Remove plug before driving?

I had my first automatic parking "fail" the other day. I was having the car perform back-in parking, and it was too close to the car on my side (I think about 6 inches), so I hit the brake. It was closer than I've ever seen it get during the maneuver. I'm thinking maybe the sensors had rain spots on them or something. Haven't had the opportunity to try it since then, but I'm sure I will.

 

Too bad it can't read the lines of the parking spot like it does with lane keep assist. That way it wouldn't require the presence of other cars, or be dependent on how well they lined up in their spot. If one of the other cars was close to the line or slightly over, it could give you a warning, and if you decided to proceed it would then adjust off-center to keep enough clearance from the offending vehicle. We'll probably see something like that in the future, in the meantime it will just require some experience to determine when to use it, and when you will either need to park it yourself or just keep looking for another spot.

 

Yip...

I gather that it can give proximity warnings in general, though.



iPhone ? Pro

 

Using sonar. Reading lines would use the video from the backup camera. In fact I am guessing that the parking assist uses the sensors while parking, I suspect it only uses the video as an interface with the driver for selecting the spot.

 

Every source I've heard agrees with your conclusion here.


iPhone ? Pro

 

If it could read lines... I would wind up painting lines in my garage.

That would be cool.

 

I would be surprised if there's any plug-in car that you can drive off while plugged in.

 

Can you leave the cord plugged into your outlet without damaging it? I don't bother keeping the cord in the trunk and leave it in the garage. I plug it in just about every night and wondered if you could save time by just leaving it in the outlet.

 

Not a problem at all.

 

As I recall, one of Optimus Prime's YouTube videos said that he unplugs his from the wall because it seems to burn some -- not much, but some -- power even if it's not charging the car.


iPhone ? Pro

 

sounds right. i leave mine plugged in, but it probably uses some electricity, like most electric appliances, even when they are off. we do have members that unplug everything when not in use.

 

Can anyone walk up and open the charging port cover?
Or does the cover have to be released from the inside to cause it to open?

 

Anybody can open.

 

That's a part-truth. It only applies to the Plus model. The Premium and Advanced have the locking system.

 

Good info! Thanks. One of the YouTube videos mentioned in passing that you needed to have the key fob to be able to open the door. Wasn't very clear about that though...

On a somewhat-related note, I gather from YouTube there are three settings for locking a charger to the charge port:
- Manual = hit a button in the charge-port area to lock or unlock.
- Auto-lock = locks down automatically when you start charging, and must manually unlock it.
- Auto-lock and -unlock = locks down automatically when you start charging, and unlocks automatically when charging is done.

I presume that, in auto-lock and -unlock mode, you can also still hit the button to unlock when needed.

iPhone ? Pro

 

You are exactly accurate I like seeing photos as well and thought I would share this so others could see what happens

The car appeared to start or at least be in the on mode but I could not do anything with the shifter

 

it even tells you if you left the charge port door open, although it does let you drive like that.

 

The Ready light wasn't on so the car wasn't "running". The equivalent to a regular gas powered car turning the ignition switch to On but not starting the engine. Of course in a Prius the engine isn't always running, so the concept of whether the car is "running" or not can seem a bit ambiguous. That's what the Ready light is for, to remove any ambiguity about whether or not the car is "running".

 

You know those videos of rockets launching payloads to space? there's the umbilical cords and hoses that are attached to the rocket that jettison just after takeoff, sometimes it seems as if they jettison after the rocket has just begun to move?

That's how my charging cord works. Keeps it fully charged until the very last moment!

 

The charging system tells the supply when to shut off. If the blue lights on the dash are off and the green light on the charge station is off, it isn't charging, isn't making any difference. Unplug at your convenience.