The Prius in normal D mode can Glide at up to 42mph in theory and reliably Glides at 40mph and below. Yet I've read frequently that engaging EV Mode won't work above 34mph - why the 6mph difference?

 

Probably so you can go longer distances. At 40mph speeds your battery loses juice very quickly.

 

Buuuut what if you're Gliding at 40mph? Is it Discharge based or is it truly Speed-based?

One of my hopes for the EV mod was to get more gas-off Glides - I frequently Pulse from 35mph to 40mph, Glide to 35, and back. When the gas won't cut out for the Glide it'd be nice for EV Mode to do it for me - but if 35mph is the max for that mode I lose that option - and P&G at 30-35 in LA just isn't an option - no traffic moves that slow here, unless it's going 5mph.

 

just my 2 cents ..

I have glided successfully at speeds < 40 MPH. I haven't seen the battery losing significant amount of juice at that speed if you are just touching it with a feather-light foot. The yellow bars show up on the MFD from the battery to the elec. motor to the wheels. I might glide as much as 0.2 or 0.3 miles and I might not lose one bar on the battery icon in the MFD. Of course, I am losing speed slowly in this mode though. On the other hand, if I try to maintain speed and thus push the acceleration pedal a little harder, I have noticed the battery draining quicker and the bars in the icon disappearing faster

So, I think, the battery drains at the rate of the power consumption of the vehicle and does not seem to be speed based ...

 

Right, but I'm asking specifically about EV Mode - the mode you can engage if you have a Japan or Europe model Prius, or if you Mod your US Prius to re-enable the feature that's in the CPU but not on the dash.

From what I've read on PriusChat, here, and in the kit I received, 34mph is the highest speed you can go before EV mode disables itself. So... why? Or is it not really 34mph but rather, how much energy you're asking for?

 

If you are gliding then you aren't in EV mode are you, so where is the issue?

 

My bet is Toyota engineers think using ICE is more efficient than EV mode above 34 mph.

Ken@Japan

 

You can still Glide in EV mode. Feather the pedal just like you would in regular Drive. No electricity (or gas obviously) exerted in any direction.