Ok to leave car on while pumping gas?

In EV mode you still have 200V flowing from HV battery to inverter, through the DC/DC converter down to 12V, powering all the electronics. When off, only a small amount of power at 12V is running battery back-up for the various configuration settings. It's a lot safer with the car completely off.

Chances of a spark are probably very minor, but it's still possible.

 

I think we would have gotten quite a few reports of damage by now if this was true. Might want to give the Toyota engineers credit for thinking ahead and preventing damage if this is detected. Just lighting the Engine Check light while driving with a loose gas cap is proven by others and myself (not intentionally).

I can usually count on the wider population to try every combination of dumb things. It's very clear that running the NHW11 out of gas and then the battery does do damage. Fortunately, I have not done that dumb experiment or try to find what happens when refueling with the car on.

 

Well, the chances of something bad happening is probably well below 1%. I've probably put gas in with the car in READY a couple hundred times with no ill effect. I don't do it for fuel economy.... I just don't want to reboot my carputer.

 

Yep, been there done that.

Strictly for fun, I've built up enormous static charge on a carpet, just to sneak up and touch a booby



I had you thinking about that, didn't I?

 

If you're that worried about cycling the computer, leave the car at home... Argh... You're going to start the car many many thousands of times for other reasons. You're going to fill the car with gas a few hundred times. Turn it off when you do. Do you leave it on when you run into the store for some milk, too?

 

There are three things to consider for risk management:

What's the worst thing that could happen? (car bursts into flames)
How often does it happen? (very rare)
What's the cost of mitigation? (pressing one button)

A typical analysis looks at how often the button would have to be pushed so that the total cost of the button presses exceeds the cost of destroying a car (plus possibly a gas station, plus possibly killing someone). My guess is that this number is really, really large.

 

Actually the worst thing is for someone to get hurt or worse.

Here are different conditions for refilling a car

1) Car turned off (ensuring the parking pawl is engaged if a Prius)
2) Car on and In Park
3) Car on and In Neutral, Parking Brake engaged
4) Car on and In Neutral
5) Car on, not in neutral/park, and Foot on Brake
6) Car on, not in neutral/park, and not moving

I know which is the right answer.

 

That's not how it works.

 

It's a risk I'm willing to take. It's probably less risky than driving around regularly, with the possibilty of some idiot driver crashing into your car.

 

Consider the number of complete starts and shut downs you do between fill ups and see if that makes sense to save one such cycle. Not considering the other real factors, especially the fill up reconfiguration cycle.

 

It's your responsibility not to risk everyone else's lives by leaving open the possibility of a spark.

SWITCH IT OFF.

 

Wouldn't the child be in a child restraint in the back seat?

 

The kid's dad is an NBA player - long arms can reach all the way up to the dash.

Tom

 

Those are some full on long arms!!

 

I, too, am not going to address the legality issue with leaving your car running.
I'm addressing the safety issue! Tell me where you buy gas and I surely won't go there. The reason it's illegal is that safety is such a major concern that we, obviously, cannot be held responsible for making good decisions at certain times, like when we are on a cell phone and get out of the car and start pumping gas!!!!!!!!Here we have just multiplied our risk of an explosion by about !00% with the car running too.
The reason that it's illegal is that after an explosion someone can't say "I didn't know I shouldn't do that", hence the laws ----- plus you are held responsible, morally and legally.
And also the long run damage reasons that others have mentioned,
hence, the reasons that your company has been buying a lot of new cars over the years, may be the fact that you, along with fellow employees are affecting the life of the vehicle.
Think about it.

 

I believe the Mythbusters already debunked the "cell phone igniting the gas station" scenario. NASCAR & Formula I drivers refuel while the engine runs. How many of those have you seen explode?

The ICE in the Prius under any NE weather conditions will not start or run in the time it takes to pump a tank of gas as long as the climate control is off & it took at least 5 minutes to drive to the gas station. I believe that NOT going through the restart cycle has improved my FE.

It's real easy to say it's illegal. Do you have a reference? If the sign says "TURN ENGINE OFF" then IMO I'm in compliance because my ICE is off and the silence is proof.

 

See if those arguments work in court where the insurance company declines your coverage, and the deceased survivors are looking to take your house away.

According to information compiled by the Petroleum Equipment Institute, more than 175 fires occurred, between 1992 and 2003, when fuel containers were being filled or vehicles, machinery, or equipment were being fueled.

California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 8, Section 3319:
"No internal combustion engine shall be refilled with a flammable liquid while the engine is running."
running

In READY mode your engine can start at any time to heat the catalyst, run the defroster, or recharge the battery.

Gamble with your own life if you want, but you have no right to gamble with others'.

 

Yes, I see a good number of news videos where cars burst into flames while refueling, but due to static electricity Haven't seen one to engine being on while refueling, but, there is a first time for everything

Even airplanes go up in smoke while being refueled, engines off. Not sure how many such fires when they are hot refueled. I have done a good number of those myself in my time; that is not illegal.

 

Hey, but they are professionals, no

 

I drive down the road and walk on the street every day and I haven't been killed yet, but every year about 100 people die on the road in South Australia. Just because it hasn't happened to you doesn't mean you aren't taking a risk.

But I live on the other side of the planet and I don't know you, so feel free to continue to add unnecessary risk to your life, some people need that.
Please try to find deserted fuel stations when you fill up and fill up as far as you can from the poor console operator.
Good luck.