Leaving the parking lot this evening to find dinner, I turned on the Prius, rolled down the windows, and backed out of my parking stall. Meanwhile, several stalls down, a family of five got out of their oversize, extended-cab pickup truck, likely returning from college graduation ceremonies. I put my car in gear and carefully stealthed past the group. As I drove past, a woman in her early twenties asked the man next to her, "Is that thing even on?" She posed the question with a degree of amazement in her voice, like she was seeing a magic trick being performed in front of her. I was tempted to stop and introduce her to the Prius and how it works, but then the man (who I presume to be her father) chimed in, "Oh, that's one of those gas-electric hybrid cars. It's on, but the engine will turn on and off in order to conserve fuel." As I pulled away, the ICE kicked in, and I could hear him saying, "See, I think the engine just turned on so it can get up to temperature and accelerate the car up the drive..." Just goes to show that some people are actually learning how and why hybrids work the way the do and are educating others, even if they don't drive a hybrid, themselves. "Is that thing even on?" Even after a year and a half of driving my Prius, those questions still make me smile.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(brandon @ May 13 2006, 10:32 PM) [snapback]254981[/snapback]</div> I am frequently wishing I had a bell to activate in parking lots so folks would hear me coming....
Yes, it's weird. Last week, I was behind a bunch of people in the local hardward store parking lot and they didn't even hear me to get out of the way. I couldn't make the turn into the parking space so I had to take another space further down the row. Today, I almost hit someone who was walking while I was backing out of a spot because they didn't hear me, I didn't see them (he was behind an SUV, really, not making it up) and we almost hit. Maybe that backup beeping noise should be on the outside of the car!
Is that thing on? :huh: In my case, if it is Saturday morning, the answer is most likely YES. My wife and I love to garage sale. With all the short drives and quick stops, it just makes sense to leave the Prius on. The ICE is off and the car beeps when you leave . . . so most would assume it is off and the alarm is set.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ May 13 2006, 09:04 PM) [snapback]255040[/snapback]</div> And all but most would know that they can now drive off with your car
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(barbaram @ May 13 2006, 07:36 PM) [snapback]254986[/snapback]</div> You can add a beeper that can be heard outside when backing out, even one that says "This car is backing up" in either English or Spanish. Darell must get that question a lot.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ May 14 2006, 01:29 AM) [snapback]255062[/snapback]</div> I think it be fun to buy one of those horns that we all had on our banana-seated bikes when we were kids. That way I could just stick it out the window and rawnk-rawnk! rawnk-rawnk!
When we're at meet-ups, I like making the joke, "I knew you were here because I didn't hear you coming." I have had a couple people comment. Sometimes, I intentionally use the EV button around the parking lot at work just to see if anyone comments. So far: no, not really.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eyeguy13 @ May 13 2006, 11:04 PM) [snapback]255001[/snapback]</div> This past weekend we had a kamikaze woman look directly at us from 15' away and commenced to walk directly in front of the car. I don't know if since she couldn't hear it it couldn't be moving or exactly what she was thinking. I know enough to expect "them" to do their best to get us into a pedestrian accident since it's something they haven't experienced very much yet.
Yeah, that happens all the time where I live, especially the closer you get to campus. I think it has less to do with the car you're driving and more to do with the intelligence of the pedestrian.
I love the idea of a back-up bell. The kind of bell some bicycles have instead of a horn. The horn is so abrasive. The horn says, "Hey, you idiot! You're not the only one on the road!" A bicycle bell says, "Excuse me. Coming through."
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ May 14 2006, 12:04 AM) [snapback]255040[/snapback]</div> Why does it make sense to leave the Prius on, other than to save the one or two seconds it takes to power up? Tom
My mom likes to be a smartass whenever I'm leaving her house. She follows me outside and stands next to my car, and says (very loudly), "When are you going to start your car?? Aren't you going to turn it on?" just as I'm reversing out of the driveway. I tell her to go stand behind the car so I can make sure the reverse camera is working (just a joke, of course!) :lol: :lol:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ May 15 2006, 08:04 AM) [snapback]255661[/snapback]</div> Leaving the Prius on for short stops makes sense in that the car doesn't have to go through the warm-up and shut down cycles. In the case of garage sailing, that would be about 15-20 cycles in about a three hour period. Less wear and tear on the car, better gas mileage, better emissions; and since I am only 15-20 feet away and with and no outward appearance the car is on – safe. It doesn't make sense to have the Prius pump hot radiator fulid into the thermos container. only to pump it back out three to four minutes later.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rancid13 @ May 15 2006, 08:22 AM) [snapback]255673[/snapback]</div> Our mom's need to get together. Mine is crazy, of course, so I'm only half serious. She's been around my EVs for years, but once I got the Prius, NOW she tells me that it is really dangerous because she's read about how quiet they are. Now, every time we leave her house (usually in the EV) I roll the windows down and scream "quiet car coming!" as loud as I can, and I honk the horn like a maniac. If I wasn't her son, I think she'd kill me - but hey - whatever makes the point. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ May 13 2006, 10:29 PM) [snapback]255062[/snapback]</div> Most common one that I hear is, "How can you tell it is on?" It is pretty damn obvious that it IS one when I scoot away, but they still can't imagine how just a silly green indicator "ready" light would be good enough to alert me to its "on-ness."
It makes quite a bit of sense to leave the car on for a short stop because you can stay in stage 4 with full hybrid operation when you take off again. None of this idling-up-to-lights nonsense. As well as the other advantages already noted. The downside is that the hybrid battery SOC tends to sink down to 2 pink bars, and then you have to charge again once you start driving ... so I'd say the time threshold is maybe 10 minutes. . _H*
I'd like a steamship or locomotive horn, something that says, "if you stay where you are you will die".
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tempus @ May 19 2006, 10:01 AM) [snapback]258030[/snapback]</div> Went to the midway site you listed and I am wondering how difficult these things are to attach, and which one is compatible with a Prius or are they all?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dutch in dallas @ May 19 2006, 08:41 AM) [snapback]258057[/snapback]</div> All should be compatable. You get the power from one of the backup lights. Godiva has posted a How-To on installing a buzzer, it should work for the others.
