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Four basic questions about new Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Engelz, Oct 17, 2009.

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  1. Engelz

    Engelz Delaware member

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    I have a new 2010 Prius for just a week now. I am not much of an expert about cars, so I have these four questions that may -- bear with me -- have obvious answer to most Prius drivers. They are:

     1. They say the 2010 Prius has “three drive modesâ€. But, it really has four. There is EV, Eco, and Power PLUS regular drive when you turn on the car. So, there really are four modes. Right?

    2. The EV mode cancels the gasoline engine to make the car exclusively electric driven. But if you go much above 25 mph, the EV mode automatically cuts off. I believe the Prius really is running on battery only under 25 mph anyway. So, there's no purpose to EV mode. Right?

     3. On the dashboard, the “hybrid system indicator†has a large horizontal tube graphic labeled “Eco†that shows dark green when the battery ONLY is in use and light green when baterry plus gas kicks in. Right?

     4. The car is automatically in “park†whenever turned off. So, there is no need to push the park button when turning off the car. Right?

    I am sure a lot of these “Rights†are “Wrong!†Thoughts?
     
    #1 Engelz, Oct 17, 2009
  2. venom700

    venom700 Just call me Brian...

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    As far as #2, that's not correct. Just push all the way down on the gas pedal from a stop and you will surely be using the gas engine (ICE). Plus when the car isn't warmed up, you the ICE will be running even in park to warm it up.

    As far as 4, you can just push the power button and it puts the vehicle in park as well as turning it off.
     
    #2 venom700, Oct 17, 2009
  3. macmaster05

    macmaster05 Senor Member

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    1. Correct! There are actually 4 modes.

    2. Wrong. There IS purpose to EV mode because it's possible to be using the gas while under 25 mph. A perfect example is going uphill or accelerating.

    3. Partially correct. That horizontal bar shows how much throttle you're using. In other words, when you coast and drive smoothly, the bar will be towards the left (this is good). Using the gas or breaks will shift the bar rightwards.

    4. Wrong. Would you shift the gear into park on any other car? Of course. You should press PARK when turning off the Prius too. You could damage the gears otherwise. It's also a safety feature and the correct way to operate the vehicle. Don't get complacent. Properly park the car.

    Very good questions that most dealers fail to mention.
     
    #3 macmaster05, Oct 17, 2009
  4. claridiva

    claridiva New Member

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    4. Wrong. Would you shift the gear into park on any other car? Of course. You should press PARK when turning off the Prius too. You could damage the gears otherwise. It's also a safety feature and the correct way to operate the vehicle. Don't get complacent. Properly park the car.

    Very good questions that most dealers fail to mention.[/QUOTE]

    I disagree with this final statement. As far as I have read about this car, it is perfectly safe to put the car in park by pressing the power button. The "gears" are quite different in this car than in a regular car. I suspect others will chime in with data regarding this question.

    Enjoy your car!!
     
    #4 claridiva, Oct 17, 2009
  5. Bobsprius

    Bobsprius BobPrius

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    Calridiva is correct about the "Auto - P" position, however I find it just as easy to use the "P" button and then when ready, hit the Power Button.

    I would think it's a personal matter of preference. ;)
     
    #5 Bobsprius, Oct 17, 2009
  6. Fstr911

    Fstr911 Member

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    Not pushing the Park (P) prior to power down is a bad habit that may one day result in a surprise encounter with an object. Hopefully that object is not human or animal.

    Pushing a P button is a good habit to develop and maintain. Let’s keep it safe.
     
    #6 Fstr911, Oct 17, 2009
  7. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    3. right...and wrong. depends on what mode you are in and what stage engine is in.

    the question to ask is can i regen AND burn gas at the same time. the answer is absolutely!
     
    #7 DaveinOlyWA, Oct 17, 2009
  8. macmaster05

    macmaster05 Senor Member

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    Thanks. This is exactly what I'm saying. Just use the car correctly, sheesh. Why would you invest that much money to risk damage?
     
    #8 macmaster05, Oct 17, 2009
  9. jburns

    jburns Senior Senior Member

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    OK I'm willing to learn. How could pushing the power button to shut down instead of pushing the park button first and then the power button result in a surprise encounter with an object? As far as I can tell the park button puts the car in park. The power button puts the car in park and shuts it down.
     
    #9 jburns, Oct 17, 2009
  10. claridiva

    claridiva New Member

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    Once again regarding the Power button and park: on page 163 in the manual it clearly indicates that you can press the Power button to engage park both in the step-by-step directions and in the written description. I do not agree that you are damaging any gears. The transmission is not the same in this car as with others.

    Now, I do agree that it is a matter of choice and that pressing Park is a good habit. That being said, if you do prefer to just press the Power button, you are not harming your vehicle (as long as your vehicle is at a complete stop when pressing Power OR Park).
     
    #10 claridiva, Oct 17, 2009
  11. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    There is no risk. It is unnecessary to go into park before powering down. If you watch, you can actually see that, before shutting down, the car shifts into P in one easy step.

    While I somewhat agree that it might be a good habit, there really are no untoward consequences that I can think of from not going into park in other cars before shutting down.

    Indeed, I often drive my wife's Highlander and almost never remember to go into park before turning of the {traditional key-type} ignition. I can't get the key out of the ignition without putting the shifter into Park first, but other than that there's nothing that could result in harm. And I can't think of any way any other car could sustain damage from shutting down without going into Park first.

    So, to summarize:
    1)The car will automatically go into Park before shutting down if you first power down.
    2)Doing so will not and cannot result in harm.
    3)It might be a good habit to go into Park first, but that is questionable.
     
    #11 efusco, Oct 17, 2009
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  12. Blind Guy

    Blind Guy New Member

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    David (aka Blind Guy)
     
    #12 Blind Guy, Oct 17, 2009
  13. Fstr911

    Fstr911 Member

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    Well Jburns I guess it's time for the truth to come out!

    Just after getting my Prius, I quickly picked up on the (mistaken) "you don't really need to push the P" bad habit.

    So here's what I did: I pulled into my driveway while I was on my cell phone which was connected to the Bluetooth. Well, if you shut down the car, the Bluetooth speaker obviously drops off (I figured that out the hard way too!). So, being involved in wrapping up a focused business call, the foot came off the brake and the pointer finger was not directed quickly enough to the power down button (and I thought I was good at multi tasking). Imagine being a little distracted for JUST a second or so...you know, kinda like those people that enjoy texting while driving cars and trains.

    All of a sudden I noticed that the dang garage door was moving towards me (smiling again). That’s when I learned the power of the P button.

    I guess ignoring the P while being on a hill, incline or a few other factors could make things just (or more) as interesting.
     
    #13 Fstr911, Oct 17, 2009
  14. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Again, I completely disagree. This has never once happened to me, nor have I heard of it happening to anyone. As soon as you lift your foot off the brake the car begins to move. Opening the door before taking your foot off the brake would be the "bad habit" if that's what one does. Break that habit and the Power button vs Park button thing becomes a non-issue.

    If there's a consequence of just using the power button instead of the "double tap" it's that occasionally I'll turn off the car instead of just putting it in park when I'm just stepping out for a moment. But even that occurs maybe one or two times a year at most. And still, no harm can occur other than I force the car to go through S1 again for no good reason!
     
    #14 efusco, Oct 17, 2009
  15. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    The bad habit wasn't not using the Park button, it was talking on the phone while driving and allowing yourself to become distracted. And still, no real consequence here.

    Further, even though you lose the bluetooth connection, you don't drop the call, it transfers back to the handset. I usually just tell people that the call will pause for a second while I shut down the car and to "hold on".
     
    #15 efusco, Oct 17, 2009
  16. Fstr911

    Fstr911 Member

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    Re: "There is no risk"

    Humm. In my other line of business there is a reason we say "Gear Down" more than once on an approach.
     
    #16 Fstr911, Oct 17, 2009
  17. 3PriusMike

    3PriusMike Prius owner since 2000, Tesla M3 2018

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    No, technically there are 6 modes.
    1. normal
    2. ECO mode
    3. PWR mode
    4. EV mode
    5. ECO + EV
    6 PWR + EV

    Modes 5 & 6 may or may not be that useful, but you can in fact have both ECO (or PWR) and EV modes at the same time. If in doubt, just try it. What happens is that being in EV mode causes no ICE to run, as expected. Then, if/when you get to a condition that drops you out of EV, you are back in just ECO or PWR mode. If the software had only 4 distinct modes, when you get out of EV mode you'd only go back to the normal mode.

    In ECO+EV you get all the ECO mode adjustments to the throttle as well as being in EV mode. When in PWR+EV -- same thing, but of course if you are using much throttle at all you will quickly be kicked out of EV mode, but will still be in PWR mode.

    3PriusMike
     
    #17 3PriusMike, Oct 17, 2009
  18. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    We have debated this topic for five years here on PriusChat.
    On the Gen1 and Gen2 Prii, there is absolutely no reason to press the [P] button when powering down. This has been proven through incidental evidence (you can see it shift as the car powers down) as well as our Japanese friends who know way more than you would think possible.

    The Prius is software controlled. Toyota would not write code that would leave the parking prowl disengaged when the car shut down.

    If you are more comfortable pressing the [P] button before powering down, then by all means you should do that. In fact, I do that. But to say that the car will roll away is simply incorrect.
     
    #18 TonyPSchaefer, Oct 17, 2009
  19. Fstr911

    Fstr911 Member

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    Re: "It was talking on the phone while driving and allowing yourself to become distracted."

    Correct. This was dumb on my part.

    So most people will never talk on the phone or get distracted while driving a car therefore good habits are not needed?

    Who am I to argue with you? After all you're a Doctor and you make sure we all know that (I'm still smiling here...don't get upset, I know you're a good guy on this site).

    But I'll keep my habits you keep yours. I do suggest being a little careful with making statements like "there is no risk" .
     
    #19 Fstr911, Oct 17, 2009
  20. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    There is no reason to explicitly press Park when powering down. If it makes you feel better, then do it, but mechanically and electrically it's all the same.

    As for EV mode, it's principal use is moving the car at low speeds for short distances. For example, if you are on one side of a parking lot and want to move the car to the other side, there is really no need to fire up the ICE. EV mode is ideal for this. Likewise it can be useful when creeping in stop and go traffic.

    Tom
     
    #20 qbee42, Oct 17, 2009
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