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Prime is coming!

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by Bill Norton, Nov 23, 2016.

  1. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    It'll run every 200 miles.

    Also, Toyota recommends using half a tank (~20L) every year.
     
  2. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    You didn't get a TBN(total base number), but then you weren't looking at motor oil. TBN is a measure of how much acid neutralizing additives is left, and is the main metric on determining when to change the oil.
    Blackstone Labs was one place for oil analysis I remember hearing about. Blackstone Labs Their standard oil analysis is now $28, but they'll ship out the sample vials for free. It wasn't clear if TBN is included; if not, it is $10.
    GM's mostly monitors engine revolutions in relation to temperatures. This article is a good in depth one on it for laymen.

    GM's Oil-Life System Improves Timing of Oil Change


    In an ICE car, 3000 miles is the shortest distance for the OLM to call for an oil change. Those miles are short trips at temperatures below freezing. The OLM interval maxes out at 10k to 15k miles for driving conditions ideal for oil life at the time of that article(2000). It depends on the engine and car brand. Engine is understandable, since the amount of oil it holds alone will influence how long it can last before changing. Brand might be because GM's higher end brands called for using synthetic blends or better back then.

    This Volt owner went over 20k miles in a year without the OLM calling for a change. My Chevy Volt: One Year of Volt Ownership: The Costs of Operation and Comparisons

    Engines are not hermetically sealed. Air will move in and out, and motor oil is not immune to oxidation. Moisture also gets in, reacts with those soot particles, forms acids, and uses the neutralizing agents. Our other car can see less than 3000 miles a year. I change the dino oil once a year. I could go 2 years with a synthetic blend, but the car doesn't even have a mileage counter for oil changes. Don't have to worry about forgetting to change the oil, even though it probably wouldn't lead to damaging the engine.

    Is the 200 miles a hard setting? That is quite short if so. A Ford Energi might go that short before running an oil maintenance cycle, but the car monitors ambient temperatures. Water accumulates in the oil quicker in cold weather. So a 200 mile interval might happen during the winter, but the same car might go all summer without one.
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    it's not a huge deal, and a very small amount of gas to go thru the warm up cycle. i just wish it would notify you before it happens.
    25 miles of ev is vastly different than 50. prime engine is lily to run on it's own in most cases.
     
  4. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    That might have been a wish for some Energi owners too.

    The little bit gas used isn't my concern, let's better than changing the oil more often to get water out, but impact on owner experience. Best to minimize what appears to be burning gas for the sake of burning gas if the means to do so are available, and they are.
     
  5. EV-ish

    EV-ish Active Member

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    I have taken the opposite tack since I've always presumed that recycled oil gets combusted for electricity.

    Is this wrong ?
     
  6. Lee Jay

    Lee Jay Senior Member

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    Yes...wrong.
     
  7. EV-ish

    EV-ish Active Member

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    Clarify
     
  8. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    There are very few places that burn oil for electric in the continental US. More likely is that, the used oil that gets burned directly is done so for heating and hot water. Some might end up as shipping fuel. Years ago I saw a chart of the used for the old oil, about half of it ends up burned in some way.

    The rest has some uses that just requires it to be filtered, or it gets refined back into fresh oils or diesel.
     
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  9. EV-ish

    EV-ish Active Member

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    Thanks.

    I don't see how that is worse than burning liquid fuel to extend the engine oil change interval.
     
  10. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Because less gas is used that way than oil. There is also the filter that needs to be dealt with in an oil change. Then every time an oil change is done, there is the risk of a spill. The full, plastic bottle holding used oil to be taken for recycling I had cracked in half one cold winter night. Then once upon a time, my claimed to just let the oil drain onto our gravel driveway.:eek:
     
  11. EV-ish

    EV-ish Active Member

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    An oil change is about a gallon, and a gallon of gas is 50 miles. Do you add less than 50 miles a year of driving to double your OCI ?
     
    #51 EV-ish, Dec 3, 2016
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2016
  12. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Not sure what exactly you are asking. The question seems to imply that you have to drive more to extend the oil life. Then when it comes to PHEVs, time might be a bigger factor than distance for determining the oil's lifespan.

    The Volt burns roughly one tenth of a gallon of gas for its engine maintenance mode. This happens every 6 weeks if the ICE never got warm enough for long enough. The oil has a hard life time of two years. So a Volt driven mostly EV will use less than 2 gallons of gas in those two years. Going with 15k annual miles, which is possible to do on just EV in a Volt, an ICE GM car could only need one oil change in the year, or as many as 5. It depends of trip types and climate.

    I go about 7500 miles between oil changes. In a Volt, burning a gallon of gas lets that interval go at least 15000 miles in a year. If I were able to do the change at 7500 miles, and magically changed the old oil into gasoline, the amount wouldn't take me 50 miles.
     
  13. Bill Norton

    Bill Norton Senior Member

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    Well, I just read that the Prime engine comes on when it's colder than 32° F. Is this true?
    If this is so, even with its high-tech heat pump AC system it is still a 3 season EV in some/most parts of this country.

    It wasn't in the newest Car & Driver article comparing the Prime to the Volt.
     
  14. Lee Jay

    Lee Jay Senior Member

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    No.
     
  15. ruby

    ruby Member

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    The maintenance guide that comes with the Prime recommends every 10,000 miles or 12 months for the oil change, unless driving under "harsh" conditions, which it then recommends 5000 miles / 6 months.
     
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  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    thank you ruby!

    prime is still a phev. and while toyota states that the engine may come on below 14f, it may also come on in higher temps, depending on many factors. we're still trying to decipher owners experience as we did with pip.