Hi NASAngineer:

___Great to hear about its EV mode as I was waiting for one of you to describe it! Now onto fantastic FE while under this built in EV mode. Once you are in this quasi EV mode, slowly bleed off speed on any small ascent or flat to maintain it (with or without assist) but without any regen. Forget about regen until you absolutely positively have to hit the binders. This is a Glide/EV in the Prius II/Escape HEV and you will want to use it as much as possible while in any deceleration or flat slow speed cruise. The second question will be is how much SoC did you lose over a minute’s time? The HCH-II’s pack is only good for ~ .5 KWh and that will not drive the HCH-II that far in EV but with a slowly declining speed, it will go a lot further then you would imagine … Start pushing and do not forget to get those tires pressed up and that oil swapped out in a few thousand miles. If not, most of your HCH-II’s capability will be thrown away towards an average LMPG vs. a spectacular one or what it is actually worth.

___I look forward to hearing more about your HCH-II and if you can coax some of its secrets out early on and post them here, it will help those that follow achieve higher FE in their own right off the lot.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes