Hi everyone, I'm new and I just got my beautiful PriusC about a month ago. I'm no car person so I'm sorry if I don't use any technical terms or sound like a dork. I've recently noticed that every time I start up the car and drive, no matter how slow I go the car's engine running... and loudly. It seems to be revving high and low for at least 5-7 minutes into the drive even though it should be in EV mode at the speed I'm going and even when I stop. The battery is always juiced up too btw. Maybe this is normal and I haven't noticed before but I was looking through the forum and found a post about bad batteries. That issue seems to have only been for older cars that have driven quite a few KMs but mine has no more than 2000 KMs and is a brand new PriusC 2012. Am I worried over nothing? Is this normal behaviour? Thanks for your help guys.
Before the car can run in EV mode, every thing need to fully warm up. Mine does the same, but not for 5-7 minutes (I am in a warm area)
It IS getting colder here (Montreal, QC) so maybe that's why I've only just started to notice it. Thanks so much. I was worried that I got a lemon or something...
ECO mode reduces the temperature tolerance of the engine coolant in the regular Prius from 145°F to 114°F, meaning the engine will shut off sooner. I suspect Prius c has the same shut off point. It's one of the benefits of ECO not realized until the cold season arrives.
When the morning temperatures here in Vegas dropped from low 90s to low 70s, I noticed a marked change in the way the motor reacted for the first few days. I guess the car had gotten used to the higher temperatures in the mornings and once that started to decline, it took longer for the ICE to disengage entirely. However, after a few days it went back to "normal" behavior.
Interesting, I didn't realize that was an aspect of ECO mode... May have to keep that in mind as it cools down. Does that have any negative effect on efficiency? (I.e. Not warming the engine as much as would be typical)
Try to surf and read more about engine block heater. It will keep your engine warm in the mornings so it's not going to work so hard in order to warm up.
The only negative would be if you wanted the heater blazing hot, since ECO hangs on the comfortable side. So... no driving naked in the winter. Coolant will still continue to heat up to the normal level (195°F) but only if you don't stop. You can speed up that process by blocking the grille, a common practice from days long ago that's also quite handy now too.
