Does the PIP have a pre-heater ?

Nothing wrong with the good old fashion kind of pre-heater . . . the electric block heater. Stick it on a timer (if you regularly leave for a morning commute at the same time) and you can set it to heat your block for 60-90 minutes before you take off. Keepin' int simple.
PriusChat Shop : Toyota Prius Engine Block Heater [Prius EBH] - $59.00

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what happens if you set the A/C to 70 degrees when it's 40 degrees outside?

 

But does it start up the ICE while EV mode to produce the heat, or is there an electric heater element?

 

can you stick a small ceramic heater inside the car and turn it on awhile before you leave?

 

There is not an electric heating element in the car. The engine must run to produce heat (although there are heated seats, which should be capable of running on the system battery).

 

This seems to be a problem in a cold weather climate. Cold car, no engine running for the first 10 miles or 15 minutes?? If the engine must run to be warm it seems to make the plug in vehicle not very workable. If you have a long commute the plug in can not get you to your destination without the engine. If you have a short commute, where the plug in would normally work well, you will be cold without a defroster or the engine will run eliminating the value of the plug in.

If you use a block heater the block will be cold before the electricity is depleted.

Where I live (near Canada) heat/defrost is a reality 6 months of the year. I have seen small heaters that plug in a lighter. Perhaps that can be used to heat the car interior before starting out. Seems like Toyota should have dealt with this in the production car.

 

That's what I've been thinking. I wonder if they could put in open/close louver in the front grill? At least conserve some of the heat.

 

They did. You get a EV/HV button.

You have the impression of no value from the plug-in. But in reality, there's still that kWh available. So even with the engine running, you're going to get way higher MPG than usual... even in the cold.

For me in Minnesota, each direction of my commute will begin with the engine running. Why not warm up the interior with heated coolant coming from the first few miles of driving? I'd rather not waste the finite amount of electricity on heating. With a 33-mile round-trip, that's a no-brainer. Of course with 2 charging-stations already available (with an 82 kWh solar-array), plugging in during the day does change the equation...
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With only 15 miles of battery range in the PiP I would want to run the engine from the get go.. In my mind that would make the best use of the available battery, and give you the best mileage if you knew you were going to go over the 15 miles. I notice on our Prius whenever I am in the top 2 bars of the battery that I get the best fuel economy. So I quit even trying to keep it in EV at 45 or less. I just keep driving. Sometimes get as high as 65-70mpg showing on the flat stretches. The Li-Ion in the PiP will mean the car can maintain that much longer, and probably return even better mileage. Not to mention the electric motor is more powerful, and you have a higher speed limit on the PiP vs conventional Gen 3. Is a win win.

 

Use the fuel that does the best job. In this case gas can warm up the cabin far better than the battery and you won't need to worry about the battery life.

Remember, PiP warms up the catalytic faster than a regular Prius. The prototype finishes in 42 secs while meeting SULEV emission.

 

Thanks John!

As soon as I read Sabby's post, I thought to myself, "I wish I knew what John1701a thought about this?". And now I see...

This driving situation is also going to be quite common for me. I expect to have quite a few cold Minnesota driving days too. I was thinking that it might be good to use the heated seats to keep warm but, since my commute will be 22 mile, I will have to use some gas regardless. Then, knowing that the car warms up quicker than the standard model, it makes sense to use the gas right away and go 'EV' for the last part of the trip.

I will, of course, have to experiment some myself too (simply because it will be fun)!

 

Oh, you'll see it. That's why I've been experimenting with the video cameras. In fact, there are 2 new winter ones I just captured a few days ago and haven't even pointed out yet. They'll be on this thread shortly... http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-main-forum/94881-gen-iii-2010-prius-owner-videos.html

Hopefully... if I somehow get my PIP when it's still winter here... I'll be well prepared to immediately capture driving moments on video to share with y'all.
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I wonder how soon we will get them. I certainly don't expect them to arrive before March. Assuming my current car can make it until then, I would prefer to get my PiP in April. I don't want my first month of driving my new PHEV to be on roads with ice (of course April and even May could see some snow).

 

It makes sense on a longer trip when it is cold out to start out using the ICE. Will you have the ability to decide if you want the ICE used or not? If the EV button is not pushed will it deplete the battery before starting the ICE or can you force it to use the ICE from the start?

Many of my trips are about 12 miles round trip which was focusing my thinking regarding the cold start use of the Plug in.

 

For the prototype, it defaults in EV mode when it starts. Not sure about the production model.