[RobbW]

I'm surprised no one has started a thread on hypermiling the Pacifica Hybrid yet. Is there a rule against that somewhere that I didn't see? I'm new, so maybe I just missed it. I just purchased my Bright White Pacifica Hybrid Platinum this past Monday night. I have also owned an all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV for 4 years. There is a hypermiling thread on the i-MiEV owners forum that I belong to. In that thread, owners have a lively discussion about all the different tips, tricks, and methods employed to maximize range, i.e. hypermiling. I figured I'd try starting a similar discussion here for the PacHy, if anyone else is game.

As with any EV, one of the largest things to affect range is driving style. Jackrabbit starts and rapid deceleration have a significant impact on your EV range. Slow and steady acceleration from a stop is key. As is keeping an eye on traffic and stoplights up ahead. If you can anticipate an upcoming stop and slowly coast to a stop letting the regen braking do as much of the braking work as possible, that will help increase efficiency. It will also reduce wear on brake pads!

I also over-inflate my tires about 5-10 PSI above the manufacturer's recommended level to help reduce the rolling resistance of the tires. I have seen some extreme hypermilers go as high as 20-25 PSI above, but that's too much for me.

I always try to leave a very healthy following distance between my vehicle and the one in front of me; anywhere from 3-5 car lengths. That gives me plenty of room to anticipate and react to traffic flow ahead of me and avoid rapid braking.

As much as possible, I always try to drive at the speed limit, or slightly slower if I'm not hindering traffic behind me.

When planning my routes, I usually try to pick the shortest route, which isn't necessarily always the quickest route. I try to avoid expressways, highways, and other areas with higher speed limits.

When approaching a red stoplight, I will lift my foot off the accelerator allowing my vehicle to coast and the regen braking to slow me for as long as possible. If I have ample distance and am not impeding traffic behind me, I will try to time my approach to the stoplight so that I do not need to come to a complete stop.

I always try to avoid getting into pissing contests with other drivers. I don't race anyone off the line. I don't follow closely to the vehicle in front of me to intentionally prevent another driver from merging into my lane. I always try to drive in the right/slow lane on multi-lane roads. I stick to the posted speed limit and try to not give a **** about how that may irritate drivers around me. However, I am always keen to the flow of traffic and try not to impede it. If I'm traveling on a two-lane road in heavy traffic where vehicles behind me are not able to get around me, I will do my best to keep up with traffic so as not to upset my fellow commuters.

What does everyone else do to try and extend their electric range as much as possible? What have you found to work the best for you?

 

[RobbW]

D mode vs. L mode

On our PacHy, there are two drive modes, "D" and "L". The D mode is the regular driving mode and applies light regenerative braking when you left off the accelerator. The "L" mode is intended for situations where you might be driving downhill for a considerable amount of time, and it applies stronger regenerative braking. I have not tried driving in the L mode yet. However, according to the owner's manual, it sounds like the only difference between L and D modes is the stronger regen braking in L mode. This is different from the L mode in the PacICE (ICE = "Internal Combustion Engine", an acronym used extensively in the all-electric world). In the PacICE, the L mode shifts the transmission into a lower gear. As long as the only difference between L and D modes in the Hybrid is truly the stronger regen braking in L mode, we can use this to our advantage!

The all-electric i-MiEV that I own (i.e. "The Meepster") has three driving modes, D (Drive), E (Eco), and B (Boost). D mode has regular full acceleration and light regen braking. This D mode is the same as in our PacHy. The E or Eco mode applies 50% acceleration and medium regen braking. This means you have to press the accelerator twice as far to have the same acceleration as in the D mode. No worries, it still applies 100% acceleration if you fully depress the accelerator. The B or Boost mode has regular full acceleration and strong regen braking. This B mode would be analogous to L mode in our PacHy. In my Meepster, there is one additional regen braking mode. If you lightly press the brake pedal without actually engaging the physical service brakes, the i-MiEV will engage maximum regen braking, which is slightly stronger than even the B mode. I have not been able to determine yet if the PacHy has this "max regen" capability with a light press on the brake pedal.

Driving in L mode exclusively in the PacHy can have both advantages and disadvantages. Driving in L mode means stronger regen braking when you take your foot off the accelerator and let the PacHy "coast." I'll cover the advantages of stronger regen braking first.

Advantages

1. Stronger regen braking means more power is generated and sent to the traction battery, i.e. the battery will recharge faster than in regular D mode.

2. Stronger regen braking means you can decelerate quicker than in D mode. This means less use of the service brakes, which means your brake pads will last longer! I have been driving my Meepster for 4+ years and have 60K+ miles on it. The last time I had my i-MiEV in for service, I still had over 75% brake pad remaining! It is very possible I could get 150K-200K+ miles before needing to change my brake pads. Obviously, it is way too early to tell how much the regen braking on the PacHy will extend the lives of our brake pads, but we can probably safely assume they will last considerably longer than on the PacICE.

3. The L mode can give the traction battery a significant charging boost when driving downhill for an extended distance. You may even be able to see your estimated range INCREASE in such cases!

Disadvantages

With those great advantages of driving in a stronger regen braking mode, it's hard to imagine there are drawbacks. Unfortunately, there is one big drawback. Driving exclusively in a stronger regen braking mode can possibly decrease the overall mileage/efficiency of your EV mode depending on your driving style and the environment you regularly drive in.

The main reason for this is deceleration. Decelerating is the enemy of electric efficiency. Every time you slow your vehicle down, you eventually have to speed back up. Acceleration uses up your battery. Unfortunately, regenerative braking does not generate anywhere near enough power to offset any acceleration.

So, if your driving style or regular driving environment is such that you will encounter frequent slowing (without coming to a complete stop) and then re-accelerating, driving in L mode may be detrimental to your overall EV efficiency. That's because lifting your foot off the accelerator to accommodate a vehicle slowing in front of you causes your car to decelerate much faster than it would in regular D mode. That means you will need to use more battery power to re-accelerate back up to your previous speed. Driving in L mode would not be good in areas of heavy, congested traffic (i.e. on the expressway during rush hour where traffic may be moving slowly but doesn't come to a complete stop), or while driving for extended distances at a steady speed (i.e. on highways where you may need to lift your foot off the accelerator to accommodate slower traffic merging into your lane). These drawbacks to stronger regen braking can be slightly offset by one of the tips for efficient EV driving: maintain a considerable distance between your vehicle and the one in front of you. Having a bigger gap between vehicles gives you more time and distance to appropriately react to changing traffic conditions. Following too closely to the vehicle in front of you will cause you to brake/accelerate more frequently and with greater power.

Where driving in L mode would be really advantageous is in stop-and-go traffic where there are frequent and numerous stoplights/stop signs along your route of travel. If you are *required* to come to a complete stop due to traffic control signals, you can anticipate this and use the stronger regen braking to slow your vehicle and generate more power using L mode compared to D mode. Just be aware of traffic following behind you. If the PacHy is anything like my Meepster, the vehicle does not engage the brake lights when you simply take your foot off the accelerator and let the regen braking slow you down. Vehicles behind you may not be expecting your PacHy to slow down so quickly and will not be given any visual indicator that it is slowing faster than normal. Only pressing on the brake pedal will illuminate the brake lights.

 

[still_looking]

^^^Thanks for this. I have been trying out the L mode trying to figure out the best situation to use it. I found that using it in stop and go highway traffic made a bit of a jerky drive, accelerating a little too quickly and then when taking your foot off the gas, the van would decelerate a bit too fast, and so on. Going downhill would work, though I found that L mode would almost decelerate the van too much to keep up with traffic, if traffic is moving at a decent rate. I will continue to experiment.

 

[RobbW]

Like I said, I haven't actually tried using the L mode on the PacHy yet. Up until this morning, I just thought it was the low gear like on the PacICE. It wasn't until someone in another thread mentioned something about the L mode having a stronger regen. That's when I looked into the Owner's Manual and saw that, indeed, it was a stronger regen mode.

I was really hoping there was a way to adjust the strength of the regen braking. I've gotten so used to a more robust regen driving my Meepster in B mode. Since I'm kind of used to that, it probably won't bother me much to have the PacHy slow down even more when in L mode. I will probably take my PacHy out for a drive tonight to test the L mode. Then I will report my experience back here. I'm very curious to see how it compares to the different regen modes I'm used to in my i-MiEV.

 

[Cr0nis]

I'm glad someone started this because its been on my mind when watching videos but mainly when I read this thread on the Prius.

My order is in KZ status so I'm anxiously awaiting the car but have some questions for those who have driven it. Has anyone confirmed that the methods listed in that thread apply to the Pacifica's sytem?

• Pulse and Glide (under 40 mph)
• Warp Stealth (40 – 50 mph)
• Super highway mode (around 50 - 60 mph)

And for the lazy, here are the links for Hypermiling for all cars:

Hypermiling Techniques | Hypermiling | Fuel saving Tips | Industry News | Forum
100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com

 

[RobbW]

Hypermiling a hybrid vehicle is something new I have to learn. I have been driving an all-electric EV nearly every day for the past 4 years. While there are many similar hypermiling methods between all-EV and a hybrid, there are also many things unique to a hybrid that I've never been able to try with an all-EV. I will review the Prius thread you linked to and see what I can implement with my new PacHy. Thanks for posting!

 

[Dpacifica]

I'm glad someone started this because its been on my mind when watching videos but mainly when I read this thread on the Prius.



My order is in KZ status so I'm anxiously awaiting the car but have some questions for those who have driven it. Has anyone confirmed that the methods listed in that thread apply to the Pacifica's sytem?

• Pulse and Glide (under 40 mph)
  
• Warp Stealth (40 – 50 mph)
  
• Super highway mode (around 50 - 60 mph)
  

And for the lazy, here are the links for Hypermiling for all cars:



Hypermiling Techniques | Hypermiling | Fuel saving Tips | Industry News | Forum

100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com

I was driving without any charge today to see what kind of gas only mpg I got and tried these techniques I am familiar with in our Prius. I can confirm pulse and glide for sure, but did only side streets so not sure about super highway mode. The screens in the PacHy are much less useful for this as compared to the Prius so you have to rely more on sound and feel. This also presents a problem since the PacHy is quite quiet even when the engine is running. I am excited to learn how to drive this thing as efficiently as possible and hopefully we can all learn a thing or two together here.


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[vossman77]

I actually drive exclusively in low gear, it is frustrating that it does not tell you how much regenerated milage or battery charge you get unlike my Ford Cmax, but it does show how many kilowatts are going to the battery so that is nice. I just need the integral now.


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[RobbW]

I actually drive exclusively in low gear, it is frustrating that it does not tell you how much regenerated milage or battery charge you get unlike my Ford Cmax, but it does show how many kilowatts are going to the battery so that is nice. I just need the integral now.


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I tried out the L drive tonight. I really, REALLY like it! It's exactly the same as the B mode in my Meepster, maybe with even slightly stronger regen. Although it's possible it's the extra weight of the minivan compared to my Meepster that is slowing it quicker.

 

[Dpacifica]

Seems L is good for more of a one pedal driving experience, but as you mentioned earlier, there is not really any MPG advantage provided you use the two modes as efficiently as possible. In both cases, the most efficient would be to never regenerate battery power or brake and only use the minimum amount of propulsion to get you where you need to go. It has to be a really lonely road in the real world to achieve this. I tried the L mode for a bit and will likely stick with the D mode. I was hoping there would be some way to control the throttle output like in a Prius where you have eco/normal/power; the eco helps me hit those ICE off glides better because you have a little wider range of throttle play to work with. Oh well, I guess I just have to get better.


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[Dpacifica]

Does anyone know the max speed you can do engine off glides after the EV range is depleted? In the Plug In Prius we have it will do engine off glides at 62mph or less while there is still EV range, but once in Hybrid it will only do engine off up to about 45mph like the regular Prius.


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[vossman77]

Does anyone know the max speed you can do engine off glides after the EV range is depleted? In the Plug In Prius we have it will do engine off glides at 62mph or less while there is still EV range, but once in Hybrid it will only do engine off up to about 45mph like the regular Prius.

I'll bet it just has to do with charge state. If you going down a steep hill (e.g. mountain) in hybrid mode it will turn off the engine at 100mph.

In my C-max Energi, you can actually charge the battery enough on a downhill that it goes back into EV mode.

 

[RobbW]

Seems L is good for more of a one pedal driving experience, but as you mentioned earlier, there is not really any MPG advantage provided you use the two modes as efficiently as possible. In both cases, the most efficient would be to never regenerate battery power or brake and only use the minimum amount of propulsion to get you where you need to go. It has to be a really lonely road in the real world to achieve this. I tried the L mode for a bit and will likely stick with the D mode. I was hoping there would be some way to control the throttle output like in a Prius where you have eco/normal/power; the eco helps me hit those ICE off glides better because you have a little wider range of throttle play to work with. Oh well, I guess I just have to get better.


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Yes, I wish the PacHy had the Eco acceleration mode, too.

 

[jtangm04]

I've started getting in a habit of switching to L mode when the light turns red in front of me and I do not have someone tailing me. I figure it will help me get more electric range and save on the brakes too. Tough to really know how much this helps me out or if it is in my head. Switching to L and D mode is kinda of fun. I grew up driving manual so it's fun tinkering a little bit.

 

[popac]

Like I said, I haven't actually tried using the L mode on the PacHy yet. Up until this morning, I just thought it was the low gear like on the PacICE. It wasn't until someone in another thread mentioned something about the L mode having a stronger regen. That's when I looked into the Owner's Manual and saw that, indeed, it was a stronger regen mode.

Can you point to the page/part of the owner manual that you saw the regeneration explanation for L mode?

Thanks,

 

[Dpacifica]

Since I have been doing most of my commute in EV, I decided to let the battery deplete yesterday and do the drive in Hybrid. This morning's mpg ended up much better (35.6) than the last time I tried Hybrid only, but the afternoon drive in the heat will be the true test. It is encouraging nonetheless that I was able to do about 110% EPA. I think as I learn the vehicle it will get even better. I love this van!

One thing I did notice is that it was difficult if possible to do ICE off glides over about 50 mph. Can anyone confirm if the ICE has to spin up over a certain speed in Hybrid mode and if so what speed that is? In EV only it is around 75 mph I believe, but it seems they are limiting it in Hybrid mode.

Here are a couple pics of the dash; again displaying a confusing Electric versus Hybrid mix. I would normally consider all driving with the battery depleted to be Hybrid, but maybe there is some logic to this I am missing.

Here is an update with the afternoon drive. As expected, I didn't do as well on the way back, but I am still happy with 30.9 mpg given the much heavier traffic and much higher demand for a/c.

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[popac]

Here are a couple pics of the dash; again displaying a confusing Electric versus Hybrid mix. I would normally consider all driving with the battery depleted to be Hybrid, but maybe there is some logic to this I am missing.

These numbers are very interesting! thanks for sharing.

Regarding the battery part while in hybrid, it seems that even in hybrid mode the engine goes on and off quite often when it has enough juice in the battery to operate the vehicle and whenever the ICE is off it is considered as battery-only/electric, hence, what you see on the dash even in hybrid mode.

 

[EV2]

Hey Robb, thanks for starting this thread. I too had an i-MiEV and learned a lot from driving it that I use with my Pacifica Hybrid. You've covered all the bases I learned. I really paid attention to these in some of my longer i-MiEV trips where range anxiety was setting in-- always made it home and these techniques you mentioned do make a significant difference.

 

[Dpacifica]

These numbers are very interesting! thanks for sharing.



Regarding the battery part while in hybrid, it seems that even in hybrid mode the engine goes on and off quite often when it has enough juice in the battery to operate the vehicle and whenever the ICE is off it is considered as battery-only/electric, hence, what you see on the dash even in hybrid mode.

I am sure that is what the numbers are representing, but I am having a hard time determining the usefulness of splitting it out; especially since it looks the same whether that electricity is generated from a plug or from the gas engine/ regenerative braking.


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[RobbW]

Hey Robb, thanks for starting this thread. I too had an i-MiEV and learned a lot from driving it that I use with my Pacifica Hybrid. You've covered all the bases I learned. I really paid attention to these in some of my longer i-MiEV trips where range anxiety was setting in-- always made it home and these techniques you mentioned do make a significant difference.

No problem, EV2! Cool to meet a fellow i-MiEV owner. Are you still an i-MiEV owner or have you moved on? I still have my Meepster and still drive her for my daily round-trip commute of about 30 miles. I am loving our new PacHy so far (when I get to drive it). It is nice to have such a large vehicle that fits everything we need to pack and goes as far as we need without the huuuuuge carbon footprint of our prior Sienna, and without all the range anxiety, too!