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Originally Posted by preludemd
maybe this is a stupid question but I would just like to verify something. Is one better for Highway than the other? From what I'm understanding, you can go into a glide at highway speeds with the HCH and not the Prius. Am I right with this statement?
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At speeds around 45+
mph, the air drag is such that either car's engine will be in the 'efficient' operating range. There is no advantage to 'pulse and glide.'
In the range under ~45
mph, the rolling and air drag are such that the engine can spend more time in low-power, inefficient bands. The theory (and practice) of 'Pulse and Glide' is to 'Pulse' the engine into an efficient power range to build up speed to a point that matches where the engine would be in an efficient range. This also adds some charge to the battery. Then 'Glide' to let the engine shut-off while the momentum decays. The 'Glide' would also use some of the stored battery energy.
I can only speak to Prius 'Pulse and Glide' and only in a rough sense. A future project will formalize 01-03 Prius 'pulse and glide' capablities. Hopefully one of the Civic drivers will talk about their 'Pulse and Glide' technique.
Bob Wilson