Will running 2018 PHV on only EV mode reduce battery life?

[Gaz911]

Hi, I've been running my prius PHV mainly on EV mode other than long journeys since buying it in 2021.

Will this have any detrimental effect on the long term Battery life or capacity? 

[Ancient Nerd]

Sounds exactly how I ran my 2018 one for three years until I px'd it for my present EV in 2021.

In my case, usage was probably about as bad as it could get. A lot of my journeys were just over the electric range, so effectively a lot of very short journeys of only one or two miles for the ICE.

At (AFAIR) around 25k miles there was no Battery degradation, and absolutely no problem with the ICE.

[Gaz911]

9 minutes ago, Ancient Nerd said:

Sounds exactly how I ran my 2018 one for three years until I px'd it for my present EV in 2021.

In my case, usage was probably about as bad as it could get. A lot of my journeys were just over the electric range, so effectively a lot of very short journeys of only one or two miles for the ICE.

At (AFAIR) around 25k miles there was no battery degradation, and absolutely no problem with the ICE.

Thanks for your reply. 

That's reassuring then, the reason I asked is that the mileage showing for EV when charged seems to be getting lesser than when I first purchased it second hand (from around 35 miles originally to around 32 now) . Also the actual mileage I get from a charge doesn't seem to be as much as it predicts once charged. I know it depends on how you drive but it just doesn't seem to deliver as much in reality

[altocumulus]

Hopefully not because that's how we run ours in the main.

We discovered, last couple of years, we usually buy petrol in only Stornoway.

We live in Aberdeenshire. A full tank gets us home and then for many months of miles after.  One surprise is the E10 petrol remains viable way beyond what was originally expected.

Trip suggests we are getting around 125 mpg since new - almost 10,000 miles on the clock.

 

p.s. If you're getting 32 at the moment, perhaps that's the winter chill....

[Ancient Nerd]

The drop is probably the weather. Battery range drops significantly when it's cold. 32 miles sounds quite good.

Also, you seem to have experienced Toyota Non-Linear Range Estimation. The range tends to be fairly optimistic to start with, but for the last 10 miles it drops rapidly. In my experience, real Battery range in winter may well be 25 miles or less rather than the starting 30+ mile estimate.

Don't worry about it though. It all sounds normal. The range will increase again next spring.

[Gaz911]

Thanks for all your comments, maybe like you've said the cold is having an impact on the miles. It was just concerning that the mileage was dropping in recent months whereas in the first and second year it didn't seem to. I guess it was far more mild weather last year and the year before at this time of year. That and it being a hybrid rather than pure EV, I was worried using it purely in EV mode other than maybe 10 or so journeys that were beyond its EV range over the 3 years I've had it were taking its toll on the Battery capacity, which I've always tried to preserve following tips I've read here and elsewhere, i.e. only charging it to the 85% (or whatever it truly is once the first 2 charging lights are solid and the 3rd starts flashing) rather than fully charge until all 3 lights on.

[Gaz911]

5 hours ago, altocumulus said:

Hopefully not because that's how we run ours in the main.

We discovered, last couple of years, we usually buy petrol in only Stornoway.

We live in Aberdeenshire. A full tank gets us home and then for many months of miles after.  One surprise is the E10 petrol remains viable way beyond what was originally expected.

Trip suggests we are getting around 125 mpg since new - almost 10,000 miles on the clock.

 

p.s. If you're getting 32 at the moment, perhaps that's the winter chill....

I don't actually get 32 miles, that's what the display shows as the range once fully charged. I probably get around 26-30 but hard to judge accurately. When using the blower to demist often etc it's possibly in the low 20s 

Out of interest, yours being brand new when purchased as opposed to buying mine second hand with 42k, what does yours display for EV range when charged and what milage does it actually deliver on a charge? 

[AJones]

19 hours ago, Gaz911 said:

Will this have any detrimental effect on the long term battery life or capacity? 

I wouldn't worry, the car manages the Battery to ensure a long operating life, hence why Toyota will warranty it upto 15 years if you keep up the hybrid services.

That said, whenever you use any Battery, taking it through a charge and discharge cycle, it does a little bit of wear and tear, reducing the capacity ever so slightly. The amount of wear and tear generally depends on the how deeply the Battery is discharged and how fully it is charged, taking it to the extremes (0%-100%) wears it out a lot, lot faster than if you restrict it to a narrower range in the middle, 10%-90% or 20%-80%,

EVs and hybrids restrict how much of the actual battery capacity you, the driver, can access so you can never fully discharge it or fully charge it, so doing less wear and tear and getting a lot more life out of the battery. For example, the Prius Plug-in has a 8.9kWh battery, but when you fully it charge it, it only uses roughly 6 kWh because of the upper buffer and minimum charge level at the bottom. Likewise if you drive it until the EV portion is empty, the battery itself isn't empty because it keeps a buffer at the bottom end.

This gives you an overview of lithium ion batteries and the factors affecting life:

https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries