Hello there, This is most likely going to sound insane, but I'm moving from Alaska to Tennessee soon, and I'm trying to figure out how to get the Prius back to the south. I'm looking to do the journey in about two weeks, but I'm still on the fence on whether or not it's a good idea. The car is a 2007 Prius, 90k miles, with studded tires and recently fully inspected. The idea is to drive the alcan the entire way to edmonton, then head straight south until warmer weather before crossing the midwest. I'll likely hit temperatures around 0-10F during the trip, but hopefully nothing much lower. I have all the necessary survival gear ready to bring along, but one thing I was interested in was taking naps in the car while it's running during the canadian portion of the trip, about 5 days. I've sat idling in the car before at higher temperatures, and it doesn't seem to burn much fuel since the engine only cuts on for a few minutes every once in a while to recharge the hybrid battery. But I'm curious how this should work in colder temperatures, of course making sure to fuel up before stopping to take a break. This way we could skip the need for hotels and possible issues with leaving the car off for extended times. if you have any insight on this type of travel, i'd greatly appreciate it!
Yeah, we'll definitely do this at least once in the Canadian section just as a break from being in the car! I'm just wondering if it'll be a necessary thing every time we stop to take a break or nap.
Agreed! and as I approach retirement age, the most I'll do is "one night only" sleeping in the car. Kind of a reversal. ... and welcome, thompkinz !! .
Hi! My experiment with that was covered in this thread. It gives the temperature/wind when I was testing, so you may be able to roughly adjust for the conditions you expect. In some discussions, people have raised monoxide concerns. I think I'd be pretty willing to nap in a Prius idling in the open outdoors with a low duty cycle. But battery powered CO detectors are cheap, and having one in the cabin should allay any concern. -Chap
Thanks a lot, Chapman! That thread is an incredible resource. If I did go through with it, I would definitely invest in a small CO detector to bring along.
