ukr2 in Rochester, NY got his PIP

When a standard Prius first enters warmup, the car will run on battery power until the ICE temp reaches a certain point. Once the ICE is over 100 degrees and the catalytic converter is warmed sufficiently it will shut off.

 

In that first phase of warm up ( to 104 degrees) in a standard Prius you can see that a limited amount of power is going to the battery with a scan gauge. The engine is in a very low power state with very retarded timing.

John has a post you should look at on Pip temperatures

http://priuschat.com/forums/toyota-prius-plug-in/106061-coolant-temperatures.html

 

Use the control wheel to the left of the steering wheel to adjust the brightness. I have yet to find out how to make the headlights go off on delay after you exit the car. It's hard to belive a car that costs this much you can't do this!

 

Go into audio, there is a sub menu that lets you use auto volume. I'm not sure if this is what you want. I think it just keeps the sound at a constant volume and reduces soft to loud passages.

 

If the fan is on but the temp is not set to Low the PIP thinks its calling for heat, and the ICE can run. Make sure its set to low unless you want heat of some sort.

 

You should look at the table of customizations in the Owner's Manual. Specifically, you should look at pg. 643. The dealer can change the "Time elapsed before lights turn off" for the Base trim.

 

I had hoped the warmup cycle would only begin when the EV range was down to two miles, was your battery nearing that or was there still a good amount of EV range left?

 

Emission reduction is still a very high priority for Prius.

That means the warm-up cycle will draw electricity from the battery if warming is taking place while the vehicle is in motion.

It's brief and the engine actually returns that electricity back shortly afterward. But once you trigger the start in EV mode, it will continue until coolant temperature reachs that magic 130°F.
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I understand the need for the warmup cycle, in the standard Prii, but it seems to defeat the purpose in the case of the PiP! Starting up the ICE for a brief period of additional power demand shouldn't begin an entire warmup phase that can last a couple of minutes! Perhaps an ability to select a city or highway mode could be added to a future redesign?

 

What is the purpose?

Keep in mind how fast warm-up has become and how rapid the engine shuts off the next time you request lots of power.
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I have a Base model and have the same stalk as you do. And it's perfectly normal for the dash brightness to be at full with the headlights off & then dim with the headlights on. My 2005 Prius did the same thing. There's an adjustment knob to the left of the steering wheel to adjust how dim or bright it is when you have the headlights on. Generally when driving at night you want the dash light level to be dimmer to avoid destroying your night vision.

 

I would presume the purpose of the PiP is to reduce the use of gasoline! Warmup can last from 2 minutes in warm weather to 5 in cold conditions! If you only need to use the ICE for a few seconds twice on a short drive around town, why spend half that trip warming up everything? Bad for the enviroment, terrible for FE!