What happens if I hit the power button while in motion?

Can you spell ejector seat?

 

Did you mean the PWR mode button next to the ECO button or the button that turns the car on and off?

I believe the PWR mode button only changes the sensitivity of the gas peddle. You will fell a difference in the way the car responds to your foot, but it will not cause any problems.

I believe that momentarily hitting the on/off button will do nothing. You need to hold it depressed to turn the car off while it is moving.

Thanks,
Dan

 

If you mean the ON/OFF POWER button, you would have to hold it down for 3 seconds before it would turn the car off. Nothing bad will happen. This has been tried many times by PC members along with moving the gear shift to Neutral to simulate emergency conditions.

It would be a good idea to practice this in a controlled environment such as an empty parking lot just to experience what would happen.

 

No problem. I do it all the time. The Prius responds with more power when you stomp on the peddle.

 

Hmm, my BluLogic button is placed on the other side of the dash below the start button. The Power button is to the right next to Eco and EV.

 

Good question... but I find it hard to hit the start/stop button while driving. I'm more afraid of what happens when you accidentally hit the "Park" button, or move the shift lever into reverse, while on the move - yikes!

 

I have hit the park button accidentally in very high speeds and the car simply turned off, which I thought it was a stupid pre-setting as electronic functions like steering and others stopped working and resulted in a huge safety compromise, especially when driving in the hwy like I was. It would make much more sense if Toyota pre-set the parking button to be unresponsive when the car is in motion.... what were they thinking?

 

That's not the answer I wanted to hear... but it's good to know you don't blow anything up in doing so.

One would think you'd need to press on the brake in order to engage park or even the start & stop button. That would be much safer in my opinion. :attention:

 

Try it. If it scares you, do it first at very low speed.

Mine does the Right Thing, INSTANTLY going Neutral with a double-beep warning. It is faster than intentionally shifting to Neutral, which has a one second delay. There is no exploding transmission or grinding of gears.

In this era of some people terrified about allegedly defective Toyota throttle controls, and a massive 4 million vehicle recall to deal with possible floor mat interference, I'm finding "Shift to Reverse" to be the fastest cure for a runaway Prius. "Shift to Neutral" is a close second choice. Coming from manual transmissions, this is a natural response for me. People unaccustomed to shifting their automatics while in motion should start learning, right now.

The Owners Manual does have a warning against shifting to Neutral while moving, to avoid potential damage. As best we know, this occurs only in a corner case where the ICE is off (possible only with speed below 41 or 46, depending on model year), and then the car rolls down a steep slope to a much higher speed. This particular mechanism won't happen on flat ground, or when the ICE is spinning.

 

since i was the 1st person dumb enough to prove this technique...

the power on/off button only does anything if held for 3 seconds. if you do hold it, everything kinda shuts down with semi assist still.

it's not THAT bad. ive had the 12v line short and cut off the cars entire controls on a twisty backroad... doing about 55 around a bend (cliff on 1 side) while a fire engine pulls around the corner approaching me head on (since power failed and i was in his lane)

either way, the car responded well.

now.. if you start hitting P or R while above 8mph, then you'll start getting Neutral.

btw.. i think there is a cut off... so if you're going really slow, you might be able to power off the car and drop the parking pin. (less than 3mph) .... it's a very harsh experience.. don't try it. (turning off the car at extremely low speeds.)


btw.. below 8mph.. the parking pin will drop if P is hit.. and you'll shift into reverse if you hit R. (i go from D to R and back to D while under 8mph all the time.. no brakes)

and btw, again, you have to power down completely once you kill power. there is no powering back on while in traffic... so.. be careful!

 

you're nuttier/braver then I

.

 

Had a co-worker who owned a completely uncontrolled, untrained Labrador. She was driving her car (a Toyota, but not a Prius - this was in the 90s) on the freeway at 70+ mph. The dog, in the back seat, saw something outside and lunged forward between the front seats. Doggie struck the gear selector hard and slammed it into reverse. Loud noises ensued along with a cessation of forward motion.

Made a great "My dog broke my transmission" story. Fortunately it looks like we don't have to worry about such things in a Prius.

 

The dangerous situation here is pressing the Park button while moving.
When stopped, the button functions as it should (shifts to Park).

However, I think Toyota should have programmed that to shift to neutral if the car was moving.

 

What happens if I hit the power button while in motion?

Well that would increase your speed to Warp factor 1, Scottie!

 

I hit the Park button on the highway in the dark once. The Japanese think of everything... It just went into neutral. I'm pretty sure the car will not power down while in motion, so I will try it omw to the store right now because I have that much faith in Toyota and a safe place to figure this out for you. I will have a better answer for you as to what will happen in a gen 2 in just a few.

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Park puts it in neutral at 77 mph and disables cruise control. It was dark and I'm a noob.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.