Sounds like the engine is revving really high?

I have noticed the same. Looks and sound pretty awful and not even on very steep hills. If I know upfront that there will be hills, then I switch to EV mode near hill and switch back to HV mode.

 

Normal. The engine can reach 4000 or more RPM if the hill is steep enough (I've seen 5000 RPM on a Gen II). Remember, it's running the "Atkinson" cycle, which means it starts at about 1000 RPM idle. It has less HP than an Otto cycle engine and to get what you need, it has to rev. The HSD will take care of the engine, so "don't worry, be happy".

 

normal, although someone else posted that after driving two 2017's and two 2018's, the 2018's were quieter.

 

Try pushing a car (a car that can be off and in neutral, preferably) on level ground. It takes some effort, but it's doable. Now say the car encounters the slightest amount of upgrade: it quickly becomes impossible, keeps rolling back on you. Now make that a steep, unrelenting uphill climb: it's the toughest job, hauling tons of steel up a steep incline.

 

It's even higher in CHG mode...

 

Our Gen-3 Prius, same 1.8L engine block, was software limited to 5,200 rpm, maximum rpm and power. Even cheap, Harbor Freight OBD scanners can confirm this. As for our Prius Prime, I haven't even bothered to measure it.

The Prime is so much better than the Gen-3 Prius, if you are 'disturbed' by the sounds, it is time to get a ScanGauge and take some metrics. Otherwise, it is someone choosing to complain instead of doing the heavy lifting, actually measuring the car metrics.

Bob Wilson

 

or maybe there's a leak in the exhaust.

 

Uh, let’s not make this political.

Bob Wilson

 

I think what we hear is intake noise. Not a worry.

 

On this hot Midwest July Day in West Michigan, I heard and felt a higher-than-usual rev on my 2nd Gen (2005) while leaving a parking lot. Seemed to clear itself up on a four-mile highway ride, but initial acceleration yielded noticeably high rpm and concurrent "low mpg" in Drive. Felt as if it was in B mode. Thought I caught a slight "oily" odor from the vent, but might've been freaking myself out. Will have to keep monitoring. (141k miles).

 

Do you have an actual read out of engine rpms? On a hot day, the radiator fans and compressor will be running more often. Considering the car's age, there is a good chance they aren't as quiet as when new; a bearing in them could be failing. If the fans were the cause, the sound going away once on the highway would make sense as airflow for cooling wouldn't need the help from the fans.

My second guess, that I favor more, is that the battery pack was warm after the drive too the lot and sitting in the sun. So the system decide to lean more on the engine until it felt the battery had cooled down enough.

 

Normal CVT stuff

 

This is not unusual especially if you ran the air conditioning a bit before starting to drive. In my 2009 it was especially noticeable as the air used up a good portion of the hybrid battery charge if I sat in the car parked with the air running on a call or doing something; and then the ice engine had to work harder to get the car rolling without much battery assistance. This is much less noticeable on my Prime. Certainly a heat soaked car and interior takes maximum cooling to get the air conditioning components and car interior cooled down. Sounds normal that the economy and possible performance would be impacted for the first few miles.

 

My non-Prime 2016 has groaned & growled since day one. That little 1.8 engine can get loud, even when not climbing a hill. A brisk start from a stop can bring on the CVT symphony. There may well be a lack of sound insulation in the firewall, or very little. I've grown accustomed to the sound and it doesn't bother me. It's just a part of the Prius experience.

 

Any codes?

 

It was funny during my first test drive. I told the salesman to take the wheel first, so I could just sit there as a passenger and listen to everything. He accelerated quickly down the freeway ramp and I got my first experience of hearing the gas engine and CVT. It definitely was not quiet. I didn't expect that from a hybrid vehicle.

He then tried to "explain away" the engine noise. And also the road noise which was quite loud. But there is just no denying it, my engine growls when you give her the gas.

 

Hybrids are still an ICE car.

A non-hybrid can easily be quieter than a hybrid, and the hybrid made quieter, but noise insulation adds weight.

 

"We can put a man on the moon.... but we still have old-fashioned heavy sound insulation."

 

It likely has been improved, but it takes a bunch cutting out engine and road noise.