Extra miles from battery

Take the plastic handle off the battery.

 

That handle really helps removal and positioning?

 

I'm sure that's why it's there. Not to sound like a smart aleck, but now that it's positioned, you need to decide what you'll spend more time doing: removing & repositioning the battery or driving the car. If it was mine, I'd use the strap to position the battery and then remove the strap if it interfered with putting the cover back in place.

 

hopefully, it will be 8-10 years before you need to remove it.

 

So just keep the handle next to the battery, so that it can be re-attached for battery removal.

 

The phenomenon described by O/P is very strange, never heard of it and I don't think can be replicated. you simply cannot drive further 6 EV miles (~30% SOC) after 'rebooting' the system that was left in the HV portion of the battery, it simply does not have juice for it.

"Full" is actually 85% SOC and engine starts at 23% SOC as verified by several members here.

 

I would refrain from doing this, ever. Just shut it down, roll the windows down. Or go for a walk or something.

 

or leave it in 'ready'.

 

i'm thinking of just disconnecting my 12v, instead of plugging in, sounds a lot cheaper.

 

If you have a smart charger I don't think it uses much juice after the initial charging session, just a little nudge every so often, to maintain it. Whenever I completely disconnect, for the first drive after the car acts a little strange, maybe relearning? Engine does a bit of odd rev-up, several times. And the radio presets and trip meters are gone.

 

And come here complaining of an awful MPG for the trip...
Not a good practice in an enclosed parking lot (and forbidden in many), there are places it is illegal anywhere.
Reminds me of a discussion held in the past, in one of the liftback forums, discussing what is cleaner: to let the warm-up cycle finish before or during a drive. A German P/C said he cannot warm-up the engine before driving as chances are that one of the neighbors will come over and remind him of the law! Now, try saying to this neighbor it is done to reduce pollution...

 

he wasn't running a/c, so the engine won't come on much. i didn't notice where he said he was in an enclosed parking lot.

 

My comment on enclosed area was general, not specific to O/P.
As for the time duration, I don't think you can drain completely a fully charged (20 miles of driving) battery in just an hour with just the accessories he mentioned, unless maybe, his battery is on the edge of dying anyways.

 

Most enclosed parking garages in the U.S. will meet ventilation standards such that a Ready and occasionally idling Prius will not be a problem. They should be built to allow the old (and malfunctioning new) carbon monoxide monsters to enter, restart when cold, and leave without endangering occupants and neighboring residents. A Prius should easily be cleaner.

As for anti-idling laws, those remain very scarce in the U.S. I thought that even neighboring BC's idling ban had both a time and engine warmup allowance, and was targeted much more towards traditional heavy diesels than modern emission controlled gasoline cars.

 

You are missing my point.
Idling needed for driving is one thing, long term idling just for the sake of convenience of the driver (or occupant) is another - be it a dirty old diesel or a Prius.
Does your neighboring BC's idling ban has different time allowances for diesels and for a Prius?

 

The Prius doesn't really do long term idling, just a short time on and a long time off. I'm not sure that its recharge idle will even break BC's time limit.

PS - update:

A search finds that the answer is: It Depends. It isn't provincial law, but local law. His Prius recharge idling would meet all the rules concerning vehicle weight, fuel type, time of day restrictions, and vehicle non-occupancy. It probably meets all the regulations regarding noise or disturbance. For rules that simply limit maximum idle period or minutes-per-hour, he would meet some, fail others.

http://www.hastebc.org/files/uploaded/Omar/appendix_a_anti-idling_bc.pdf
http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/oee/files/transports/idling/excel/Step%204%20Resources%20-%20Idling%20Control%20Bylaws%20Across%20Canada-EN.xls

These North American anti-idling rules are not about global carbon reduction. They are about local air quality and noise. A Prius on standby idling, with a very low duty cycle actually running, is not going to violate the spirit of these laws.

 

There's squat enforcement and prevalent slack attitudes towards idling here. One of our neighbours used to "warm up" a diesel pickup for 20~30 minutes. He's got a new truck now, doesn't idle it, thank god.

Over the years we've had our share: recall one guy walked up to storm drain and poured a can of something in. Didn't click at first, but when he came back with a SECOND can I woke up: it was paint thinnner. He didn't have a clue, thought it was a sanitary sewer, not that that's any better, lol.

 

That depends on the auxiliaries used. I was responding to a case described by the P/O who drained his battery completely by using auxiliaries. Alternatively staying in 'ready' and summing up all the 'short times' and it is long term. The point is that it is not related to driving needs and should be avoided, the cleanliness/dirtiness of the engine is irrelevant IMO.

 

When you installed the Optima from Amazon did you pass the battery bracket above or below the battery handle?

 

you can't sit at the mall, waiting for your wife, with the car off. that's the beauty of prius. if it's hot or cold, i'll wait with the heat or a/c on. the engine hardly runs.