Below zero

That sentence is a bit confusing......to me at least.

Cold is not hard on batteries......down to a point.......so your hybrid should not suffer any more than a conventional car.

BUT.....the effective capacity of the batteries will be less while they ARE cold, so your gas mileage will suffer.
Maybe a lot if you like to keep toasty warm.

 

Cart before the horse? Battery chemistry and power suffer in the cold, but overall service life is actually better in cold climates than in (for example) the Arizona heat.

 

Plenty of hybrids all the way up to Alaska, no worries.

 

In the cold the use of the ICE increases to heat the heater/defrost so more of your miles are driven with the ICE consuming gas. Thus MPG will be affected. But still darn good. Love mine. DIL has one too. And about a dozen in the neighborhood.

 

As I read your sentence, the Prius v will not make Minnesota any colder. I can't believe that is what you meant, but it is what you asked.

I am not sure that Minnesota is colder for the v than other Prius owners.

The High Voltage system and drive train of the Prius v are VERY similar to the Gen 3 Prius.

The Prius v has very little cabin insulation, expect it to be the outside temp any time it is not running.

And as everyone mentions, expect to use a lot of energy keeping warm, that would have been used to travel.

 

Install a block heater and plug it in. The engine needs to be "warm enough" for efficient combustion and to have enough leftover heat to share with the cabin.

You can heat it up by running it and burning gas, or you can heat it up for less money by plugging it into the grid.

If you have a repeating daily schedule you can even put it on a timer- it really only needs to run for 2-3 hours before departure to get full effect.

 

Toyota OEM Engine Block Heater SEE BODY FOR VEHICLE FIT | eBay

 

To me, your question about being able to stand outside parking may be more about the ability to get the vehicle started in the Minnesota tundra. Being a fellow Minnesota tundra-ite I can testify that you should have no trouble with starting your 'v'. You have to remember that you have the capacity of the high voltage battery available to crank your engine for starting. As others have mentioned, you'll take a hit mpg-wise. I typically get 35-40 mpg depending on how many short trips I take. I had the engine block heater installed and that helped with my MPG. I usually run it for about 1 hour as running it longer doesn't result in a much warmer startup engine temp.

 

That depends on the make and model of the heater.......and how COLD it really gets.

 

Check with dealership regarding block heater recalls. There was a problem, overheating wires, I believe only with the block heater for fourth gen, but yeah: check and confirm.

We're on the temperate west coast, got the block heater on our 2010 regular Prius at time of purchase, new, and use it pretty much always, before first drive of the day. With two hours plug-in coolant temperature plateaus, about 20~30 degrees centigrade above ambient.

Gives you a leg-up, getting through the warm-up cycle, especially important in your brutally cold winters. Under those conditions, 3~4 hours may be warranted.

 

Make sure it has very high quality synthetic motor oil and make sure the first number in the oil weight is always 0 like 0-20.

 

Minnesota guy here ( admittedly in the 'WARM' part of MN )...way 'down south'.

Our 2010 has been relegated to the driveway since it has become the 'kids car'. And no problems whatsoever! No block heater either.

MPGs take a huge hit though, as expected with any vehicle that sit out in the cold. But mechanically the car has been solid. I do wonder if very cold starts can contribute to the infamous 'EGR clogging' problems and such though.

 

No problem!

One thing I have noticed is that the v (wagon) really does get substantially worse MPG than the liftback. However, you won't notice this aspect if this is your first Prius.

Also, take a peek at the various maintenance threads around here. Depending on mileage, it may be prudent to start doing some of those items. Take a look at my maintenance thread for things I have done so far ( link in signature ). Also look at the Nutzaboutboltz Youtube videos....a great resource for Prius DIY'ers!

 

Is the liftback more MPG friendly than the wagon? Absolutely. The v is heavier, geared differently, less aerodynamic, different tires. But what does the v have that the liftback doesn't? That rear luggage capacity. You can't have something for nothing and every car design is a trade off. Costs, MPG, NVH, weight, aero, comfort, features, etc. Put in all the wiring and motors to have multi-way electric seats and you add weight, as an example.

When our cars were new I collected people's comments and built a list of likes and dislikes about the v and my feelings/experiences. After 45k plus miles and 5 plus years it does what I wanted/expected it to do. I haven't seen another vehicle I'd want to spend my money for to replace it.

My son has a liftback, wife a v and family a Sienna. Different cars for different uses. He commutes 50+ miles to work, she carries 3 kids plus big dog. The van carries the family. All with 100k+ miles by now I suppose with the liftback approaching 200k.

It only gets into the low single digits here. Some sit outside. No issues there.

 

Absolutely agree with all of your points. We bought our v (wagon) to replace our minivan. On the other hand, the fact that the MPG ratings *are* substantially worse is one of the main dislikes of the v...so we can't just ignore it. And there have been plenty of people disappointed by this. Just brought it up so the OP is aware.

 

The perfect is the enemy of the good.

So liftback maybe 56 MPG, v maybe 42 MPG, Rav4h maybe 34 MPG. Your mileage may vary. Capabilities and features vary. Costs too.

Every buyer makes tradeoffs.

For me, my gas costs have been as low as $346 for an entire year and as high as $840 for an entire year. So MPG is not as important to me as it is for my son who drives 3-4 times the miles I do. Just so the MPG isn't in the teens.

To show how smart I was when I bought my v, the purchase was partially based on gas prices that have been overcome by events. I'd have been better off financially to have kept my CRV which would now be 16 years old with only 110k miles on it. I still see it around town occasionally. My hindsight is perfect.

To the OP, good luck with your decision whatever it is.