Is the Prius starter different from regular starters?

I'm probably wrong, but I think the generator acts as the starter. Since it's so much bigger, there isn't the strain like a regular starter.

 

There really is no "starter". The transmission contains a pair of electric motors, both of which are connected mechanically with the crankshaft of the engine. When you need to spin the engine (before it actually starts), the HV battery provides power to spin the motor(s), which spin the crank, eventually starting the engine. Normal starters have a solenoid, gear, and motor, and dive a ring gear on the flywheel. The Prius has no starter solenoid, and no ring gear -- because it has no flywheel.

I might be incorrect on how many motors are used to do what, but I think I got this basically correct.

And for reliability, I have no worries.

 

you won't ever have to worry about replacing a starter. how's that?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Apr 28 2006, 08:12 PM) [snapback]247012[/snapback]</div>

And no flywheel teeth to grind.

 

Motor-Generator 2 (MG2) is connected directly to the wheels via a reduction gear. It normally provides electric drive or assist when accelerating or when in electric mode, and is the principal generator for regenerative braking. MG1 functions as the starter and also generates electricity from the gas engine. It also regulates the ratio of engine rpm to ground speed, due to the geometry of the power-split device. (There are some more arcane uses for both MGs as well.) But because MG1 is extremely hefty, and because it is never disengaged from the engine, and because it is almost always working as either a motor or a generator and therefore is rated for constant duty, there is no worry about its wearing out, as a conventional starter would, or of stripping gears, as a conventional starter occasionally does when engaging.

In addition, the engine of a Prius is spun up, under reduced compression, to about 1,000 rpm before gas and spark are applied, so there is much less stress on the engine or the motor when starting.

This car is not only more effecient, but it is also inherently more reliable.