Set gear to park while at traffic light.

Putting it in park isn't going to cause any issues. You don't want to leave it in neutral too long...but park is fine. The main reason you don't want it in neutral too long is the ICE won't be able to charge your traction battery while in neutral....

 

The above answer is correct. You will probably get some additional answers questioning the safety and legality of sitting in park at a light, but that is outside the scope of your question.

Tom

 

No damage at all. You can leave it ON and in Park until it runs out of gas if you want to. That way it runs the engine as needed to keep the batteries charged up. NOTE that you should not leave the car running in *Neutral* for more than a few minutes, because it can't charge the batteries in Neutral [just as mingoglia wrote above; dang this slow server]

 

I would hate to be rear-ended, or even bumped slightly while idling in park. More expensive than a bent bumper. But, it's you car, and your choice. That said, I've done it waiting for long freight trains, but never in regular traffic lights.

 

I can't speak for every state, but there are a lot of strange laws on the books. It will be interesting to see if anyone can enlighten us as to the legal technicalities.

Tom

 

I understand and agree with your point when it comes to a standard drivetrain auto, but with regard to the HSD I'm not sure I agree. The transmission is entirely different. Does something mechanical engage the Prius engine when in "park"? My understanding of the HSD is that the engine is not directly coupled to the drive axle. If the car gets bumped, resulting in movement of the axle, how do the HSD components (and energy flow) respond?

Someone familiar with the technical aspects of the HSD please chime in here.

 

Ironically, about 15 minutes after I responded to this message I left to get some lunch... I missed the turn arrow at a light by my office and got the red arrow. They're putting our first light rail here in the Phoenix area and haven't worked on the timing of these lights and the right away of the light rail. Anyway, this is a looong arrow. I ended up putting my Prius in Park at the light for the first time.

 

The Prius transaxle has a parking pawl, similar to a regular transmission. See p. CH-14 of attached file. This has nothing to do with the gasoline engine.

Therefore, if the car gets bumped, the parking pawl will be damaged, but in the overall scheme of things worse things could happen to you and/or your car.

 

I like putting the car into neutral + parking brake at lights. All you need to do is to make sure your battery SOC doesn't get too low... Reason being is that you have to hit the brake and then shift to drive before you can move... which can be slower then releasing the parking brake with your left foot and shifting into drive with your right hand...

You have to be retarded to hit someone stopped at a red light, plus in virginia, the person that hits from behind is at fault.

 

The only other thing you should realize is that you won't be showing any brake lights.

 

Thanks for the info! I knew someone would come through!

BTW - what document is that excerpt from? How do I get my hands on it?
(I'll be embarrassed if you say it's the owner's manual)

 

What about a standard shift? My car (or any standard shift I drive) is in neutral while I keep my foot on the brake!

You can't coast in most states, that is put the car in neutral and just glide along. I don't know of any (NY) law that states you can't put a car in park at a red light. I do it a lot in trucks or the large vans I drive, keeps me from having to keep a heavy foot on the brakes so they don't creep forward. As far as the brake lights being illuminated, I keep my foot lightly pressed on the brake pedal.

Ok, here's a good question for you all:
When can you make a LEFT on red?

 

From one one-way street to another one-way street. Guess I get to keep my license for another year.:target:

 

2004 New Car Features Manual, which is a Toyota document. It can be obtained from: techinfo.toyota.com

That site is a tremendous resource and I recommend it highly for those interested in in-depth technical information including highly detailed repair manual info for your model year.

The way that the NCF Manual works is that at the introduction of a new model (like the 2004), the NCF will provide tremendous detail about the car's various systems and how it compares to the prior model (i.e., 2003).

In subsequent years the NCF will just point out differences between the current model year and the prior year. So the 2007 NCF, for example, is just a few pages, discussing the available Touring package and equipment, etc.

If you would like free access to basic Toyota tech training material including hybrid-specific training, see Automotive Training and Resource Site and click on the Technical Articles link.

 

That got me thinking ... I've noticed the NHW11 knows when the parking brake is applied (it will grab that opportunity to start the ICE if it feels like a charge, the same as it will when shifted into Park). So I figured maybe it would also be smart enough to stop sending creep torque to the wheels when the parking brake is applied, even if you relax the pressure on the main brakes. Then if you got rear-ended, you wouldn't mangle the parking pawl, but only scunge forward against a bit of rear brake resistance.

It was a nice idea, but alas, I just went out and tried it, and the NHW11 does still send creep juice to the wheels (according to the MFD) if your foot's off the main brake, even with the parking brake on. Phooey.

It might still be worth a try in an NHW20 though, just to see if it changed.

-Chap

 

Ignore the display and only keep enough brake pedal pressure to prevent creep. Unlike a conventional automatic transmission, there is no torque converter and nothing to overheat with extended periods in D in traffic

As Patrick mentioned, the park pawl is like any other auto transmission and it might be damaged with a sufficient impact from the rear. The worry I have in traffic is that if nobody is behind me, and I'm in Park, there are no brake lights on. So a doofus driver could rearend me

No matter if it's the fault of the other driver, you still end up with a f***ed up car and possibly a whiplash. Is that worth it? No.

The Prius uses LED brake lights, so they are very bright. I find I need very light brake pedal pressure to prevent creep in traffic. If another vehicle is already stopped behind me, then I'll shift into P if I know I'll be there for awhile

An example of being stuck for awhile is a railway crossing, it seems freight trains are longer than ever. Once traffic is stopped behind me, I shift into P.

I don't usually use the foot pedal parking brake at a railway crossing unless it's on a grade. I really don't like foot pedal parking brakes. My FJ has a regular handbrake lever, which is much easier to use

Never shift into N, the Prius cannot charge the traction battery in that mode

 

Why use neutral? The battery can't recharge if it needs to, and the engine can't shut off it is running when you stop.

Tom

 

DING DING DING! We have a winner!