I have a 20-mile commute one way and charge at work. Being I live in Northwest PA temps are getting low now (37°F today) and my engine ran for 2 minutes (warmed to 110°F per commute wondering best way for the longevity of car to deal with this. As it seems bad to have the engine just barely warm up each day. Thinking when the weather gets worse may be up to 4 minutes or so I will just start the engine the minute I get on the highway and then let ev auto take care after engine warms or manually go hv ev until I am confident I can run the ev out by the time I get to work. my commute is 1.5 miles to highway at 47 mph then 18 miles highway at 67 then .5 mile 25 mph and I run the ac at 72 will start parking in the heated garage next week hopefully will get me a little further Anyway just curious of peoples thoughts on this factor. Thanks, Dustan
Just run it in HV mode until the engine has run enough to reach full temperature if it’s bothering you. Better yet let the battery run down enough such that running in “Charge Mode” gets the engine up to temp quicker then go back to EV.
I don't have a Prime, but I'd say the only thing to worry about is shutting the car off while the ICE is still warming up (idling). In other words, when you pull in to parking and stop the car, does the ICE shutoff or is it still idling? As long as it shuts off on its own, then it has reached operating temp and you are good to shut down. Another thing to consider, again from a non-Prime Prius, is the ICE may continue to run after stopping if you are running the heater to warm the cabin. Generally, don't shut down a Prius when the ICE is running. The computer keeps it running for a reason.
I have a related question. We live in Wisconsin and are having unusually cold weather this week, well below freezing in the morning. My wife drives our Prius Prime to work, and we've been keeping it in EV auto mode. Normally, it doesn't use the ICE at all or if so, only for brief periods. Yesterday morning it was about 20 degrees, but dropped into the teens and stayed that cold throughout the day. She said it used the ICE for most of her commute both ways. About 3/4 of the drive is at highway speeds. I'm thinking the cold temperatures made the system think the rate of battery discharge at highway speeds was too high and switched it to ICE. Is that the correct interpretation? Is EV auto mode the best way to preserve the long-term battery life in these conditions or should we consider using HV when the temperatures get very low? I would guess EV auto is the way to go, but would welcome feedback.
If your commute is 20 miles with charging at each location, you may be able to make it all EV. If you don't use the front defrost button, lower your highway speed, use your seat heater and lower your cabin temp to 68.
Did she have heat on? Heat Pump in Prime is not effective enough to heat the cabin when ambient temp is low, and ICE comes on to supply the heat. Below 14F is what manual states. Also, if you use front windshield defroster, ICE will come on regardless of temperature. It sounds like it was too cold for the heat pump to do its job. I use HV exclusively during winter morning commute no matter how much charge I have left in the battery to save the charge for my commute back home in the afternoon. I have 19 miles commute one way, and have no ability to charge at work.
Yes, she did have the heat and defroster on--so that explains it, thanks! I've relayed the other suggestion of using the seat heatern decreasing the cabin temp and not using the defrost--although that is not always an option. The commute is 18 miles round trip, and there's no charging station where she works.
Her commute is very similar to mine. Mine is 18.5 miles and no charge at work. During warmer season needing no heat or AC, I can get ~32-34miles EV and ICE always comes on a few miles before I reach home. During last winter, the EV miles diminished to 18-20miles, and our temperature is usually close to or below 14F in morning, so in each morning after full charge, I start my car and immediately switch to HV to force ICE to come on and use heat (and defroster if needed). In most case, I drive entire morning commute of 18.5miles on HV and save as much of battery charge for EV commute back home. Our afternoon temp is usually above 14F, though there are a few days we don't even get that high.
You are using heating which is most energy consuming IMO. If that really bothers you, then try not to turn on heat, instead, use heated seat. Reducing freeway speed a bit and tailgating when possible also help. But, I would say, just drive it.
Just drive it! Warm up cycle only uses 0.1L gasoline when it is not so cold, I assume it would use a little more during winter time. And Prius engine would last very very long.
