Anyone Know Why Prius Has No Auto Off Feature?

No, that isn't right, the first thing to go is the... um... what was...
Let me get back to you on that.

 

I am sure every car manufacturer's engineering department has think about this auto off feature, but why it is not implemented. It is just a software feature for some cars like the Prius. Think deeply, there must be some regulation or liability issues that prevents this feature. So do more research and find out.

 

So that means that you forgot to put the car into park and also turn it off - auto off would not help in this case.

I guess this will show you that while I'm only 44 i still have some cranky old man in me. I guess that it comes down to this. When you drive a car you are really getting into a 2+ton guided missile. If you are not careful you can do a great deal of damage. With that power comes responsibility - ie, the responsibility to operate the dangerous piece of machinery properly. Part of that is turning it off when done. There we go, end of my grumpy old fart rant.

 

Sounds like a good rant to me

Mike

Mobile on my SGH-i717

 

should we ask for an auto feature when forgetting to put the car in park?

 

'Im no longer ebarrassed, was at the time..lol..the quietness of the prius takes some getting used to, I have owned over 50 cars and have never had one that make no noise when you park the car, have two other cars now and it is not a mistake you can make in either of them, if I'm the only who did it so be it, doubt I'll be the last....bob

 

Hi Bob,
Does your car have the George Jetson spaceship sound maker? My car makes a racket everytime I pull into our garage.

Mike

Mobile on my SGH-i717

 

While I agree with your point on personal responsibility, by that logic why have any safety features?
Perhaps we should do away with handrails on stairs?
Don't really need irons that turn off automatically, as everyone knows it would be dangerous to leave on.

And then again, you have the added convenience which is another reason for an auto off feature.
BTW, in the only car I am aware of with auto off, the car puts itself in park and turns off the car, so he would have been covered

 

I'm not a Luddite, but I would ask that you really think through the issue. How would you actually make it work? How then would you be 100% sure that it will not fail. And it will also need to be designed to last for a long time, a car is not an iron that you can throw away after a year. An iron that turns itself off when you are 1/2 through a shirt is an annoyance, a car that turns itself off when you are 1/2 way to your exit on the highway is a disaster. Think back to the sudden acceleration scare a few years ago - all you would need is 1 Prius to shut off while driving to create a panic.

So now that you have the system that works all the time and is designed to last the life of the car how much does it cost?

What car with auto off puts itself in park?

When a car is running and not in park it will creep forward if your foot is not on the brake. Even if it did not creep the car would essentially be in neutral and therefore able to roll whatever direction gravity would take it. So if you do not turn off the car and leave it in gear the car will eventually stop but not until it rams something big enough to stop it.

 

edited because I'm a simple fool

 

of my three cars the prius, is the least loved (sorry), so it has to be parked in our circular drive, however, I have heard it make the strange noise the couple times I pulled it in the garage to mess with it. The time I left it running was at CVS and the time I didn't put it in gear was at a restaurant( always in a hurry to eat..LOL). But being inside the car attempting to get out of it while parked, at least thinking it was parked, I don't think you hear that noise in a non-moving Prius?

 

Well, I'll ask again, just how does the system work? What prevents the car from stopping catastrophically? My kids jokingly will sometimes say "pics or it did not happen" so in that vein I will jokingly say details or it does not actually work as described.

 

out of the mouths of babes

sorry

and I can assure you if someone steals a running challenger IT WILL stop in the middle of the road

 

Not calling you a liar. I do however wonder if your understanding of what you describe is accurate.

 

I personally have not tried it, but I have seen the videos on top gear and youtube

 

Then how do you know this to be true? Have you tested it or did the dealer tell you this?

Sorry, but your assertion is just not believable unless there is a great deal more to the story. A car that just stops running is a huge lawsuit waiting to happen. Even Chrysler (a terrible company prior to FIAT and currently a bad company with some potential in my opinion) is not stupid enough to make a car that simply cuts out a few seconds after it looses communication with the key fob.

So that means that most every car sold over the past century is stupid?

So, gotta ask, where do you stand on jumbo jets that do not have an auto off function? You know those airline pilots can be in a rush and those new jets are just so quiet.

 

OKAY, I AM WRONG, just tried it and it did not turn itself off after I walked away for a few hundred feet, took 2 attemps while away the 1st time I realized my wifes keys were only 25 feet from the car, so did it again......IT DID NOT DIE..... so the videos I have seen only show the car being driven off without a fob, will try that also but not in 5:00 traffic and over 100 degrees. I am sorry that I mislead the forum. bob

my answer to the last question is YES I do feel that way, it is my opinion worth something to only me

wait wait wait surely you met decade???

 

Nope, I meant century. My first car was a 78 Volvo. I had to turn it off. Growing up my neighbor had a Model T from the 20's - while he had to crank it to get it started he too had to manually turn it off. I'm pretty sure that most cars from the past century had to have the driver turn them off.

 

i thought we were talking about keyfobs???? but I'm senile so pay no never mind...LOL