How does Prius turn off gas engine when not needed? Turns off ignition, stops gas supply, or does both? Second, how does Prius get the engine to start so quickly and smoothly first thing in morning, unlike my van engine that you have to crank for 5 seconds to get it going?
EV mode in the gen III prius can keep the gas engine (ICE) off under certain conditions but it's pretty limited in stock form. The ICE in the hybrid system doesn't use or have a conventional starter motor. Instead it capitalizes on the high voltage electric motor side of the hybrid design which can spin up the ICE nearly effortlessly.
a) good question b) how old is your van? i havn't had a car with efi and ei take longer that a second or two to start under the worst conditions.
It turns off the signal to the injectors and stops the signal to the coils. The smooth startup is because it uses the propulsion motor to spin up the engine to idle speed, then turns on the injectors and coils(spark). The older engines start rougher since they must dump in fuel, spin the engine a LOT slower than idle speed, then ignite the gasoline, which speeds up the engine.
