Stranded

[Tom6850]

Being a new Prius owner, I have a question on idling. I live near I-78 which had a huge traffic jam for over 50 miles, temperatures in the single digits, wind chill below zero. The road was closed and cars & trucks were stranded for over 24 hours.... only in Pa. Would a Prius being stranded for over 24 hours, in these conditions, with enough fuel, be able to idle that long to keep its occupants warm even if we ran the engine for 1/2 hour on & 1/2 hour off? I was lucky that we were not trapped in that mess.

[qbee42]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tom 6850 @ Feb 19 2007, 08:10 AM) [snapback]392772[/snapback]</div>

Being a new Prius owner, I have a question on idling. I live near I-78 which had a huge traffic jam for over 50 miles, temperatures in the single digits, wind chill below zero. The road was closed and cars & trucks were stranded for over 24 hours.... only in Pa. Would a Prius being stranded for over 24 hours, in these conditions, with enough fuel, be able to idle that long to keep its occupants warm even if we ran the engine for 1/2 hour on & 1/2 hour off? I was lucky that we were not trapped in that mess.
[/b]

Yes. Don't run the engine 1/2 on and 1/2 off, just leave it on an the Prius will run it whenever needed. It's not like a regular car that runs the engine all of the time.

There was a case discussed here earlier this year when storms knocked out power over the Pacific Northwest, and one Prius owner powered his house by leaving the Prius running in the drive and plugging in an inverter. He was able to power a few important things in the house, and the Prius took care of running its engine when needed.

Tom

[efusco]

In that situation I think what I'd do is leave the car in READY/normal mode. Set the temp with AC off, Auto off, and the temp at 65 degrees w/ the fan at the lowest setting. That should minimize the amount of fuel burned while maintaining the temp in the car warm enough to keep anyone from feeling extremely cold...at least if you have coats on. You may have some window fogging w/ the AC off, but in this case I think the most important thing is keeping fairly warm. The ICE would cycle on and off at various intervals, but fuel use should be very minimal even over 24 hours.

[McShemp]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Feb 19 2007, 07:26 AM) [snapback]392773[/snapback]</div>

Yes. Don't run the engine 1/2 on and 1/2 off, just leave it on an the Prius will run it whenever needed. It's not like a regular car that runs the engine all of the time.

There was a case discussed here earlier this year when storms knocked out power over the Pacific Northwest, and one Prius owner powered his house by leaving the Prius running in the drive and plugging in an inverter. He was able to power a few important things in the house, and the Prius took care of running its engine when needed.

Tom
[/b]

I hope the OP was concentrating on keeping the cabin air temp "tolerable" when sitting in those cold temps without moving. The ICE might run continuously if the cabin air temp is set too high. I think efusco's method would be the best to implement. Of course, I'd turn the a/c on and off depending on how cold I got ... but that's just me.

[nerfer]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(McShemp @ Feb 19 2007, 11:02 AM) [snapback]392806[/snapback]</div>

I hope the OP was concentrating on keeping the cabin air temp "tolerable" when sitting in those cold temps without moving. The ICE might run continuously if the cabin air temp is set too high. I think efusco's method would be the best to implement. Of course, I'd turn the a/c on and off depending on how cold I got ... but that's just me.
[/b]

Right. As long as the muffler is clear of snow, just leave the car on the whole time, and regulate its run-time by turning the heat on (to 65') or off for longer periods between ICE runs. Put some wind block in front of the engine if you don't have the grill blocked. Should last quite awhile like that.

Didn't somebody post about their experience evacuating Houston or New Orleans during the 2005 hurricanes? Those had traffic jams lasting hours, of course much warmer temperatures, but might provide some insights.

[paprius4030]

There was also a post here a year or so back where somebody used the "valet parking" at the airport during the winter and when the owner came back he thought it was odd that there was no snow on his car since it snowed and all the other cars had lots of snow on their roofs ect. Only after he got in the car ans saw the gas guage on empty did he realize the "valet" left the car on all week.

[cireecnop1]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(paprius4030 @ Feb 19 2007, 12:07 PM) [snapback]392872[/snapback]</div>

There was also a post here a year or so back where somebody used the "valet parking" at the airport during the winter and when the owner came back he thought it was odd that there was no snow on his car since it snowed and all the other cars had lots of snow on their roofs ect. Only after he got in the car ans saw the gas guage on empty did he realize the "valet" left the car on all week.
[/b]

Oh WOW! I would be so Pissed.

[oly_57mpg]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TomorrowMatters @ Feb 20 2007, 10:14 AM) [snapback]393227[/snapback]</div>

Oh WOW! I would be so Pissed.
[/b]

Yeah, but good to know that it ran for a week with out error! That's awesome!

[DaveinOlyWA]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tom 6850 @ Feb 19 2007, 05:10 AM) [snapback]392772[/snapback]</div>

Being a new Prius owner, I have a question on idling. I live near I-78 which had a huge traffic jam for over 50 miles, temperatures in the single digits, wind chill below zero. The road was closed and cars & trucks were stranded for over 24 hours.... only in Pa. Would a Prius being stranded for over 24 hours, in these conditions, with enough fuel, be able to idle that long to keep its occupants warm even if we ran the engine for 1/2 hour on & 1/2 hour off? I was lucky that we were not trapped in that mess. [/b]

yes there was a newspaper writer who was in houston for the hurricanes in 05. he was part of the mass exodus from that city in a Prius. his commute was over 36 hours and it blistering heat. he ran his a/c and still had plenty of gas left over. he passed several hundred vehicles that either boiled over or ran out of fuel