Agreed Ken. I wasn't trying to be disagreeable, just saying I'm trying to sum things up quick since the long version is all over this forum.

Definitely. Anything special I should take note of? I'll mention the mod and new strategy in the notes for the first tank that uses it (so, this tank).

 

Just try to keep as many variables constant as possible and have only one independent variable change. It may take a couple of attempts but the key is consistency in everything else (aka., speeds, temperatures (within reason), route) and document the extent of the change. There is NO HARM, in figuring out a better protocol as the experiment progresses. Just try to 'restart the clock' so you can confidently identify and quantify the change. Most of all, be patient and don't sweat the small stuff.

You're on the cusp of answering one of the big questions for the NHW20 models.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

So do you recommend I reset the MFD average between trips or just stick to the average of each tank?

Hmmmm the places I drive are gonna be a little jumbled this month unfortunately - but, then again, around here there's really 2 types of driving: Down a big hill (my complex's hill) and then P&G on flat land, until I ultimately roll up a big hill (my complex's hill again) - or - down a big hill, up a tough hill onto the highway, and then EV mode probably doesn't make any difference.

I'm going to try to avoid the highway for the remainder of this tank and see what impact the mod has. I admit to playing with it a little bit before I left, but using it sensibly afterwards earned me an extra .2mpg (up to 58.9mpg) on my tank average (according to the MFD anyway). My primary use for it has been to force-cut the engine when decelerating or Gliding under 35mph when the engine is being obstinant.

It's funny - if this button came with the Prius I'd probably find my need to use it regularly annoying - but because I had to "earn" its availability and I've fought with the Prius enough ("Glide dammit!") it's thrilling to be able to just pull that Cruise stick and hear the engine cut out. I expected the 2 second delay to be more of an issue, but normal accelleration involves about 2s of electric-only operation when starting from a stop anyway, so I just pull the stick as I start rolling if I had used EV mode to cut the engine during braking.

 

For working the protocol, use the MFD. For reporting the results, please use tanks.

Tanks are better about 'averaging out' any one-time errors and should lead to reproducable results. MFD can give a quick feedback but really should be used for smaller interval, A-B testing. Really use the tanks for solid numbers.

NOTE: By tanks, I mean fill-ups or top-offs. Typically choose a pattern that uses one day of the week and/or possibly one during the week and a separate one to keep the weekend mileage separate. The key is "n" days of fill-up or top-offs will average out local variations. But regardless of which method is used, document it and everything is good.

Bob Wilson

 

Hi Bob,
Thank you for introducing my gadget called SuperMID.
However, I'm spending busy days and I think it's not a good time to start a new thread.

Anyway, it was used by a famous 1400 mile marathon.
https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...0&postcount=80
My Japanese site is...
http://priusdiy.fc2web.com/
SuperMID T-1: tacho and coolant+intake-air temp meter
SuperMID M-1: mileage meter
SuperMID C-1: Prius CAN message display including HV battery amp, volt, temp and SOC plus pedal values.

We have more than 50 users in Japan and more than 10 outside Japan.
You can do Google/Google-image search usisng SuperMID key word.

Thank you,
Ken@Japan

 

Very cool.

I work from home so I don't have a daily commute - my driving is pretty random so I don't think the usual weekend breakdown would make a difference with the crazy way I drive.

I can start resetting the MFD each trip - the MFD right now is at 59.0, went up another .1. I'll reset it before I head out today altho this trip is a short one so it'll prolly hurt mileage.

 

This is true if you assume that the engine is going to do the battery recharging. But, if you run as EV only and then recharge at home, you are better off because you are using electricity which always generated cleaner and more efficiently than can be done in any ICE and likely a portion is non-fossile fuel to boot thereby reducing CO2 emmissions further.

 

We were talking about Pris as hybrid vehicle.
Plug-in EV is completely different story.

Ken@Japan

 

The log of my MPG with the ICE acceleration techniques described earlier is being posted here:
https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...t=12480&page=2

In the EV mod thread - rather than double-posting my trip log.