I love my new prius but if there was one thing I would like to change...

I've been driving in EV for the past couple of months now so I don't know offhand, but in my 2010 Prius, when you stop at a light the engine turns off anyway, it's the same for the PIP? right? So what's the big deal?

 

It turns off when it's warm and the system thinks it's okay. We're talking about that same system turning on the engine for warmup and wanting to keep it on and the driver wanting to override that system-determined behavior. Trying to be smarter than the system.
Just drive the car. That's my point. If it wants to turn on the engine and burn an extra .01 gallon of gas, let it.

 

what happens when you have climate control off? same thing? engine trying to get "warm?"

 

I noticed soon after getting our (regular) Prius: when stopped at a red light, I could predictable turn the engine on/off by moving the ventilation system's temperature setting up/down through a few degrees. In other words, there's a logic set in the car's computer: if you increase cabin heat demands it may restart the engine.

 

On the pip, when you floor the car too hard, the gas engine kicks in. Even if you immediately release the accelerator at that point, the engine will stay on to finish its warm-up cycle. That's what is being discussed right now.
I've had this happen twice to me in under 1k miles of driving. It's slightly bothersome, but has essentially no impact on MPGs. Also, during warmup, the engine will slightly recharge the battery so that the energy isn't just totally wasted.
Once the warmup cycle is complete, the engine shuts off and you're back in regular EV mode. This takes, if I recall correctly, under a minute (though I guess this depends on outside temp).

 

So.....if you're in EV, not punching the accelerator, the engine stays off, but if you break the rules, the engine decides to warm up....not very logical.

 

???
The engine starts to provide the acceleration you demand. How is that not logical?
If you then instantly change your demanded acceleration because you hate burning dinosaurs, the car has no way to expect that.

 

(what's more amazing to me is that you've never run into this after driving for 2000+ miles!)

 

You're going back to EV, the state at which the engine is off, no warm up needed. I have started driving my PIP in EV, 36 degree weather , climate control off, defrost off, no warm up, now when you break the rules the engine needs to warm up? not logical

 

short memory......alzhiemers

 

kidding

 

The Prius is warming up mostly to get the catalytic converter warmed up to keep emissions down. The car thinks that if you need the ICE once you will probably need it again soon.

 

Longevity? Emissions? Like I said.. different priorities.. its not uncommon to hear people comment about never changing oil on a 3 year lease.. I've never leased a car.. but I can imagine the thought process that drives comments like that.

Not trying to speak for Cheslyn.. just pointing out that people's actions are driven by different priorities and motivations.. most likely, the least of which is trying to be smarter than a Toyota engineer

 

I'd rather not worry about a little gas verses avoiding an accident.

Today, I left the office and had to step on it to merge with traffic on a 45 mph road. The ICE started and I said DAMN !!! However, I always have to use a little gas every time I go the 14.6 miles home. Many time I start the ICE as I approach the 3 mile leg of highway to start warming up the ICE early.

So because the ICE was used twice today, when I got home, I had 1.5 miles left of battery. Not bad and safer.

 

yeah, same thing with my android phone

 

It bugs me that when i hold the volume button for radio on steering wheel, it takes forever to increase volume. My old car was just a quick tap and it cranked fast....

seems counterproductive to have a button there but have to hold it forever to get it turned up just alittle.

Just a peeve of mine.

Dan

 

wow, I forgot about that one, this really is a massive annoyance. I never use the steering wheel controls, unless I'm trying to be sneaky when there are other people in the car.

 

I thought of one to add..

WHERE ARE THE DAMN LINES ON THE REVERSE/BACKUP CAMERA SCREEN?!?! This must be be able to be fixed/added in an update..