Toyota Priuses have long been the poster child for ugly, but fuel efficient and practical cars. That paradigm changed drastically in 2023 once the Japanese automobile manufacturer discovered it could design a vehicle that gets great mileage per gallon without destroying its owner’s shot at ever having a sex life.
One feature of the Prius, aside from getting coal-rolled by massive trucks, is the “B” mode on its shifter, which has become the subject of a Valet driver’s recent viral TikTok that has amassed over 3.2 million views as of Saturday afternoon.
Nicholas Pawlikowski (@shoulders_capped) records himself questioning what the point of the “B” on the Prius’ shifter is, even trying it out in a vehicle he’s valet-ing. His clip prompted a litany of responses, mostly jokes, from users on the platform, along with an explanation for what this feature, which seems to do absolutely nothing, is good for.
“Alright so I’m a valet driver, right? This is a Prius,” he says, showing the interior of a popular generation model type of the hybrid vehicle, complete with the trademark short gear shift knob. “OK so, with a Prius, right? You’ve got the shifter, the gear selector. There’s nothing, because P is just a button that you push. N is obviously we know, N, D, R, right? What is that?” he says, referencing the “B” mode on the Prius. “Because obviously you gotta put it in drive first, right? And then, now you can, like nothing even happened?” He says this after pulling down on the shifter to engage “B” mode.
“Throw that [expletive] in bored mode? What the [expletive] is b?” he asks.
It would certainly be interesting to hear a Toyota executive explain if “Throw that [expletive] in Bored Mode” was an actual driving dynamic the acclaimed Japanese auto manufacturer advertised. However, “B” actually does do something, and it’s got everything to do with how hybrid driving systems work.
@shoulders_capped found out it means braking. tf #valet #art #prius #b ♬ original sound – Nicholas Pawlikowski
If you’ve ever driven a hybrid or even electric car, then you know how big of a role that braking plays in feeding energy back into the vehicle’s battery reserves. By utilizing regenerative braking, the two electric motors in the Prius have energy fed back into them which is then used to help propel the car forward. This energy offset helps to curb fuel consumption in hybrid vehicles. Hybrids with larger batteries often have “plug-in” versions, like the Prius Prime or former Hyundai Ioniq models (before they went fully electric), which lets users feed more electricity into their vehicles by plugging them in when they’re parked. This allows commuters to drive on electric power only, or, at the very least, feed back more electric energy into their cars that they can then use in Hybrid only mode to extend their range.
Exclusively Hybrid breaks down what “B” mode means on the Prius. It’s basically a mechanism that downshifts the motor. “Simply put, the Prius B mode stands for ‘braking.’ This position is for shifting into a lower gear and increases the engine’s drag to help slow your vehicle down,” the outlet writes. “Much like with a conventional car, downshifting into the B mode on a Prius causes the engine to spin faster than it needs to. When this happens, the energy required for it to do so causes the car to slow down.”
But there are strategic times when drivers can utilize B mode in order to extend their range, which is the name of the game when it comes to hybrid vehicles. Exclusively Hybrid explains when the best time to engage “B” mode on a Prius is: “If you’re on a long, steep graded downhill slope, you’ll want to use the engine feature to help your regenerative braking from being overloaded. For example, when descending a road that goes over a mountain or steep hill. Consistently using the brakes in this circumstance to stabilize your speed can not only wear the brakes out, but it will get them very hot.”
There are other benefits to downshifting a vehicle when putting a Prius into “B” mode as well. The outlet states that throwing the hybrid car’s drive train into “B” when it’s snowing outside could also help drivers navigate perilously gelid streets, by helping to avoid wheels from spinning on any precipitation that’s accumulated beneath them. “B mode may also help in icy conditions, as braking on slippery pavement can cause your vehicle to slide. Downshifting into B mode can help slow your car down without stopping abruptly and potentially slipping out of control,” the article states.
If you’re thinking about just using “B” mode while you’re doing “regular driving” the outlet advises against this because “it throws energy away unnecessarily, and doesn’t recharge the hybrid battery.”
But there is one instance when dropping down to “B” helps and that’s with Prime models that have large enough battery capacities that’ll allow folks to drive their vehicles as dedicated EVs.
In the comments section of Pawlikowski’s video, other folks offered up their own explanations for what they thought “B” mode was. Like one person, who wrote, “B is ‘boarding mode’ on Prius models. it’s for nautical piracy operations”
Another user joked, “Bhocolate bhip bookie mode.”
Someone else thought it stood for a Jamaican English swear word, while someone else made a different joke that touched upon a stereotype associated with Prius drivers. “Beast mode gives an extra 5 horsepower so they can sit in the left lane,” wrote one user.
But there did seem to be someone who understood what “B” mode’s true capabilities are. One user wrote, “Braking mode, on long hill downward roads this helps the car not end up on a Instagram reel.” Another user remarked, “B is braking for regenerative braking. Its essentially like a low gear that charges the battery.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Toyota via email and Pawlikowski via TikTok comment for further information.