mode as much as possible.

I managed 65.4MPG over 3 1/2 days in California traffic and with 4 tall adults in the car - the shortest being my Mom at ~6' and the tallest being my brother at 6'-6"+. I drove 182 miles and pumped 2.782 gallons when I returned it to the rental company.

[MPGranger]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

You can coast in a Prius in neutral by holding the shifter in the N position for about 2 seconds. You can slow down with regen in D or with more regen in B. Use EV mode when you are stuck in traffic. Drive it in Eco mode as much as possible.

I managed 65.4MPG over 3 1/2 days in California traffic and with 4 tall adults in the car - the shortest being my Mom at ~6' and the tallest being my brother at 6'-6"+. I drove 182 miles and pumped 2.782 gallons when I returned it to the rental company.

You sir, are in a family of giants!

From what I have read, however, is that B mode does more than just add to regen braking. I have read that it will cause the ICE to use it's pumping losses to slow the vehicle. No fuel is used, unless in a specific circumstance, which I can not recall at this time. A good use for this is while going down a long steep downgrade, like a mountain. Eventually, the battery will be at max charge and a some weird stuff will happen as the car is trying to use up juice. Also there is no regen at single digit speeds, that is all friction.

As for the N suggestion, if you go into neutral while the motor is running it will continue to run. Plus, I prefer to just play the HSI bar game and try to get it to balance between regen braking and the hybrid eco mode. I have been experimenting with gliding at the top range of Hybrid eco, time will tell how well it does.

Why doesn't the prius have a trip MPG meter? They have instant and the trip meter, which I use for gas tanks. But I just wish that they'd have one for the current operation, that I wouldn't have to reset manually every time.

[NeilBlanchard]

Yes, it reports a comprehensive data set each time you shut off the car. I think it was fairly accurate. I was not able to use N partly because I'm not familiar with the roads, and it was either very flat, or you could not coast on the downhills because you had to slow down and then stop at the bottom.

[vskid3]

For instrumentation, I would recommend using a bluetooth OBD-II scanner and an Android phone/tablet running Torque. That's what I'm running in my Prius and it works great. You can add custom PIDs to show you just about everything the car knows, see this thread on PriusChat for more. Nothing against the Scangauge, I have one in my Escape and love it. But with all the information the Prius has to offer, and the cheaper price ($15 for scanner, $5 for Torque app, $100+ for Android tablet or used phone), Torque is a no brainer.

There is really no reason you use N when hypermiling a Prius. You can easily get the same results by manipulating the gas pedal correctly. B should only be used when going down a large hill, similar to L in other cars. You can actually brake pretty hard using just regen, just be sure not to jab the brakes, or it'll go into "oh crap" mode and use mainly the friction brakes.