A strange Behavior on my Prius III (with 8 full bars on HV)

doh!
so used to sharing a driveway and having to move the big ol' Gen3 out of my way!
Most of the time engine cold lol

 

Opps, brain fart. I confused two different things, and had to update that post. Go back and re-read.

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Yes, this colder-climate parking lot thing is also a very significant annoyance, being able to have it powered up less than 10 seconds at a time during parking lot moves to avoid firing the ICE, about 51 weeks a year.

This EV-allowed-or-not room temperature threshold seems to be just a U.S. or North American thing. Rest of world, the threshold seems to be 0C / 32F.

 

heard.

Yeah I know there is a few or at least one member with the "5 warm up stages of Prius" in the siggy,
but not sure if I ever clicked on it. And perhaps there is a sticky with the stages too.

But really the tech advancement of all the programmed science behind the coding of the thingamagingy (hsd) is
totally insane and well above my ability to not only think but remember all of the episodes and such.
I do not keep good notes on any things, but I do admire and congrat those that do.

I still think the Prius conglomerate is such a marvel.

 

@iskoos

I really think for Gen3 they had hybrid economy in mind and foremost.

wasnt under Gen4 or perhaps Prime time that things changed and went in an EV "all electric" state of mind.
Although until that came about there is the Gen3 style of the pre-beginnings with the Gen1 PIP

edit: that is why I really think with the competition and such,
when Gen5 is released, I really think my temptation may have to get satisfied to upgrade

 

Side note: when I want to use EV mode, but reach some more acceleration, I press the power mode also. That let me go above half of the bar in the dashboard in EV.

 

The discussion was about accelerating from a stop.
What you describe is more like coasting.......and in many circumstances like that the display may indicate Ev mode and really mean that the gas engine is not running......and a scant tiny bit of electricity is being used if any at all.

 

No way! This discussion was about strange behavior of 8 bars and ICE coming on.

 

I try not to stop, it is wasteful of energy. If I have to stop, my EV distance is only about 3/4 mile after I am up to 35.
Since I am on CC doing 35, I am not coasting, I am cruising. You can't coast for over a mile from 35 MPH on level ground, anyway.

https://goo.gl/maps/83dFVMo8KeWyyw9fA

Right to left, I come off MS 7 at 55 MPH, on to Grenada Blvd at 35 MPH, cruise to Moore, Ray, then Market. At the corner of Walthall I have to brake.

(Yes the Pelucia bayou is labeled as the Yalobusha river, and the Yazoo river labelled as the Pelucia bayou, they seem confused. The Yazoo river is formed about a mile north where the Tallahatchie and the Yalobusha join) Yazoo River | river, Mississippi, United States | Britannica

 

Ignorance is bliss.
This isn't so much advice as just the philosophy I use to apply to my Prius in operation.

It seems to me, some Prius owners become to obsessed about their engine running. Any time they notice their engine running when they feel it shouldn't or doesn't have to be? They worry something is wrong.

When I owned my Prius, I just really trusted in the software, Toyota, and HSD. And I evaluated my Prius's "health" by what the total returned MPG over the course of a month was,- not by whether the engine kicked on at a stop or not.
I figured if there was a real problem with the system, gas mileage would drop and/or codes and dash lights would appear. I also kept in mind that I was driving a Hybrid, not a full electric vehicle, and with this reality, there might be a lot of scenario's programmed into HSD that would find the engine operating, when "ideally" I might think it should not be running. I always made the assumption that the system was smarter than I was.

This ignorance is bliss approach? Saved me from a lot of angst. And throughout my ownership, I was never disappointed in the MPG or the efficient nature of the vehicle.

I only bring this up, because normally I would never recommend anyone ignore a symptom from their vehicle. But when it comes to individual and specific incidences where the engine is running, against the common parameters when it is stopped?
Unless it becomes repeated, leads to codes, OR you notice a tangible drop in fuel efficiency, my advice is to just keep driving and trust the HSD software and system.