Ack!

I am Prius-less.
I am without Prius.
I have been de-Prius'd.
I have no Prius.
There is no Prius in my garage.
I don't have a Prius.
Doc has performed a Prius-ectomy on me.

With apologies to the Monty Python group.

My friend, who's nickname is Doc, purchased Pearl today. I'm waiting for Pearl 2 or perhaps Pearl S to arrive. Pearl S is a technology package Seaglass Pearl Prius.

Worse yet, I only have an FJ Cruiser to drive! Horrors!

 

I've been insulted!
I have never talked about getting out of the Prius family!

Pearl S is due any day now.
I've read the owners manual cover to cover. I'm so ready!

 

Pearl had 71,000 km on her when sold and new Nokian WR GII tyres last September. Doc paid about mid range wholesale, got a free tank of gas and will get a free oil change and coolant as well as HSD oil change included. So I think he got a good deal. The dealer was going to give me the lowest black book value (which was a bit of a rip as Pearl was in good shape with only a few parking lot dings). Their excuse was "those cars don't move very fast off our lot, so we can't give you what you should get". Right. Car salesmen!
Pearl S is list, of course, but at least I got to "delete" the useless block heater! That's a $250 saving right there. Reason was they got it from Vancouver Island, where it isn't automatically installed, and I requested and signed a release so they wouldn't add it when it gets here. All Prius in Alberta come with them and they won't let you delete it.

 

The block heater is a 400W device. It's effect isn't noticeable at -20C or below, the only time I would bother to use it. IF I knew three hours before when I wanted to drive the car.

As I said, useless, at least for me.
If you live in the mid-US it can improve your fuel economy.
Funny isn't it. It's sold in the far North where it has little effect, but not generally in the mid-US where it has an effect.

They need a 1500W heater if they want it to work up here.
But with a 20HP starter motor and a 200V battery boosted to over 500V driving it there is no need.

 

Correct. A "block heater" needs at least 1 kW around here to be effective. Those Prius enthusiasts in the warmer parts of the US are putting the under-powered one in their cars so the warmup time/distance is much shorter. That gets them better mileage.
I'll speculate that the -reason- the block heater has limited power is it's not a "coolant immersion" type. "Normal" "block heaters" replace a frost plug and are just like a kettle element inserted into the frost plug hole into the engine coolant passage. The Prius one is external, inserted into a hole and needing heat conducting grease to transfer heat into the aluminum block. Its inefficient heat transfer causes the heater to run at elevated temperatures, and would probably exceed the temperature normal heaters could withstand if it ran at higher power. It -may- be possible to use a "pump type" circulating block heater, but the Prius has a rather complex cabin heating circuit, and that causes those of us who would like to add this to get headaches thinking about how to implement it.

The Prius uses MG1 (motor generator 1) to start the ICE (internal combustion engine). MG1 is powered by the 200V battery through the inverter, which converts it to about 550V AC three phase. MG1 produces 20 HP or more.

MG2 is used to propel the car at times, mainly as a booster for the ICE, which is gutless at low RPMs. MG2 is the only source of motive power when you are in reverse - it's driven "backwards". It is also a three phase AC motor/generator. It is capable of delivering more than 40 HP.

MG1 is also used to recover energy during braking and even at times coasting. It's output is three phase AC and is rectified, converted to an appropriate voltage, and put into the hybrid system battery (charges it). This is called "regenerative braking".

MG2 can also generate power.

The 12V battery only powers the computer systems and the lights and radio, and then only when the car is not in "ready". The inverter has a 12V "power supply" built in which keeps the 12V system at a higher voltage (13.8 to 14.1 or so) to charge the 12V battery and power the 12V accessories when in "ready".

Sorry it's so long, but if you made it through to this point you have a good idea of how the car works.

But I don't have one now, so I guess mine doesn't work!

 

Today is "THE DAY"! All it took was buckets of money!

 

Re: Ack! - now Ahhh!

Well, Ahh indeed! There is now a Prius in my garage again!
So much "stuff" I don't know what to look at so I watch the road ahead.
Typical dealer/tire shop/repair shop etc. I left the dealer and got out of town on the secondary highway, looked on the dash (looking for something, don't remember what) and the TPMS light was on? Wth! Dealer prep?
I looked at the tyres and they were not low so I drove home.
One tyre had 33 PSI, two had 35 PSI, and one had 57 PSI. I set them to 40 PSI front and 38 PSI rear for now.
I had them remove the wheel lock nuts. They were in the hatch, but no key?
I'm -REALLY- impressed!
Oh, we have to watch out for those dumb owners. Sure!
At least the oil level was ok.

Pearl was smarter than I. Pearl S is doing things I can't even imagine!

Now the learning curve begins.