Using heat tanks mpg, alternative?

Show her how nice the seat warmers are.

 

Dress in layers.

 

If she can stand it she can turn off the heat while stopped at a red light - if the engine isn't very warm it will run when the car is stopped because of the call for heat. Grill blocking helps here too.
Also you can use ECO mode to lower the temp at which the engine shuts down when calling for heat, and also keep the airflow going to 'feet-only'.

 

Gasoline is a better energy source for producing heat than electricity, so it makes sense to run the ICE for that purpose. I'm seeing mileage in the 40s for very short trips in this weather, but the long term mileage is still hitting 85 or so, so I'm happy.

 

I like seeing 999 as my mileage for local trips around town when I turn off the car at my destination. To get this in cold weather the first two posts nailed it. I find the ICE stays off and I am comfortable even in 20º - 30º mild winter temps with the electric seat heater on and climate control set to off. No matter what car I'm going to be in I wear a hat, jacket and gloves in this weather when I leave the house. The seat heats up immediately keeping my core warm so I am comfortable through the duration of EV range. If electric seat on low or high is not sufficient I turn on the climate control once EV range is used up.

If the engine starts before you get the climate control turned off just turn the car off again to stop the ICE then power back on and drive away.

The near instant heat provided by the Prius electric seats has me more comfortable starting out in the morning than any car I have ever owned before including my last one with heated leather seats.

Using a garage or covering the windshield with a cover prevents the need to clear ice from the windshield before you leave home but sometimes you just need to burn some gas and use climate control to deal with wet weather or colder winter conditions

 

i haven't used the heat yet, unless i know i'm going waaaaaaaayyyy beyond ev range.

 

Let it run a little every day just to make sure it still can!

 

no!

 

have your wife sit in the back seats so she can't touch your controls....

 

Controls, controls, WHAT CONTROLS!

 

Our problem is the two kids in carseats in the back. Warming mommy's butt doesn't stop the crying about the cold. The heater in this car has been quite a disappointment in terms of killing gas mileage -- when it's cold, we seldom get better mileage than a regular Prius, despite having a full charge every day.

 

On short trips..... 3 to 5 miles... I tell my wife that the engine will not provide adequate heat anyway...so just use the seat heaters. So far this method has worked for me.

 

how far do you typically drive?

 

Usually pretty short trips. The longest typical trip is about 10.5 miles round trip and before the winter, we could almost always squeak it in on pure EV. Obviously, the mileage of the car changes drastically if your trips change from 100% EV to what seems like having the engine running just to keep itself warm about 50% of the time.

 

that's true. if you only go 10-20 miles and want heat all the way, the batteries aren't helping a ton, but you should be getting 80-90 mpg, not 50-60 like a regular hybrid. ymmv.

 

Definitely not 80-90. The other day, as an experiment, I drove that 10.5 mile round trip (which is almost completely flat) with the heater set to 72 in 46° weather. I drove like a little old lady (keeping the power bar well under half) and got 54mpg for the trip. Should I be concerned that something is wrong with the car?

 

Out of curiosity, does there exist an engine block heater that could use the car's internal power so that there's not an additional cord to run when it's plugged in? I went and got the EVSE setup all buttoned up and finished off nicely so it's super convenient, and having to plug another cord in (especially one that takes both hands, such as plugging a pigtail from the car into an extension cord) while wrangling a toddler and a baby would definitely be a hassle for my wife.

 

Car is fine. Try this, car in ev mode, eco mode, Temp setting 65 degrees, fan speed setting 2. Now drive your normal route of 10.5 miles round trip, you should be able to get about 80+ mpg!

 

there is no engine block heater like that. in your experiment, were you in ev or hv mode?