hfactor24 Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 I've noticed a number of you all say that you're able to go up to 40mph before the gas engine kicks in. How are you doing it? I've never been able to go more than 20mph from a standing start on the battery alone no matter how gently I accelerate. What am I doing wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RolandB Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 I've noticed a number of you all say that you're able to go up to 40mph before the gas engine kicks in. How are you doing it? I've never been able to go more than 20mph from a standing start on the battery alone no matter how gently I accelerate. What am I doing wrong? Probably nothing! Some of us are blessed by downhill travel! I've had the car in 'Charge' mode at greater than 40 mph... downhill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rexmiami Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 From a standing start on a level surface with the ice warmed up, I have been able to reach speeds of 30-35 mph on battery. On a down hill slope I have exceeded 40 mph on battery. This requires a very soft foot on the gas. Because the acceleration is very slow this method is not recommended when there is traffic behind you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedyg Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 I've noticed a number of you all say that you're able to go up to 40mph before the gas engine kicks in. How are you doing it? I've never been able to go more than 20mph from a standing start on the battery alone no matter how gently I accelerate. What am I doing wrong? I've found that the point that the gas engine kicks in is highly dependent on the current conditions. Temperature of engine, incline of the road, is there a headwind or tailwind, maybe temperature outside, etc. Sometimes I can only go to 15mph on electric, sometimes I can get to 35 mph on electric. The key to staying on electric power is to press on the accelerator pedal very slowly. (Push it down a tiny bit, let the vehicle start going as fast as it will go, then push the accelerator down a teeny bit more, and repeat. at some point the gas engine will kick in. then you know what the threshold is and you can let up a little on the accelerator so that you go back to electric power only.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonATL Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 A further hint on this is to set the display on the speedometer to the battery/ice display. This helps you see visually when the ice kicks in. On the kW meter on the left, keep it in the white hash marks. This is isn't foolproof -- as others have said, it depends on conditions. But, on a flat road, I've been able to get up to 40 MPH on battery by keeping the kW dial in the dashed area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raleedy Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 I'm not sure any of this really matters, except that, by trying to accelerate gently (and avoid the ICE kicking in at low speeds) you can probably help keep fuel consumption down. I know that there has been a movement in the Prius community to modify cars so that they operate on battery only at times, and can even be plugged in. I seem to recall that this may even be a factory option for the Prius in Europe. But I haven't heard anything similar here. I guess if we want to be propelled by electricity, there's always the golf cart or (here in Portland) the streetcar! Check this out: http://www.coastaletech.com/electric_only_mode.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky2 Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Except when temp is below 32, I can accelerate to about 25 to 30 normally, usually with combo of gas/battery. I lift off the pedal and gradually press back down on the pedal and can usually hold the battery on for a period of time at 40 -45 mph. This is very difficult to make happen when temp is below 32. MPG above 50 degrees 26 – 28, below 40 degrees 25 -26, and below 32 degrees 22 – 23. 75% city – 25% HWY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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