It has been VERY hot in Los Angeles this week as you might have read. It was 102 degrees today. We went to the Dodger game. Unfortunately, we lost, but the air conditioner performed perfectly. It cooled the car down very quickly after it was sitting in the hot sun for almost four hours. It doesn't hurt the performance of the car in the slightest, which is a nice change from my Honda Civic. Just another reason to love my Prius. Jeff
there was a thread elsewhere that discussed this. theoretically at a given moment, the a/c would not have any effect on mileage because it is electric and runs off the batteries. however if, as often happens apparently, the ICE has to run more to charge the battery because juice is being used by the a/c, that will reduce overall mileage and/or range
Living in hot and humid Florida I recently bought a custom sunscreen for my Prius' front window. It makes a HUGE difference in the cars temperature and shortens the cool down time considerably. This is the first vehicle where a sun screen's effect on mileage was even a thought.
David, You mentioned a "custom sunscreen"--is it customized for the Prius? Details please. Thanks in advance.
I am not David, but I can answer your question. I got my at http://www.canvasworks.com/main.html . It is customized for the Prius and works great. I forgot to put it on one day and I could really feel the difference in temperature in the car. Jeff
That deep, dark dash on the Prius really soaks up the heat...was just thinking yesterday that I needed to do something about it. Thanks for the link to the heat shield vendor. Just ordered one.
Hmmm - considering a move to the Phoenix area (not sure yet), this info is quite useful. It's been hot here in CA, so I'm getting a taste of what to expect out there during the hotter months. Thanks!
It was 102F on display for me as well. Had the A/C going most of the way home. It was still 95F at 6:30pm. Lost about 1 mpg from yesterday (was about 50, now about 49). Otherwise, not so bad.
