Winter driving and ICE kicking in.

I drive a 2017 Prius Prime.

For most of the winter here, when I first start driving the ICE will run just long enough to bring up the temps in the vehicle [maybe 5 miles]. Then it will go to EV and drive the next 20 miles on electric.

My normal daily driving is beyond 20 miles, so I would be running the ICE in either case.

 

Yes, that sounds about right

In summer maybe.

 

i believe it is the front defroster that starts the engine. but you can use foot/defrost if the frost isn't too bad.
it may start anyway, below 14f. a block heater is a good idea to help with warmup and shorten engine run time.

 

Almost any external extra load starts the ICE, here in Cool, temps are quite mild, worse being 28 F ICE ran for maybe 2 minutes. And I really don’t think it’s running hard, perhaps just a idle. I drive initially 1/2 mile w/ heater on low. Then, I go down a steep hill and turn on the heater a bit higher, interior warms up well and at bottom cars interior is about 70 F. No gloves ever needed. This last 2 weeks was our worst weather and I still got 96m mpg on the tank. My goal on a tank of gas is 1000 miles. If the weathers pleasant, I get that. Cars parked outside now and charged daily, I also pre-condition every morning, which also warms the interior and defrost the windows partially.

 

no, it depends on the ambient air temperature. the colder it is outside, the longer it takes for the engine to reach the warm up minimum temp.
if you ask for cabin heat, it takes even longer. if you use eco mode, it shortens the warm up time by reducing minimum temp needed.

 

When it is -20F outside, the vehicle does not take any longer to warm-up.

With the heated seats turned on, you can just begin to feel heat after about 5 miles. And a moment later the ICE will turn off.

 

Certainly, a Maine Prime driver is more qualified than I am, here in CA. Our results are similar tho.

 

My ice wouldn't turn off if the temp was below 15-18 f"ish, and when it's only 35-40f, going uphill the ice would kick in when it shouldn't, still, it is better then anything not pure electric.

 

Actually, the ICE is activated by the front defroster, not the rear defogger. If you don't need a sudden blast of heat, you often can de-fog your front window using just the fan mode of the climate control.

See my comment and illustration here: Page Not Found | PriusChat

When the ICE starts, it runs long enough to heat up its pollution control system which is usually a little less than ten minutes, depending upon the outside temperature.

The Prime will take advantage of some of that power to drive the wheels rather than just let it go to waste. It won't use very much gas in that brief period, but it does mean that you won't be 100% electric during your entire trip.

It will depend upon whether or not you want to heat the cabin for your own comfort. I believe that the electric "heat pump" will not function when the exterior temperature is less than +14F, so don't be surprised if the Prime runs as a conventional hybrid during much of your winter.

The battery will not hold as much charge when it's very cold, so your EV range will be reduced. As noted above, this may not be an issue because you're likely to be running in HV mode much of the time.

If your garage is above +14F, you can use the heat pump to "pre-condition" the cabin so that the car interior is more comfortable when you drive out of the garage. Assuming that the car is plugged in when inside the garage, it will use electricity from the charging cord to do this -- thus saving load on the battery of having to warm up the interior after you drive away.

The Prime is definitely more fun when the weather is a little warmer -- but that's the majority of the year, even where you're located.