Hi! I have Prius (second gen) and use it for camping (sleeping). I put it in "ready mode" and use A/C to regulate temperature. I like it but Prius starts the engine every 20 minutes. Because of sound and vibration, I wake up every time when the engine has started. I am thinking to buy Prius Prime but I need to make sure that the engine will not turn on while I sleep in a car. Do I understand correctly that I can park Prius Prime -> put it into charging mode -> charge the main battery (fully charged battery should be good for 25 miles in EV mode) -> sleep in the car all night without the engine getting started?
Generally but not 100% yes. I think the Prime reserves the right to start the engine when it decides it needs to. Seems to be temperature related or if the engine has not ben run for a LONG time it may start "just because". Others may dispute this but it was 40° here yesterday and the engine started, went through the warmup cycle and shut off for no obvious reason. It's rare but it can happen.
How long the car will stay without the engine starting depends on the load demand on the battery. As stated above, CHG mode is only capable of charging the battery up to 80%. Without an available plug-in to charge the battery, if the temperature is extreme and the demand from HVAC is high, then it may or may not last all night. Still, it should last much longer than your Gen2. On a related issue, PP has less cargo space than Gen2, and due to the raised deck, with folded rear seats will not be flat.
What I've generally found is that, just like when I moved into this house and it had a really loud furnace and A/C clanging on and off, it took several nights to get used to it, but once my brain adjusted to it, it just wasn't an issue anymore. Right now, it's been a while since my last Prius camping trip, so it's possible I might have to go through a little bit of the adjustment again, but probably it will go faster than the first time.
Thank for the answers. So if we compare a new Prius 2022 vs Prius Prime 2022 can I expect that engine on first will start every 30 min and on Prime every few hours (if fully charged beforehand)?
I don't have a PP, so maybe somebody who does will come along with better news, but I am not sure I would expect it to operate as you think. I would not be surprised if it went an extra long time without starting at first, and then settled into a more regular cycle of starting and stopping. In which case, training your brain to sleep through it could be the most promising approach.
I cannot comment on how long a Prius or Prime battery will last between startup it will depend on demand from Hvac as Salamander mentioned already. However, the Gen4 engine is super quiet and almost not noticeable when it kicks on. Yes when you are sleeping it would be more than nothing. If you can test drive or find a local that may be willing to meet up with you...that would be excellent to test/hear/experience.
