A "What if.." question...

Do you use a fuel stabilizer to reduce the chance of old fuel causing damage or gumming up the system?

 

i never have, but i add fuel every 6 months, as the pip manual recommends. interesting that they've gone to 12 months on the prime, and quantified it to 5.3 gallons. what if the tank is full?

 

Let someone try it and see what happens.

 

No because I start and run the ICE up to normal operating temperature at least every 2 weeks and add a little more gas each time when I go on a typical drive of 80 miles. I feel since I keep a minimal amount of gas in the tank and run the ICE this often there is no damage or gumming.

 

We go out of town about once a month, and that takes care of stirring up the ICE components, and reminding me where the gasoline station is.

 

1,711 mile trip over the weekend, so no concern about gas here.

80 mph for a bulk of that travel. Faster passing at times. 103 mph briefly, because resistance was futile.

50.1 MPG overall average displayed, without any recharging.

In other words, just go on a trip from time to time.

 

The closely-related question has come up, of "how often do we really need to change the oil, given that you rarely use the ICE."

That's an involved question, but it's worth considering that oil breaks down partly by oxidation, which is just a function of how long it's been in the crankcase. Heat breakdown (more-or-less depolimerization) is the other main degrade mechanism, and is largely a function of miles on the ICE.

So the oil will break down over time even if you don't use the ICE much. More-slowly, certainly, but it will fade over time.

If you really do never use the ICE, then well, I guess you could get away without any oil changes, conceptually. I suspect most people will find it hard to really never use it though.


iPhone ? Pro

 

The heat in my Prius Plug-in still requires heat from the ICE coolant. It would be possible if you kept yourself in a warm climate.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Since the P.Prime, unlike the original PiP, has a battery-powered heat pump, it can heat the cabin without starting the engine. Obviously though, that cuts into you battery life, making it even harder to achieve that no-ICE hypothetical.


iPhone ? Pro

 

It can be run off the grid to pre-condition the cabin.

There is also a battery-warmer, which prevents the normal impact freezing temperatures have with EV driving.