Prius in desert climates?

Yeah, I sweat sometimes. I position my body and arm to reduce it though. If it is really that hot out and I'm not trying to go for some mpg record I'll use the AC. Or if I need to remain sweat free for a social function. LOL

I'm 6'3" and 160lbs so I don't overheat as bad as bigger people.

 

F8L you should be alot nicer to your body especially after what you've been through.
I never drive anywhere wiithout a drink and do all i can do to stay cool. Mileage be damned.

The human body's thirst mechanism is not very good. You could be well into dehydration and not even be aware of it.
Plus its really hard on the car. All that constant heat makes everything dry and brittle.

You spend $1000's of dollars on your car and drive around sweating.

Life's too short to sweat.

 

I am 6'3" and 155lbs I still can't stand no AC when it is higher than 90 degrees out. Maybe I am just high maintenance.

 

Might be due to the Li Ion Batt. I have read many reviews on hand held power tools regarding the use of Li Ion batteries in extreme temps not working as well as Nickel Metal Hyd.

I use my A/C probably 90% of the time in all the cars I drive, I did turn it off for 1 trip to work and it made about a 3mpg difference but Im willing to give those MPG up for comfort

 

While driving in the city at 100f and with my cabin temp set to 76f, the traction battery temp (Xguage BtT) has been about 85f. Also, the A/C is drawing (Xguage ACw) about 800-900w during the afternoons to maintain the cabin temperature, where as its only 0 -200w in the mornings. When I first start the hot car, the draw is @1800w. If I increase the fan speed or I switch from external to internal air, the wattage seems to stay the same. I am loosing a couple of MPH in the afternoons and it could be due to this extra wattage draw and of course the extra traffic.

 

I am about to buy a plug in, but am concerned about the vulnerability of the new lithium batteries to hot climates, since I live in one. So I called Toyota support and asked if the battery warranty covered rapid capacity losses such as those reported by Nissan Leaf owners.

I was surprised by their response - which was that they "cannot say" whether it would be covered.

I wonder if the PiP could present owners in hot climates with a Leaf scenario .

So I may go with a new 3rd generation regular Prius. They use the old non-lithium battery type, that seems much less sensitive to heat. Either way, it will be my first Prius. Just don't want to get "burned"!

Just a bit chary about this lithium thing. Any PiP owners know what the warranty says about capacity, if anything?

 

Does this chart imply that Prius Plug-in with Li-ion batteries will have problems in high temperatures?

 

No, it just implies that Li-ion batteries can't stand as much heat as NiMH batteries, which means they need more attention to "cooling" than NiMH packs.

 

AZ is a dry heat like mentioned above so sweat evaporates faster than you can produce it.......stick your head in the over on low, that's what it feels like.

X2

I suspect that because heat kills battery chemistry quicker than anything else, places where the heat is extreme and lasts most of the year will experience faster traction battery deterioration as well (hybrid battery rebuilders in warmer parts of the country have seen this as well). Conversely the batteries may lose efficiency in cold winter temps but the longevity looks to be increased. At the very least people should in warm climates be running the AC all the time in the while the vehicle is in use.

 

Great graph (if true info). It answered my question in another thread. The reason I have some doubts, lead acid battery was listed to mid 20's only. Way too low. I researched that part once and the answer I got was ~45C.



EDIT: The info in this chart is very misleading to say the least. Here is some info that may be more relevant to the discussion:

Nickel–metal hydride battery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

i tinted my prius with ceramic tint it has the highest heat rejection and IR protection. I used Formula One, pinnacle series. Llumar is the company and the parent company is Eastman Kodak. I did all ten windows everything except the front windshield. It made a huge difference!!! i don't melt in the heat inside the car. I drive to California City 3-4 times a week - 200 miles a day. The AC typically runs at 2-3 bars, never more than 1/2 and at 3 bars at the low ac setting the car gets cold. The cost was $330 for all ten windows. i used Astro Eclipse in Placentia. They had a Facebook or Groupon or End of the Month special so i grabbed it.
Unlike the other shops they have all the percentages, which was great. I did a 35% in the front driver side and passenger and 30% everywhere else [rear]. Pinnacle Series - FormulaOne High Performance Automotive Film

it looks very sharp and is still easy to see out during night without impeding vision. And it is light enough so i won't get pulled over and looks very classy like a Tesla, not at all ghetto. The prius has a slight green tint to the windows. I was going to use a non ceramic tint but it was way too blue and the 3M stuff looked not to my liking and very bronze/grey/yucky color.

Now i can text and Wazer with impunity. I also have a covercraft front windshield screen for when the car is parked. That equally helps a lot.

So to sum it up the car will do fine in the heat, but you will roast in your car without some protection from the strong summer AZ sun. My air-conditioning is barely on in 100 deg. F days driving through the Mojave desert, I drive in comfort, semi- privacy, no discernible MPG hit and it is easy to stay hydrated.

Disclaimer - I don't work for a tint shop, Llumar, etc - nor do i care if you get your car tinted. Just wanted to pass along my experience to the forum.

 

We get similar summer temps here. Best way to begin cooling is to open all the windows when first entering the car.

Feri.

 

I was just in Casa Grande 2 weeks ago. It was freaking hot, but i saw a few prius's down there. Toyota, Honda and many other car companies do plenty of testing all over north america because we have a very extreme range of climates. My colleague used to work for VW many years back doing this kind of testing, another colleague worked for toyota working on interiors and testing in these kinds of climates. Toyota simply wouldn't sell a car in those regions of the country if they couldn't handle it. That would be asking for major class action lawsuits and settlements. Not to mention, bad publicity for the prius, which you obviously have never hear right??

I personally would not own a car down there without window tint, like 35% minimum, maybe 20% on the rears. Also a sunshade for the front window. But that's just for comfort and helps keep the dash from wearing out. My rental car was a mazda 6 and i pretty much had the A/C on full blast the whole time, window tint would have made all the difference. It's not too expensive either, plenty of shops around there could probably do it for $120-$150.

 

Well, after accumulating 2000+ miles on our new 2014 Prius·4, and all that milage being in-city/urban with A/C running (wife), the following "rough" (R-squared = 0.8851) linear relationship was derived from analyses of our tank-to-tank MPG versus MEAN Temperture (ºF) during that interval:

MPG = 64.824 - 0.2175(ºF) ≈ 65 - (ºF)/4.6

 

No AC? you're crazy. Only impact I have is 5MPG loss during the summer on average.

 

I'm in San tan valley not far from Phoenix and my AC needs a new condenser. I do without the AC and it's not horribly bad. The fact the humidity doesn't go higher than 20% usually is a very helpful thing. I always drive with the windows down (unless I'm next to one of those dieselers), and it's comfortable for me.

It's all about what you're used to. I grew up in snow and rain, moved to the desert, acclimated both times.
Then again, I am an avid motorcycle rider. I'm sure that had alot to do with acclimating to the temperatures. (It's my main transportation, and the Prius is my backup and grocery/people hauler)

 

Ah, yes, the old 4-40 airconditioning system = 4 windows down/open at 40 mph!

 

Toyota's North American Proving Ground Celebrates 20 Years | Toyota

 

American Motors (and Studebaker before them) simply used the stretches of Highway-80 between Yuma, Gila Bend, and Phoenix as their "hot weather" proving ground, by simply pulling a road dynometer behind the vehicle (to apply test-controlled "loads") while they drove...back & forth.

GM sold-off their hot-weather test facility at Mesa, AZ, prior to their bankruptcy and, now, lease facilities from/on the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground, Yuma, AZ (where I used to work).

 

The lithium battery is a better choice in temperature extremes, but currently it's only available in the plug-in model. It's also better for holding a charge. The nickel-metal hydride battery can discharge itself up to 50% per month.