Ok. A drive in movie needs ~5hr of radio run time. What is the best strategy? 1. run on ACC. restart radio every hour when it shuts off. hope the car boots when it is time go go home. 1a. option 1 with a recharge in between features. (related question: how long does one need to have the car in READY to charge a 12v battery?) 2. keep the car in READY. Dim or cover displays. 3. Bring portable, D-cell powered radio and just leave the car off. 4. (some other option or combination)
Interesting question. I've always wondered if the Prius has a similar size 12v battery as a traditional car because unlike a traditional car the 12v battery doesn't have to have enough reserve to start the car. If it was me I'd just keep the car in ready. If the car was ready and the climate control and other power robbing accessories were off I'd imagine you'd be able to run the entire 5 hours without having the engine kick on... Heck, I can go at least 30 minutes with the A/C on without the engine starting.... so this would be a good insurance policy.
was also wondering the same thing, theres a near by drive in by my house, and i think leaving it in ready with all lights dimmed or off, a/c on low or off, would be the best bet
I went when my car was brand new and had no problems with the car in accessory for just the radio aside from it turning the radio off each hour. I did the same thing I used to always do with a regular car and ran it from the time the credits started rolling on the first picture until the 2nd picture started (about 15 minutes) But this past time I went I left it in Ready mode because I added a subwoofer and amplifier. I turned off the fan to the Climate Control and then turned off the MFD and cranked the radio. It took about 90 minutes before the engine turned on to charge the battery. It continued to run for about 5 minutes, then would stay turned off for close to 30 minutes at a time. (I was at the end of a tank of gas but I only lost 0.5 MPG of my average from that tank)
That's interesting to know. This makes me want to get out and visit a drive in theater now. I haven't been for several years although I'd probably opt for the air mattress in the back of the truck approach. Wait, I have a 4yo and 3yo now so a 2 feature drive-in is probably out of the question.
The second movie is usually crap, that is why I call it the backseat movie. We have a 4 y/o and now its the thank goodness he fell asleep now we can have some peace and quiet.
Well, we did the drive in last night. I was still debating the strategy right up until the last minute (we did bring a battery powered radio) but we ended up going with just leaving the car in READY and covering the dash lights with a towel. I wrote down the miles and MPG from the MFD before the movie and before we left. for the 1.5 movies (left halfway through Indiana Jones) i calculate we burned 0.167 gal of fuel. This gave us worry free radio, defrost when needed, and air circulation. The car would turn on for a few minutes to charge. The no-engine times seemed to be quite a long time - perhaps 45 minutes - especially considering the car never seemed to charge beyond what is necessary to get out of purple territory. If I could have remembered how to force charge, I might have done that prior to the movie start(s) to avoid some of the in-movie running. But overall, I think next time I pretty much do the same. I'll just remember to remove the towels prior to getting on the road home.
Sounds good. In the event that you need to force charge, make the Prius READY, shift to D, press hard on the brake pedal with your left foot to keep the car stationary, floor the accelerator with your right foot, watch the traction battery SOC gauge increase. As it approaches 7-8 green bars, the engine RPM will slow down. Note that this is not a recommended practice so do it at your own risk, and I don't suggest that you do it often or for too long as this may overheat the transaxle.
The hybrid battery capacity is huge compared to what's required to keep the 12v accessories running, so it will go a long time before it's drawn down enough to require an engine start. You can turn the display off, and turn the speedo off using the dimmer wheel. That still leaves the "ready" light on, though.
run the car in ready mode, keep the climate control on automatic and 72 degrees and let the car turn the gas engine on and off automatically. its been my experience as long as you don't turn the heat up, out of every 30 minute period of the car in ready mode and idling, the actual engine only comes on for a few minutes here and there. you don't want to find out at the 45-1hour mark @ accessory mode that your battery is wearing out or has a bad cell and your car won't start. that has happened to me as i had to have the 12 v battery replaced under warranty at the 20,000 mile mark, and its pretty obvious to me that the "21 point vehicle inspection" at the toyota dealership does not include an actual physical load test of the battery
I leave mine in ready mode, and I go about once a month, and have been doing so for years. We have a drive-in nearby. It always seems to be just too cool, or too warm. I just roll the windows up, keep fresh air coming in, and the radio on with the MFD shut off. I also only note about .5mpg affect per tank (one visit.) and it is well worth it. The car is so quiet, it disturbs no one, and hardly runs anyway. Most annoying thing is stretching and hitting the brake lights. No one has complained but I know those little LEDs blast the heck out of the poor people behind me!!!
I left the car in ready mode, load up the park pawl by applying the park brake, apply power in drive then press park. By doing this you hardly feel the engine start and stop. I run the heater or air conditioner while sitting at the drive-in and sit in the back seat with a black blanket over the dash and front seats right forward. Volume adjustments can be made with steering wheel controls. LUXURY!!
We went to a drive-in. I turned the car off then pushed the power button once to get the radio going. Turned off display, dimmed dash display. However about 1.5 hourss suddenly the car shut itself off. I pushed the power button twice again and the battery showed almost full charge. So turned off and did the one press button routine again. After movie ended, we drove off. As far as we could tell the ICE never ran. Does the prius have a shutdown mode if nothing is happening?
Apparently there is an auto shutoff, but... Using ACC repeatedly for long periods as you were doing is a good way to kill the 12V battery because the engine cannot start in ACC. Just leave the car ON, in Park, and the parking brake set; the engine will start and run when needed to keep the batteries all charged up.
This is what I do. Have been to the drive in many times with it and all is good. Car never shuts down though.
I also have noticed that, when the Prius is ACC-ON, that the car will automatically switch to IG-OFF after an hour or so has elapsed. When the car is ACC-ON, the traction battery is not in the picture, so its SOC would not be diminished by the fact that the car is in that mode. Further, the gasoline engine will not run when the car is ACC-ON (or IG-ON, for that matter.) It will only have the opportunity to run if the Prius is READY. <A few definitions: ACC-ON is the mode where you can play the stereo and the instrument panel speedometer display, fuel gauge, odometer, and warning lights are off. IG-ON is the mode where the instrument panel speedometer display, fuel gauge, odometer, and warning lights are on and you can raise/lower the power windows. The 12V auxiliary battery is under heavy load, so the car should not be left in this mode. IG-OFF is the mode when the car is powered down and you can lock it. READY is when the READY light appears in the instrument panel and the car can be driven.>
I simply run in Ready mode w/ the displays turned off. No auto-shut-off and you don't strand yourself w/ a dead 12V battery. Remember, the 12V battery in a Prius is far smaller than in a conventional car. An hour of "music" is enough to significantly discharge it. In Ready mode, if you can keep the A/C off during the movie and put the windows down, the engine might cycle every 10-20 minutes.
