Hi Guys and Dolls,
Now that I have figured out the essentials of driving the 06 FEH, would someone instruct me what is fake shifting and how to do it? Im ready to step it up to a new level!

 

Anne, there is a great list Pravus Prime put together explaining "The Fake Shift" (FS) but there is another new term used along the same goal to recharge the battery for EV driving or topping the battery off . It is called "The Fake Speed Shift" (FSS). Many here were using the FS so I put a name to it based on what it simulates.

The fake shift is simulating shifting gears as you would in a manual transmission. The reason for doing it is to decrease RPM's as you accelarate to avoid those high RPM's in the FEH or MMH. Example- while on the on ramp to a freeway, you must increase your speed to 65mph quickly. Without letting off the gas pedal, you could get well above 4,000 RPM's. So, at say 2,000 RPM's, you let off the pedal and drop down to 1,200 RPM's and reapply the pedal like you are shifting gears. This allows the transaxle (ECTV) to adjust gearing like you changed from !st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, 3rd to 4th and so on each time the RPM gets above say 2,000 RPM's. You can fake shift anytime you need to decrease RPM's. The lower you keep RPM's, the less fuel you burn.

While I was doing the fake shifts in my FEH, I discovered another benifit. Each time you let off the gas pedal, the generator would turn up from the wheels and charge the battery. Try it and watch the Charge/Assist needle move showing a surge of charge when you let off the pedal.

To get the high mileage I get, I must drive EV as much as posible. This is how the "Fake Speed Shift" came about. I was talking to Wayne Gerdes (Ecel) and he explained when the battery is lower, it takes a charge much faster and slows as it fills. I notice that at a low battery, the ICE burned much more fuel charging the battery and the ICE burned less fuel as the battery filled. This all made since so I came up with a way to help the ICE charge the battery faster with less fuel. Using the fake shift but maintaining your speed or increasing it, I started pumping a charge into the battery with repeated letting off of the gas pedal. Say at 35mph my RPM's are at 1,700, letting off the gas throws a surge into the battery as the Tach falls to 1,100 RPM's. Now, the real key for FE is to SLOWLY apply the gas pedal back to 1,700 RPM's and maintain your speed at 35mph. Continue this till the battery is full again. I went from going 1.8 - 2.0 miles charging the battery full with just the ICE to just 1.3 miles max using the "Fake Speed Shift". A fake shift every once in a while will also keep the battery full and save fuel while the ICE is running.

The reason I wanted to spell it out again here is to make sure it is clear for everyone. These little tricks are saving me alot of fuel. When it warms up in your area, put it to use. Those that don't have the nav. system will be a little in the dark but you can still get most of the benifits.

GaryG

 

Gary,
Thanks so much for taking time to share this important info. I thought I had read on some posts where people were dropping the car to low gear to do this and I didnt understand how exactly and when to do this. Your post clears it up for me. I did try to put my FEH 06 in low and nearly caused a pile up behind me!

I got 501 on my last tank and dont really know how other than spending three weeks in the area doing christmas shopping and such. No highway driving. I am learning so much about readjusting my driving style, that when hubby drives it, I want to scream. I cant bear to look at the screen when he is speeding around like he does in his lexus 300 gs. Ive reached my limit with other people disrupting my miles per tank that I dont allow anyone, especially my kids, to drive my car. When I bought this car I thought I was doing my bit for the foreign oil dependency and for climate issues, but now Im obsessed everytime I get in the car about my MPG. I am certain without the screen, I wouldnt be so compulsive, but the screen has helped me alot.
Thanks,
Anne

 

You go girl!!! You are cookin' with (a lot less) gas. I dream of a 500 mile tank... (and up here, where the temp is currently... let's see... 6 degrees F, I don't think I'll see one anytime soon).

Hypermiling grrrrrls rule!

 

Both of you are showing that this is not a man's game and common sense will get you there. Its got down to a freezing 52 degrees F today here and my FEH wouldn't behave so I know your cold weather calls for a whip on the bumper right about now.

My dog (Eddie My Jack Russell) thought I was yelling at him the poor dog. He rides shotgun with the window down most of the time. He loves EV also BTW, and Jupiter has one of the last doggie beaches in Florida. He enjoys the beach roads and gets to see his fellow canines along the ride. Lets just say I think its a good route also.

As far as a 500 mile tank, thats great. Be aware if you slowly pump gas in the tank, you can get more gas in. No bubbles and no or less air pockets. The next fill can hurt you. One and a half gallons can be added to the FEH from the time before a slow fill which will effect a tank reading. That could mean up to 60 miles at a 40mpg tank.

This cold weather is for the snowbirds!

GaryG

 

Hi All:

___Sweetbeet and Newgreen, thanks for kicking @$$ and taking names in those FEH’s of yours. Darn nice vehicles indeed

___Sorry for the OT part of this post but I couldn’t let this one go!

___Gary, 52 degrees F? My goodness, most here in the Chicago area would be breaking out the swim suits and sun tan oil if it got that warm tomorrow

___Payback arrives for us snowbirds in just 4 more months when those of you south of the Mason/Dixon are forced to use A/C more often then not … We have an ungodly long 4 month wait in the snow and cold though

___Oh, and thanks for the tips. Did you notice our friend has gained some patience in the last month or two

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes

 

No kidding, I believe the high here this week is 33.


New, there are plenty of good threads about L gear, though a basic rundown is it's generally seen as an advantage in moderate to warm temperatures, stop and go traffic, as an alternative to D because of it's more aggressive software to get the ICE off under and at 40 MPH as you slow down results in you braking less and spending more time ICE-off.

 

Guy's and Lady's there is not much to the "L" advantage even at 50F. Sometimes it grabs and sometimes I have to hit the brakes to slow down. At any rate, don't rely on "L" and prepare for using the pedal at these temps and below. It would be nice for a fix for this problem because 50f is not that cold for the hybrid system to act like this. This must kill your MPG even in the summer where it still gets down in the 50's for some in the morning for their drive to work.

As far as the summer and running my A/C, my wife is so use to the A/C being on, she will just turn up the temp during the winter here and never turn it off. I keep her out of the FEH as much as I can.

At least the heat still lets me have control of the hybrid system during the summer and most of the winter here. Here is a picture that updates every 5 minute or so of the Jupiter Inlet (near my beach roads I like to travel) about 2 miles from my home.

http://www.evsjupiter.com/main.htm

The pounding on the Earth of all those bombs and bunker buster in Iraq and Afgan must have upset Mother Nature. This has been the worst few years for disasters I've ever seen. Maybe I should consider a hurricane season home in a earthquake and tornado safe state if there is one. Better get looking, only 5 months away. These hurricanes are getting more and more scary.

GaryG

 

The temp this morning when I left for work was -0.4 degrees F. My FEH is now acting much more like a regular 4-cylinder. It revs up to 3000 or more when *gently* accelerating on a *slight* uphill, and it is next to impossible to stay below 2,000 rpm (except when coasting downhill). I think the higher RPMs make it feel (or sound, anyway) like driving an underpowered car much of the time, especially on hills; it reminds me of my old 4-door 4 cyl. Suzuki Sidekick. It has pickup, but sounds like it is working really hard to get it. It seems to be getting much less assist from the electric motor under all conditions, and it spends more time charging (I think that's why the rpms are so high, it seems to be revving higher to add charge to the battery much more often, as well as maybe to warm things up). The ICE cuts off *occasionally* at a dead stop, or when decelerating down below 30 mph (with double-tap), but often comes on again at stop lights after just a short time off. Shifting to "L" does nothing (except slow it down a bit).
FE was well below 30 mpg (26-28) for the whole 30-minute commute.

It's going to be a long winter. Does anybody here know if the Prius acts like this in cold weather? (Mine is "being built" for delivery at the end of January; actually, I think the dealer has a "preferred allocation" request in for one that meets my requirements.)

 

That's interesting, because I've finally gotten a solid week of cold and snow driving in, even with the exception of 2 of my giant 80 mile commutes, I haven't had problems once she's warmed up getting the RPMs down and using double tap, but the MPGs aren't very good. (28-30)

https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...ght=Prius+cold

Seems more than 7 inches of snow creates problems, and MPGs suffer big time in sub zero temps: