Does accessory mode automatically shut off?

[PriusRos]

Today, while I was polishing my car in the Metro parking lot (before I got busted - see Busted for Polishing!) I had was listening to the radio with my car in accessory mode.

At one point, the radio stopped abrubtly and the screen went blank. I started it back up again -- this time, I actually turned the car on for a while because I thought that maybe the battery needed charging -- and everything was okay.

I was wondering if the Prius turns off accessory mode automatically after some time in order to prevent the battery from discharging completely? Would seem sensible, but I haven't heard of it.

[dogfriend]

On the Gen 2 cars, in Acc mode it will shut off after approximately 1 hour - I do not know if this was carried over, but it would make sense for them to have this feature on the Gen 3 cars.

Re: Polishing the car - You should have told the guy you were petting your car because you love it so much.

[ken1784]

Gen 3 also does automatic shut off after one hour.

Ken@Japan

[Tideland Prius]

it has a 1 hour timer

[pinzvidz]

Thanks for the info guys. I was hoping the Gen3 Prius would have a similar system that VW use in a lot of their cars now, which is quite good. The VW system monitors battery voltage and cuts power to devices when a low voltage criteria is reached E.g. in accessories, audio power is cut when voltage lowers to about 12.2 volts. So theoretically you could have your radio playing for many hours if you had the volume down low. I wish Toyota would do this with their cars - it's so frustrating if we have a customer open a hatch on, say a Corolla, in our dealership yard and leave it open, which will flatten the battery as there is no system to monitor and cut power to interior lights.

[datrays]

Page 165 of the owners manual

Auto power OFF function
If the vehicle is left in ACCESSORY or ON mode (hybrid system is not operating)
for more than an hour with the shift position in “P”, the “POWER”
switch will automatically turn OFF. However, this function cannot entirely prevent
battery discharge. Do not leave the vehicle with the “POWER” switch in
ACCESSORY or ON mode for long periods of time when the hybrid system
is not operating.

[PriusRos]

Thanks, everyone.

Pinzvidz, yes, I agree it would be nice if the interior lights also turned off automatically before they drained the battery.

[qbee42]

Originally Posted by pinzvidz

Thanks for the info guys. I was hoping the Gen3 Prius would have a similar system that VW use in a lot of their cars now, which is quite good. The VW system monitors battery voltage and cuts power to devices when a low voltage criteria is reached E.g. in accessories, audio power is cut when voltage lowers to about 12.2 volts. So theoretically you could have your radio playing for many hours if you had the volume down low. I wish Toyota would do this with their cars - it's so frustrating if we have a customer open a hatch on, say a Corolla, in our dealership yard and leave it open, which will flatten the battery as there is no system to monitor and cut power to interior lights.

When Toyota had the first 2010 Prius on display in Detroit, they had them powered from the wall. That way we could play with them without draining the batteries.

Tom