Plug-In Prius: real winter driving

Blah. Driving was even worse today. The snow transformed into heavy dry masses mixed with stretches of chunky ice. It was an awful recipe for commuting. Traffic was nasty. Needless to say, I was able to test out my theory right away.

On my morning commute, the slowdown area was after getting the interior nicely warmed up. I shut off the heater and fired up my tiny USB-powered fan. Sure enough, it kept the windshield clear, allowing me to drive from there on in EV without getting cold. On the way home, I simply turned on the heater and let it warm up the interior. Traffic was nasty from the start. Turns out though, there was plenty of EV anyway, even when the need to turn back on the heater came.

Thankfully, we don't get storms that often and most aren't anywhere near that bad. This just happened to be an ideal opportunity to observe and interact with the extremes firsthand.

Here's the final data:

 

It's just a tiny thing, about a 3-inch blade. I got it for just $8 last summer, complete with the USB wall-adapter and a surprisingly nice tilting stand with grippy rubber feet. Unfortunately, it's a season item. I checked Target to see if there were any still. Maybe something like that is available online.

I plugged it in underneath the console and set it on the dashboard. There was plenty of cord length available. The fan just happens to fit nicely between the gear-selector and the front cupholder too.

 

No need. There just has to be a decent amount of air being circulated.

 

Commute traffic this evening avoided the side roads, since they are still a mess, despite the temperature climbing above freezing. That meant some pretty heavy congestion on the main highway. That also meant my first ever opportunity to drive EV entirely to depletion on the 70 mph route.

29 minutes of electric-only bliss. I was quite pleased how far I got, even climbing out of the river valley without the engine starting. The downfalls of Winter are turning out to be quite enjoyable having a plug.

The screen that's display when you shut off the Prius is quite informative. Seeing 150 MPG for the drive was quite satisfying, certainly not what anyone else on that road was getting. It makes the cold season less stressful...

 

I was only experimenting. So, there isn't any "best placement" info to share. In fact, I didn't even use it today.

The need really doesn't even emerge until you start dealing with temps below 20°F.

 

Moisture needs to be purged when you power off. Simply open two opposing doors/hatch and give it a minute, the time you spend setting the timer and plugging in. Otherwise, it stays trapped inside the warm car and ends up adhering to the windshield as the vehicle cools.

An alternative is opening the window shortly before you park. For me at the ramp for work, I need to do that anyway to flash my card to get in.