What's confusing my ICE arrows?

yea the warm up idle is not indicated on the display.

 

I imagine you had the heat on. It was running the engine to warm it up so it could provide you with heat. It wasn't moving the car, and it wasn't charging the battery, but it was on none the less. Therefore no arrows on the display.

I believe that engine runs at a higher idle when it's charging the battery. If it's just sitting there idling to heat up the engine, but not operating at it's higher battery charging idle, then you won't see any arrows.

Of course, I could be completely wrong. I got my prius right at the end of last winter's cold weather, so this winter is a first for me as well.

 

This topic has come up a number of different times and ways the past couple of weeks.

Read this very carefully. The energy screen does not ever indicate that the ICE is running. It does indicate if the ICE is contributing power to the drive system. As such if there is an arrow leading out of the ICE to the electric motor on the display or to the wheels or a combination, the vehicle is indicating that in some fashion the ICE is engaged in some kind of energy creation or propulsion activity. On the other hand, if the ICE is running to provide cabin heat or to warm up the cats, as is part of its normal program, the ICE will run, but it is not turning the generator nor is it providing power to the wheels directly.

During startup, without having EV mode engaged, the ICE should start and run for a short period doing a battery charge test. This is indicated on the screen, if you are in park, as the engine sending power to the electric motor which in turn sends power to the battery. That lasts for a few seconds and then the arrow stops, however the ICE continues to run, warming itself and the cats up.

During the period of time that the ICE is turning the generator you will notice more vibration in the car and a different sound coming from the ICE. This is the sound of the ICE under load, because it is generating power. Now, as soon as that power generation test ends the engine will sound different and vehicle vibration will be less. The ICE is now not under any load but spinning free. I do not believe there is a significant difference in RPM between these modes. However I do not have a scanguage to confirm or disaffirm that.

 

There is a solution. The ScanGage. It will show you when the ice is running and burning gas all be it very little gas. You can also get engine temp and a "very" few other data points it is no mini-scanner but it is available and it works. It is a first training wheel fro one to learn about the Prius. I am hoping for better tools to look at the battery charging, discharging and other HV data on the bus.

 

It's not really a deficiency.

It's an intentional simplification.

Take a closer look at the Energy Monitor. Notice how there is only 1 motor, yet the arrows indicate it is doing both jobs of the 2 motors.

Keeping visuals safe was the goal. Adding complexity makes it more informative. But that is clearly not a good idea for the driver to be observing while driving. Imagine looking at the increased activity caused by adding that second motor and the PSD...

[Broken External Image]:http://john1701a.com/prius/images/Prius-Operation_Engine-Motor-Drive-Charge.gif

And that's without even using color for the arrow direction or indicating whether or not the engine is running. It could turn into a serious driver distraction quite easily.

 

Also, don't forget that the same layout (which is great for establishing a standard) is used to depict the activity of the hybrid system with the 4-wheel drive too. That adds another set of arrows and another electric motor.