Fuel saving technique at gas station

The car could start running the engine while you're refuelling. That's not good.

Also, maybe it's a prius c term, but I have no idea what S1 is, even less regarding S5. I can't see your fuel economy plunging 'cause you turned the car off for a few minutes.

 

I might try this. I only live 4 blocks from my gas station plus it's downhill to my house. Anything above 2 bars of battery and I should be able to get home on EV.

 

Leaving it in Neutral serves no useful purpose I can see, too. Sorry, can't see this "killing your fuel economy".

 

I generally fill my GenII with it READY. But I put the car in EV mode and the engine will not turn on. This is illegal in my area though because the vehicle must be off, not just the engine.

It does save gas because it prevents another warmup. It is very minimal and risky if you are not careful.

 

it's 3 minutes of driving...i think you're obsessing a bit too much with the MPG counter - I know, I've been there! I hate to see something like "35mpg for your trip" no matter what the length is. But really if my trip is like, .3 miles or so I realize in the grand scheme of the cosmos that is not THAT much gas used.

 

mdgates, been doing this for years but the car is in park. I turn off everything that draws current. The only reasons the ICE will spin up are if the SOC is too low or coolant temp is too low. This could happen if you live above the gas station or the gas station is located in your residential neighborhood. In extreme cold engines are never turned off.

I'll just park & lock the car for short trips, say 5 or 10 minutes. Every little bit helps.

 

If it's just a quick fill up, I usually hit the EV mode button before the engine starts running and it's fine until I get to 25mph.

 

I just tell the gas station attendant it is off, it runs on battery. put it in park emergency break on. Or I push the voice command button and say " Screen off " but then I'll also leave it running on a hot day and take the key into a store.


iPhone ?

 

Well I get the MPG point...in fact sometimes it seems like MPG never comes back to where it was before the gasoline stop.
But (re: gaso fill-up) unless the owners manual or Toyota says this is a valid approach, which I presume it says turn off car, it is not safe in my book. True that most of rare issues at the pump have to do with static electricity build-up, but there are some other possible scenarios like someone hitting your car at the pump or someone spilling a bunch of fuel on the ground.

I mean we can check out Chevron web site for re-fill safety guidelines, and Prii/Volt/Ford Fusion owners manual, various other safety and industry orgs, I think we probably know what they say.

 

Your hybrid is still using battery power while the car is "on" and won't like if the charge gets too low.

Mine does if my battery's charge drops below halfway and/or the engine temperature gets low.


And besides it isn't saving gas because you use gas later to recharge the battery (the energy that you used while keeping it "on" in the first place). Why not just turn the car completely off?

 

It will throw a PO442 Code. Minor evap leak. This is due to air getting in through the unsealed system. You will either have to clear the code, or do a few cycles.

Note: This can also pop up due to a bad gas cap seal.

 

I live close enough to a local gas station, about four city blocks, that I usually just gas up after coming home from work, which is about a 30 minute drive. I just turn it off, gas up, then put it in EV mode after turning it back on, and then just drive really slow back home, which takes about a minute and a half or so.

It also helps that there's a semi-private lane I can turn into which is off of the main road, so I don't have to worry about holding up traffic. It's also mostly on a slight downhill path, so I can essentially glide the entire way home.

I don't think I would want to leave the car on just because it might cause a bad habit to form, and I forget to turn it off later. Plus I don't like hearing the c whine whenever I leave the car on and exit it with the fob in my pocket. And I'm certainly not leaving the keys in the car, only to have someone steal and drive my car away (this happened to my brother at his pizza delivery job a few years back when he left his car running to grab some pizzas to deliver, only for a car thief to then drive off with it. Thankfully we found it the next day a few blocks away, and he used the spare key to drive it back home).

 

I used to think that states like Oregon and New Joisey were moronic for mandating that customers not pump their own fuel, but now I'm not quite so sure.

I do not know.
I'm thinking that it's just easier just to turn the car off when you get gas.
Neutral?
Yeah. The car won't start, and you're probably going to remember to apply the parking brake....and release it when you're done.
Maybe the car being booted up won't cause any issues......but really?

I'll just do it my way...thanks.

Good Luck.

 

I don't have a Prius c; but this is what I would do:
On a HOT day, with many bars slowing, I'll cut off the A/C, I put my Prius in park; sometimes I set the brake, Prius is still in the READY mode, I get out and pump my gas; when finished, I get back in and go way way.
The Prius drives, just like I don't stop at all ..... NO changes at all!!

If you cut the Prius off .... when you turn the Prius back on; the Prius has to go through its checks and warm-up stages, with ICE running; which makes for poor MPG!!

 

How long does it take you to fill up your car? I use a gas station about 4 city blocks from my home. If I stop for gas on the way home I shut off the engine. After filling the engine is still "warmed up" enough to drive home without engaging the ICE and without putting it in EV mode.

 

I don't see any benefits in this... sitting in EV mode is still letting the engine cool off, just like if you actually turned the car off. The only thing that I could see even being close to beneficial is the MPG gauge for the trip... but there are too many negative reasons not to do it. But YMMV and to each their own.

 

I'm thinking the OP has an idea that when you shut the car off completely, it's resetting something in the software, and at restart, the next mile or two will have compromised fuel efficiency, again just due to the software, having to go through some steps, to get back to optimum efficiency?

But, I still don't get it, don't follow the logic to begin with, and think the dangers (hell, the illegality) trumps any gains.