HyCam engine runs to make waste heat?

Un-known to you, the climate control probably was running the A/C a little to keep; the humidity down a bit.

The engine does NOT run just to waste......anything.

It does, however, run sometimes to maintain a minimum engine temperature......and to make heat for the occupants.
That is not exactly "waste heat".

 

If the HV batt needs charge the engine will run, also depends on what warm-up stage the car is in...so we cannot tell. Also in winter if the cabin needs heat.

How do you like the car though?

 

what do you mean by waste heat? if the temp is set above low, you are asking for the engine to run if necessary to make heat

 

that's not waste heat, it's demand heat.

 

That's how it works. Nothing to prove. The only way for the car to make heat to keep the engine warm or to keep the humans warm is to run the engine. If you set the cabin temperature to 71F like you said, that would run all the time in some of the temps we get, the engine would never shut off.

When driving the Prius in the cold, I generally turn the HVAC off when I am approaching a stop light and turn it on again before I go. Don't have to, it will work without any fancy button movement. But I hate the idling engine. On the highway, just let it do its thing. When you first turn the car on, all the stuff in the car has to absorb heat too. This is where cabin pre-heating is a nice thing.

 

Heat has to come from somewhere, its not free.
I see my mpg drop during the winter, gas is used to make heat as engine is running more to heat itself. If one would turn climate all off and freeze then there is some mpg to gain

Engine wants to be at least 40C and more if there is heat demand.

 

I've really come to think that Toyota's best cars are the stealth hybrids. Hybrid powerplants without all the in-your-face technology-for-the-sake-of-technology.

You see similar heat behavior even in non-hybrid cars. A few from the newest generation will raise their idle or select lower gears specifically to burn more fuel for heat, if the cabin heat knobs are set high.

You can use a block heater to bank up heat on grid power and cut fuel use. It's a free thermal battery and the charger is cheap. Might as well use it.

 

This is really NOT a good idea.

The moisture just from your breath can, and often does, frost over the inside of the windshield and suddenly block your vision completely.
Especially if you are facing into the sun.

No need to be toasty warm but a little heat for the defroster really is required.

 

We tend to think of Toyota Hybrids as fuel efficient vehicles, but that is really secondary. Foremost, they are low polluting vehicles.

In order to minimize pollution, when the engine first starts, it runs until it is up to optimal operating temperature to minimize pollution. After that , it will run if climate control takes the temperature below optimal.

The heat is not wasted but is needed to minimize pollution, given anticipated demands.

 

It is not a bug, it is a feature.

 

That's the one with a gasoline heater in the "frunk" to provide cabin heat. I remember those.

 

Hey, no waste heat there, just frozen buns.

 

I've owned several aircooled VWs, some with the auxiliary gasoline heaters. Those heaters were amazing! Flick the switch and whoosh! hot air out the vent instantly.

Yes, it burnt a lot of gasoline, but it was very efficient about safely turning it into heat, and that was the whole point.

Some of the same manufacturers currently produce similar units that rapidly heat your watercooled engine antifreeze, and the latest models can talk to the cloud and start heating the car by remote command.

 

Do they use the Gen 2 antifreeze thermos too?

 

my wife's hycam has heated seats, which are nice for at least the backside, and allow lower heat settings resulting in some mpg gains.
but cold weather still causes the engine to run more to maintain minimum programmed temp

 

...although we have low MPG in cold weather, the nice thing about winter is how kind and gentle it is on the HV battery. You are always keeping batt charge in the safe range due to extra electrons due to the heater being on. Also the cold weather itself bathes the battery in low temperature which retards long term degradation reactions internally in the battery. At the same time battery power is lower due to low temp and MPG is a greater debit perhaps than regular ICE's.

In contrast the A/C robs a lot of electrons and you see purple bars (low batt ) more often and hotter areas need replacement HV batteries more often. As a side benefit better MPG as partial compensation for the bad aspects.