Remote climate and app error

How’s Verizon coverage where the car is located? When it fails is the car always in the same location? Does it work if you take the car to a different location? Since it’s problematic even with the key fob I’m leaning away from it being an app or telematics issue.

 

This may not be specific to your car. I have had a similar problem with my 2020 PP LE and others are reporting similar issues. Toyota's implementation of the Connected Service is pathetic. On my 2020 PP LE, I have opted out of entire Connected Services.

Here are examples of other threads complaining about the connected service on PP.

2021 Prius Prime LE vs. XLE Remote Connect Question | PriusChat
New 21 Prime limited will not start car | PriusChat

And my write-up on 2020 PP LE Toyota App issues and how I dealt with it.
No more Entune for 2020 Prius Prime, but... | PriusChat

 

As far as Verizon I can only speak to the 2018 Prime. I saw a mention on Reddit and when I was involved in troubleshooting a Prime App issue I asked. The engineer said he could not offer that info unsolicited but since I asked a direct question and asked for confirmation he did say it was in fact Verizon. Ymmv.

 

Prius Prime was never equipped with Remote Connect for starting the car (remote engine start) which is one feature of the Connected Service for other Toyota models. The only remote connectivity that was mentioned for the PP in the Toyota publication is Remote Climate control.

See my comment in this thread: New 21 Prime limited will not start car | PriusChat

 

The Remote Climate control, either using the phone app via Connected Service telematics or using the fob buttons only works with a sufficient amount of traction battery charge. That's because the remote climate control uses only the electronic heat pump powered by the traction battery. Using it will drain the battery, thus reduces the EV range. Even when it is working, the moment you unlock the door and open it, the HVAC stops, causing all the conditioned air to escape as soon as you open the door. Also for a very cold climate, the heat pump is not effective thus you can not heat the cabin when the ambient temp is below 14F. For those reasons, I find the all remote climate to be just useless for my need.

 

I can't think of a reason to start my car from anywhere around the world. All that says to me is:

1. That my car and my phone are now being tracked by the manufacturer, and
2. That anyone with access to the manufacturer's IT systems could remote start (and stop?) my car at their whim.

If I had been given that information prior to sale I would not want that car.

 

The Prius does have that function. Just press and hold the A/C button on the key fob. That will turn on the climate controls to however you set them last AFAIK.

 

It won't work for something like three minutes after the door is shut.

 

When we bought our 2017 Prime, being able to start and warm up the car was an important consideration. The salesperson said that the car had a remote start as an option for several hundred dollars. That did not seem unreasonable. However, when we took delivery of the car, we were told that we had to bring it back the following week for the technician to "enable" the remote starter.

That was fortunate, because after reading through the manual, it became apparent that the electric remote climate was all we really wanted (there is no need to warm up an engine in an electric car.) And it was unclear logically how a remote starter would work on a car that didn't need to have its engine started.

We called the dealer to ask additional questions. Only then did we learn that the remote starter was not a Toyota Prime option which needed to be "enabled" but was an after-market non-Toyota accessory being sold and installed by the dealership. We cancelled the item and were refunded that portion of our purchase price.

But here is a PriusChat post from someone who did have an aftermarket remote starter installed on her Prius Prime. You can read through that discussion thread for more information, including the brand name and a link to the manufacturer's info.

Generally speaking, you don't warm up the engine in a Prime because you almost always start in electric mode. Cabin heat is provided by the electrically-driven heat pump which is powered by the traction battery. In fact, for safety reasons, you cannot start the Prime's gasoline engine when the Prime is plugged into its charging cable.

However, as was learned by the person who had the remote starter installed, if the Prime is not plugged in, the after-market remote starter can start the gasoline engine just as it would on a conventional automobile. As you don't plan to leave your Prime plugged in, this may be acceptable for your needs.

I don't know any more that what I've read here in PriusChat and I cannot speak to the details of whether the climate control comes on at your pre-set temperature when the remote starter activates the engine.

The one thing I do know is that Toyota sales people are poorly trained in understanding and explaining the operation and features of the Prius Prime plug-in hybrid. Add that ignorance to a sales philosophy of "if I don't know the answer I can make something up" and you're frequently going to have frustrated, unhappy and angry customers.

 

Leave it to prius chat to find my same issue

I have a 2021 LE

My fob won't allow me to turn the AC on remotely and when I try to use the app I get this error

 

2021 Prius Prime XLE and Limited will offer the EV Connect standard. EV Connect, unlike remote connect, will not start the engine but it will run your climate settings. While not as reliable as the remote connect feature available on non plug in models (battery minimums and connectivity issues from time to time), when it is working, is a more energy efficient way to get your car to a comfortable temperature before getting in See attached.