Tried the engine to charge battery feature today and thought of how it will extend time between fill-ups even more. So the 80% charging ability from the engine only is spot on. When battery charge hit 80%, it stopped immediately. So one could just switch over to ev only mode and get some extra range that way without having to plug in. EV mileage indicator came to about 25 miles at 80% charge. Cool!
Why do you think it will "extend time between fill-ups"? You're using gas to charge the battery which is less efficient than plug -in.
This feature is only useful if battery is depleted and you need to drive uphill or badly need EV mode for urban drive.
When the low gas light comes on, enable engine CHARGE mode to bring the battery to 80%. When the engine quits because there is no more fuel, use the ~20 mile, accurate EV mode to find a safe place to park and/or refuel. DO NOT EXHAUST EV unless you have a tool to disconnect and reconnect the 12V ground. The car sets a latch that prevents restart even if gas has been added. A power-on reset of the 12V clears the latch. Zombie apocalypse mode. Bob Wilson
Bob Can you Explain. Thanks "DO NOT EXHAUST EV unless you have a tool to disconnect and reconnect the 12V ground. The car sets a latch that prevents restart even if gas has been added. A power-on reset of the 12V clears the latch. Zombie apocalypse mode."
Also useful (as several people have pointed out) if your *next* drive will be short, and you would be able to complete it without the penalty of an engine warm-up cycle... ...this is often the case on long road trips upon approaching a destination, where your destination does not have charging capability.
Yes. I was intending it as an emergency when gas is low to be able to charge battery. Think it is a good feature.
No it won't. Anything that causes the gas engine to run, thus burning gas, will DEcrease the time between fill-ups. Or did you mean "extend the time between CHARGES" ??
When the earlier model Prius ran out of gas, you could do three restart attempts. Add a gallon of gas and on your way. But after the third failed attempt, it would block further attempts to start. This usually resulted in an expensive tow to the dealer and over $100 in fees and wasting a day. If you had a pirated copy of Techstream, you could clear the latch but it was easier to just disconnect the 12V ground for about half a minute to ensure power supply capacitors would discharge. This 12V, power-on, reset clears the latch and gives another three attempts to start the car. But the 2017 Prius Prime works differently. I had run the battery down and driven in hybrid mode around town with a 1 gallon spare can. As I approached a traffic light, the engine burned the last of the gas and quit. So I coasted into a parking lot, added the gallon, and IT WOULD NOT START! So I used my newly purchased leatherman multitool; disconnected and reconnected the 12V ground. It instantly started and I drove to the nearest gas station to fill up and measured the 11.4 gallon tank. More technical details: Prius Prime Plus in my hands | Page 18 | PriusChat [WARNING] Running out of gas | PriusChat Bob Wilson ps. I ran out of gas at night around 10-11 PM and coasted into a parking lot about half a block from the County lockup, bail bonds, and police department. It is an area frequented by homeless hence the poor joke about zombies.
Thanks for the info. I learned something new with this car. So the take home message is not to run out of gas or you’ll be eaten by the zombie apocalypse. Lol!
