Drove a Pacifica Hybrid Plug-in for a week…

Unfortunately - the true cold weather PHEV champion is no longer in poroduction. The Chevy Volt, last year of USA production (2019) really shined when it came to leaving the ice off in super frosty unbearable weather.

https://electrek.co/2018/09/21/2019-chevy-volt-more-electric-operation/

Our coldest winter morning was - 30°f. Most here know real cold causes BOTH EV & ICE to take huge eficiency hits - (Snow tires too) as does snow.

From observation - our (EPA) 45mpg Volt only gets around 30mpg if below zero f. Short trips - are only 27mpg if only driven during a 5-10 minute warmup. During the summer (54 epa) EV miles? It raises up to 60-65 miles ELECTRIC if no AC use.

Pacifica epa EV mode is 82MPGe - which was what we would see during summer flat land drives. Even when we were driving highway speeds we would come close.



But ... our sub zero temps running both gas/ev still yield us ~30mpg ... a far cry from other minivans - ice or hev. Heck the thing weighs 5,000 pounds. You buy it for its utility, not because it challenges the Prius. Bottom line is you can get terrible electric range or great electrical range.
YMMV.
Plus in some states it is cheaper to drive on gas anyways. So many variables.
.

 

I am probably stating the obvious here. If you want a plugin hybrid and never want to use gas. You are probably better off with a PEV. If you have a plugin hybrid, the gas goes bad in the tank if you do not use it over a long period of time.

 

AFAIK - all plugins have a maintenance cycle to use up the old gas at a certain point.
There's a hack you can do on many PHEV's to reset the stale gas engine needs to run trigger. Did it just a few days ago. Normally pumping no more than ½ a tank - it had ran down to about ¼ tank over the past ½ year.
Engine starts to run periodically. Put just over 2 gallons in the tank & the system is spoofed into thinking car is refueled. Good for another ½ year now

.

 

The Prius Prime tank is very well sealed. There is little to worry about concerning stale gas. The manual says to add something like three gallons a year or thereabouts. Too lasy to look up the number right now.

 

I said what I said simply to point out that it's good for a plugin to run the engine just to stir the gas in the tank. I do realize the plugin/hybrid systems turn into a game for the owner of their vehicles.

 

It is also good to spin up the engine and circulate the oil.

 

Does the fuel actually get stirred?

Back in the day you could be assured of it, the fuel pump sent fuel forward to the injectors, and any excess pressure was sent back to the tank in a return line.

Returnless fuel systems came into fashion about 15 years ago, so now the fuel only gets pumped if the ECU really thinks it is about to be burnt.

I'd think you'd stir it more hitting a good pothole.

 

Whenever you drive, the gas is sloshing around and getting stirred. Keeping the engine properly lubed, as @Trollbait said, is what's actually important. And that only requires running it long enough to get the engine and exhaust up to operating temperature long enough to get rid of moisture accumulation.

 

i think most people who don't want the engine to start are talking about trips within ev range. they use the engine for longer trips which is plenty.
that's what toyota has designed the car for, and it has proven very robust over 10+ years

 

I actually miss my minivan compared to the prius. All my friends referred to it as the bobsled, because i drove it around the corners like a BMW and slowed down in the straights. Honestly that odyssey handled really well, and had no problems with power ever, easy to get in an out of, I could carry crap loads of stuff and people. Moving with it was basically like having a moving truck as I could put in 5 rows of plastic totes 4 high and 4 wide. Seriously, that thing was amazing. I don't miss the gas mileage though, 20 to maybe 24 in a blue moon.

 

Just my three cents:., below a certain threshold temperature, the traction battery DCL - discharge current limit - is too low to allow normal EV vehicle operations, hence the software start ICE… in other words, the system tries to extend the life of the costly traction battery burning fossil fuel at the driver’ pocket expenses.
Another explanation could be that by design the traction battery could be warmed trough ICE cooling liquid, hence the software runs ICE for the purpose of prepping the traction battery and improve its DCL. A further explanation is related to the tranny: the Chrysler Pacifica PHEV transmission is clearly inspired by Toyota HSD and warming up the ICE, hence indirectly the eCVT, could be necessary, below a certain threshold temperature.

 

I learned to drive in a 70s VW microbus and continued to drive one or another for years after. Eventually I needed to move on and other kinds of cars made sense instead.

Today we have the Prius c hatchback and a Mazda sedan. We like to take family road trips occasionally, and when we do I try to rent a Pacifica. We've already done it a few times and they're great. I don't think we will ever need to own one, but I sure like having access to them on a short term basis.

I won't claim minivans handle better, but they handle MOAR.

 

I miss those VW Micro Mini Buses!!! I love my Prius, but I would be VERY TEMPTED to trade it for one of those in a heartbeat!!! As an old Chrysler fan, Renting one now is fine for short durations, but I wouldn’t want one any longer than that (to likely to break down).

 

Interesting update, not just to this thread - but a software/Hardware Flash/update as well. We got a notice of the update so we toik care of. Now it seems there's a change in when ice starts up during cold weather.
We had Sub-Zero temperatures this morning while driving around in our Pacifica. We didn't run errands 'till outside temps warmed up from -10°f to a balmy -2° as shown on desplay - top right side.



our garage heater let's us start winter journeys pre-warmed to 55° at the slab. The ICE didn't start as the car cooled down as it normally would when it hit 15°.... (not until the heater/defroster was turned on) - and that was not until we made our first stop, ran errands got back in & restarted.
It would be interesting to find out how low the Pacifica will go now before it's ICE STARTS .... but on the other hand - who wants to have to experience any colder weather without running the heater.

.