PIP Gen 1 Camping Question

Try it at home? Using the remote climate control feature, the A/C shuts off after 10 or 20 minutes or as soon as you open the door. It's been a while since I tried to start the car while plugged in. If that even worked the DRLs on your Canadian PIP cannot be turned off and you don't want them shining all night for other campers.

 

I've only tried the remote AC twice, but I'm thinking it is always in high. Can others confirm? We are leaving tomorrow on our 12,000 mile [partially] camping road trip, but planning to use the AC overnight. Heading north, so hopefully screened windows will suffice.

 

no, the pip won't run the a/c unless you want to wake up overtime you're warm and press the remote. and i doubt 10 minutes will make much difference in a warm car.
you will get 30 minutes or so on a full charge after unplugging before the ice fires. co is not a concern with prius, it's very clean.

 

Not sure if it's the same as yours - but on the European model if you start the car with the parking brake on, the DRLs stay off until you release the parking brake.

 

I rarely disagree with you, friend. But I have to here.

Even in the sun on a hot day I would probably only use about 20-30% of the battery in a half hour.
At night with temps in the low 80's I'm pretty confident you could get at least an hour and a half out of it if not 2+.

 

no problem! but i think we're talking about 2 different things. the o/p wants to run the a/c while she sleeps without the engine coming on, and the charger plugged in.
so, she'll either have to run the a/c for 10 minutes at a time with the remote, or unplug, put it in ready and shut it down when the engine comes on and sleep in a hot car the remainder of the night.

 

I can confirm that the Canadian Prius (including Plug-in) works this way, the DRL's will not come on if the parking brake is engaged when you start the car. If you were driving and park and engage the brake, it will not force the DRLs off unless you shut the car off and start again.

With regards to the original question, there isn't really a simple ideal answer. You can use the remote AC, but it only runs for a limited time (10 mins?) before shutting off. If the car is plugged in, you cannot 'start' it, and only goes to ON mode for a few minutes before shutting off again.

I know because as someone who works on the road, I have tried to park and sit at the public charger while working on my laptop, and I usually just park and open the windows, since AC is problematic to use effectively when trying to charge.

If you need AC, putting the car in Ready mode and running until the battery runs down (and fires up the engine) is really your only way. I am not sure how long it will last, as this would be directly related to your heat & humidity, but I would guess 1-2 hours in typical summer heat.

Hope that helps.

 

Yes, my experience is the same - there doesn't seem to be an easy way to keep the AC running while the car is plugged in.

Some details on the remote AC from the manual:

 

Just arrived in Anchorage last evening from PA. The two of us spent four of those nights in the PIP. Not really interested in running the AC at night. Condensation is a serious issue, but a towel took care of that in the morning. Had partially opened windows (screened) one night, which helped, but was then concerned about the bears.... Didn't do the mpg numbers yet, but averaged somewhere in the high 50's. I should have reset the one trip odo at the beginning of the trip. Highest regen coming down one mountain was 9 miles added to battery.