Winter electric heating experiences with Gen 5 Prime

-10°C is +14°f for all of us USA thinkers.

Yea - that's about the same temp as our Pacifica plugin. Batteries aren't necessarily as efficient once getting below freezing temperatures.
We got a Chevy volt - which can run much colder in uber freezing weather;

2019 Chevrolet Volt

but it's really inefficient to discharge a battery when it's that cold - & to warm you up - or the cabin or defroster or both ... and when it comes to charging - that's another constipated process when it's really cold. The volt drops drom 7.2kW's to ~5kW's.
of course running gasoline in the ice gets very inefficient at those temps as well. But at least you can scavenge Heat to heat the cabin & defroster.

Was your battery cold soaked when you were driving? That can cause the ice to turn on.
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sounds like the same issue people had with gen 4

 

This is presumably for the plug-in version, aka Prime? Maybe worth noting in title?

 

yeah, a new grinding noise is definitely suspicious.

 

Yep, I had my Prime in the Colorado Mountains this past week, so got to use heat for the first time. I got snow and ice at the hotel parking lot so turned both defrosters on (front and back) after scraping. I had about 10% of EV charge, but still the engine came on right away. So, at least we're consistent. I tried understanding the manual on when the engine comes on and off and it seemed way too complicated to have any good/simple expectations. My car is normally garaged, so hoping that most of the time I won't need a defroster and therefore won't need the engine. Lots to observe and learn this winter!

will

 

You won't need it much regardless. Think of that button as a MAX option. The ordinary window blower worked fine for me through 6 winters with my Prime in Minnesota. You basically just need to avoid ever using recirculate and airing out the car when you park. That moisture prevention goes a long way toward keeping the windows clear.

It won't take long before those anecdotal observations leave you yearning for actual data. At that point, you'll want to get an ODB-II reader to see real-time activity in great detail. The video below is what I captured with a reader and an app called HybridAssistant.

 

You won't need it much regardless. Think of that button as a MAX option. The ordinary window blower worked fine for me through 6 winters with my Prime in Minnesota. You basically just need to avoid ever using recirculate and airing out the car when you park. That moisture prevention goes a long way toward keeping the windows clear.

It won't take long before those anecdotal observations leave you yearning for actual data. At that point, you'll want to get an ODB-II reader to see real-time activity in great detail. The video below is what I captured with a reader and an app called HybridAssistant.

 

John1701a (Hopefully a Star Trek reference!): That looks pretty cool! I'm already pretty distracted looking at what the car itself offers, but this looks like it would be neat once I get more used to the car. The other app I've seen referenced a lot is Dr. Prius.

Hopefully soon, I like lots of data so these look fun.

will

 

Yup. Being among the first to own a Prius here way back in 2000, I had the opportunity to quite literally go where no one had gone before. It was really fun getting to explore the technology like that. In fact, bZ4X reminds me a lot of those early days. Toyota invested a lot into Prius but didn't reveal much until years later. They didn't prevent you from peeking yourself... hence some of use taking advantage with ODB-II readers. As you watch winter electric heating, I'm looking into how battery heating is managed. Toyota makes interesting decisions about energy handling with an emphasis on overall efficiency.

 

John1701a: Very cool on a 2000 Gen1, I got a 2003 Gen1 and just gave it away when getting this Gen5. Great car that still works! My favorite story was when I got it the dealer INSISTED on doing the oil changes for the first two years and was up front as to why. With it being a brand new technology, they fully admitted they were downloading as much usage data as they could get. I was a beta tester and happy to be one! I just have a simple ODB-II reader for the basics, looking forward to getting something fancier.

will

 

I yearn and I pine for more data. Just beware what happened to me with my ScanGauge II plugged in:

https://priuschat.com/posts/3382209/

Basically, I don't use it now, because I'm afraid to turn the car off and forget to unplug it. This particular unit causes my G5 Prime to drain the 12V battery overnight.

 

That becomes a non-issue with devices designed to be plugged in all the time... BLE... Bluetooth Low Energy.

This is what I got for exactly that.

OBDLink CX Bimmercode Bluetooth...

 

Where you able by any chance to test the remote heating or similar so you can enter a warm car already? In worst case it would not work as well then unless it could start the engine - which might be another one of these things not possible in europe?

 

I'm no Prime expert but would expect the ICE to behave similar to the non-prime in cold weather....comes on until the temperature is high enough for the computer to be happy...then shuts off until gets too cold, again, or when the traction battery hits 2 bars.

Is this correct or does the Prime have a different setup? (I wanted to buy a prime in 21 but none were available here.)

 

The video in post #7 confirms your postulation... both when the EV miles are depleted and when outside temperature is below the heat-pump threshold (12°F).

 

@KMO: I'm doing my first road trip and it's also the first cold driving too and I heard some noise leaving the hotel yesterday morning that scared me! I wonder if it is the heat pump you mentioned. It went away pretty quickly, so wondering if that was as soon as the ICE warmed up.

will

 

Hybrid Assistant for Prime pretty ready to be distributed, last checks.

The fix for the Prius 2023 Prime has been developed in the french Prius Touring Forum with the assistance of the italian @Alessandro_Ibi.

 

My Gen 3 was great in the winter. I started it in -30 temps many times, and never had to plug in the engine heater, owing to the 0-20W synthetic oil. I'll be taking delivery of my new Prius Prime in December, and I hope it's not cold-blooded. Anyone have experience with deep sub-zero temps?