Today, during my commute home from work I finally was able to use the technique called 'pulse and glide' effectively. I was on a rural four-lane highway so I thought I would experiment with ways to improve my MPG and I sort of accidentally discovered pulse and glide.

First, you have to ignore the traffic that passes you and don't feel guilty about driving slow. If you can slow down to 40 MPH from a higher speed you can glide for a short distance until you drop down to 39 MPH in which case you either slightly tap on the foot pedal or, in my case, you come up on a downhill portion of the roadway and accelerate back up to 41 MPH and then glide back down again to 39 MPH. I alternated from 41 MPH to 38 MPH using pulse and glide getting outstanding MPG numbers on the MFD. The only disadvantage to using P&G is that the HV battery gets depleted because it uses the electric motor more than the ICE.

In conclusion; keep the speed below 41 MPH and above 39 MPH. P&G works best on long, flat open roads. Don't use P&G with a battery that has a low SOC.

 

I'm not positive about this and I may be misquoting a figure here since I'm used to my HCH and not the Prius, but I believe the maximum FE gained from P&G is at a max 41 MPH and a min 22 MPH, based on RPMs used during the Pulse phase over the amount of time to cap back at 41 MPH and the distance gained during the recurring Glide. I think.

 

Are you also doing an FAS during the "glide" portion?

 

No need to FAS in a Prius, it does the full AS, and turning off a Prius at speed would probably not be possible.

 

so at 41mph, you let off the gas and the prius shuts off the engine?

 

Hi IndyDoug:

___Please consider a bit more reading and practicing on how to really push the P&G technique. There is a bit more to it then what you have experienced so far and the FE improvements you have yet to experience will blow your mind! After a few hours, you may be able to peg all your 5 minute bars. Once you have climbed that peak, you know you have the technique locked down and loaded for bear



___Happy Hunting

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

At any speed when you let off the gas, or use the brakes it shuts the engine off, but at under 41 the engine can actually stop spinning, whereas above 41 it has to spin (like the 2006 HCH will spin the engine while in "EV" mode) so that MG1 doesn't overspin.

 

neat.

 

I have a 2005 prius purchased on june 06 and have already 13325 miles. I use for work. It usually does 49 mpg average, but when my average goes down to 47, i check the tires and all the time when happens, it's underinflated. If i run very slow, like 40-50 mph the average goes up to 52mpg. any sujestions to improve mpg?

 

http://hybridcars.about.com/od/owner...seandglide.htm

Here is a good article on Pukse & Glide