Purpose of AC FOB Button...

Thanks. I'm glad I did not yet have my son in the car, I was on my way to get him. It really did stop very well. I am pleased with that. I don't know if the ABS had to engage or not. My purse slid onto the floor from the passenger seat though. I feel this is a good safe family car and I couldn't be happier.

 

It is very useful when you have to leave your dog in the car for 5-10 minutes, make sure your car is within your remote distance so you can turn-on AC few times during 10 minutes of waiting

 

I have to admit now that I have a Prius I can see why some of you think there is Prius Rage out there. I can't confirm it's rage, per se, but being how much smaller the Prius is than our van was, I definitely notice people coming around me much more than I used to and it seems like they are doing it faster. Of course, half the time I don't realize I'm doing 60 in a 45, so I think some of it is perception. I've had impatient people behind me in the van too, but I think I'm just more aware now. YMMV

 

Coming from a Mustang to the Prius I could really tell a difference. Though when I drove a van sometimes (borrowed when my Contour was getting work done) I felt like I got no respect.

 

Tested out the SPVS and remote AC yesterday at a dealer. Not sure I could tell that the SPVS had been on and working (the button was pressed in the car), but it also was only in the mid 80s yesterday. Is there noise associated with it when it is working? Is this an active thing or a passive thing? Does that make sense?

As for the remote AC, I think I was impressed with it. However, I'm not sure my wife will constantly have enough battery for it to work out on a routine basis.

 

You can hear when the vent is on. I hear it every day when I get in. The difference is marked when it's in the 90's out. I can't remember what it was like when temps were in the 80's, it's been a while since we had that here and I think that was before I got my car. Also, you can really tell when the car has been sitting all day, or for an extended period of time. A few hours with outside temps in the 90's would be noticeable, but to achieve that in the 80's you'd probably have to leave it sitting in full sun for about 5 hours to notice it. When I go to my car during lunch on a day with temps in the 90's I can tell, that's after 4 hours.

Why would she not have enough battery for it? Is she making frequent short trips? I haven't really used the AC on it. Since I was talking about it on here we've been getting storms and had general cloudy weather.

 

Thanks for the info. Yes, she makes constant short trips in DC city traffic (work related.).

At a dealer now. Drove one around to get the battery up and then parked it to try out the remote AC. Ran for three minutes as advertised and the car was cold inside right afterwards. Only mid 80s again here right now.

 

You're welcome. She probably won't be able to benefit from the AC but the vent will keep it decent feeling inside. With short trips it might even keep it closer to AC temps inside since I imagine it would probably barely have been running by the time she got back to the car.

That's good. I chose to get the SPVS because, well I thought it was cool and I loved the nerd factor of having such a technology driven car but I also wanted something to keep the car cool as this will be our family car for vacations etc and children in car seats can get warm. So this way it'll keep the car at a reasonable temperature so he's not sweating by the time I get the car started. It does well in that regard. I imagine the same could be true for transporting pets frequently, I haven't done this as my dog is too big to take everywhere I go.

 

The remote ac is gimmicky to me but I really like the solar powered vents. SuperGLS... I think you need to insure the solar vent button is in the on position before turning off the car. Leave the car closed up for a few minutes and return. Assuming it is hot enough and the panel is in full sun, you will hear the fan running if you stand outside near the passenger wiper (where the fan sucks the air in from). It really self regulates itself & will blow gently if the sun or temp isn't as direct / hot. I haven't turned it off since I got the car in September.

As for the remote AC the bit that bugs me is that if I am approaching the car and hit the button it barely gets started before I touch the handle and unlock the car. As soon as I unlock the car, the remote AC shuts off. I really wish it kept running while I get settled with my seatbelt & hit the power button.

 

I think the two are meant to compliment each other.

Solar vents helps keep inside temp lower. Battery A/C helps cool the car before you go out to drive it on a hot day.

Without one, the other likely won't work long enough to help. Especially with the short run time and low battery cutoff.

I don't have the solar roof. So I have remote start, and it runs for 12 minutes and will kick in the ICE as needed. It does a more effective job from any state because of that, but if I had the solar roof, it'd be even more effective.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

unless someone steels your stuff while you are paying the bill and the windows are open to passerby's

 

i hate when that happens.