Anyone Know Why Prius Has No Auto Off Feature?

if you try locking the prius you are not able if the engine is not shut off

 

For 100+ years cars have had to be turned off by the driver. In the Prius Toyota created a car that is pretty different than those that proceeded it. They went out of their way to keep it working like all of the other cars out there when they did not have to. One example is the slow creep that the car has in drive - the Prius transmission does not need to do this, but they made it do this so it was not different than all other cars. To me this is a good move.

There is no clean way to do this in a way that makes 100% of owners happy, but I'd bet that the lions share want their car to work the way that all others do - in this case if the driver wants the car off, then turn it off.

 

it's a good idea, discussed many times here at p/c. it's just a question of how it can be accomplished. apparently, toyota hasn't been able to figure anything out in 10 years. the tesla seat switch sounds good and cheap, not sure why toyota doesn't employ it.

 

It adds a level of complexity that might not be cost effective in a car that starts in the 20s compared to a car in the 60s. The more important difference though is with the power train. If that switch fails in an EV you just loose range until the car runs out of juice. A failure of a similar switch in a hybrid keeps the gas engine running and opens up a whole world of liability issues with carbon monoxide poisoning.

 

the switch would only work if the fob was in range. if it failed, the car would not start. as for complexity, i have one on my lawn tractor. but admittedly, i could be missing something here.

 

The Model S starts at ~$70K.

Their use of a "butt sensor" has caused other issues too. Shifts to Park when Butt Lifted from Seat? was a thread I remember seeing.

 

ya, my lawn tractor seat is spring loaded. more difficult with a car seat.

 

I did not realize that lawn tractors have key fobs and push button starting. Just kidding, but the issue is a bit more complicated than just wiring a switch into the seat - and that is really what it is on a tractor - it would need to be far more complex to interface with the Prius or any modern car. Also, a lawn tractor has very different regulation, testing and liability issues than a car.

 

checked out the tesla link, seems like a non issue.

 

Non-issue? It seems like they had to do a bunch of tweaks like per Shifts to Park when Butt Lifted from Seat? - Page 9.

Shifts to Park when Butt Lifted from Seat? - Page 10 is an example of someone who was able to repro.

I haven't followed the chronology of this issue closely as I don't care that much. I'm sure this has been discussed in other threads there. Try Googling for site:teslamotorsclub.com butt sensor lifting.

 

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The above would be very annoying to those wanting to use their Prius as an emergency generator that was pointed out early on.

You already should have audible and visual warnings if you exit and close the door (w/key on you) while in READY mode. My Gen 2 does and IIRC, the Gen 3 does too. And, it should refuse to lock the door from the outside while in READY w/audible warnings.

 

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I believe you might either see a light or a message on the dash (beside the instruments being all on).

Also, when you try to lock it by pushing on the ridges, IIRC, it should refuse to lock and emit a long beep.

As an aside, my mom's Altima Hybrid w/Intelligent Key (Nissan parlance for Smart Key System) does not have very loud equivalent warnings. They're softer than on my Gen 2 Prius. It also lets you lock the car by pushing on the lock button on the door handle even when the car is in READY mode. I tried that.

 

Auto off sounds like a nice feature to have. Has anyone sent a letter to Toyota recommending this feature? Curious to know how they would respond. Good day everyone!

 

Maybe you and/or the OP should? But please consider all the scenarios outlined here and the problems adding the behavior would create besides extra points of failure. If they were to implement it, think about the precedent that it would set as well as behaving differently than all previous models.

This isn't the first time this topic has come up.

 

I read and understood the concerns and the complexities for having this feature. No, I do not agree that I should aend the letter since first I did not say it's easy for the manufacturer to build and second I do not know how to make it work. I just want to know if someone had thought about bringing this idea to Toyota.

 

So let say just by accident you or your wife gets out of the car with the key in the pocket, you drive away and 10 minutes later the car just cuts off power on the freeway ... would you be happy ???

Did not think so .. but if you the driver stops (safely) turn off the car .. NOW without the key you can not start... seem pretty safe to me ...

Just sayin.....

welcome to prius !!!