Hey everyone , just got myself an XSE in Cutting Edge silver last week. Previously drove a ‘17 Prime before that. Anyway, today on my way to work it was super quiet in the car because I didn’t have the radio on and I noticed like a low but still audible high pitched “squeal/prolonged squeak” (not sure how to describe it) during both acceleration and deceleration. Occurring when car got up to 40-45 mph and again when going down to 30ish. Should I be concerned or is this normal EV mode noise? Sorry for likely stupid question, maybe my old car made the noise too and I never noticed because I usually have music or a passenger.
No that doesn't sound normal to me. My Prime doesn't make that noise. If you take it to the dealer to have it checked out, have a service advisor go for a short ride with you so you duplicate the sound and they hear it so they can't come back to you and say they couldn't duplicate it. If they say it's normal, try another dealer.
Ok thanks for the advice, I will do that asap. It’s very faint but still annoying, hope it’s an easy fix.
take someone for a ride with you. sometimes new car owners hear things that aren't there. if they don't hear it, the service tech probably won't either.
Any chance you can record it with your phone sitting on the passenger seat, and upload it for us to hear?
I’ll try to get something on recording after work and post it. Made a service appointment for Friday but would love cancel if it’s a normal noise!
UPDATE: So it turns out I’m just crazy . I tried recording the sound which I definitely heard but when I played back the recording there was nothing. Took my husband for a ride and he said he could barely hear it. Finally had my friend who drives a 2024 RAV4 Prime listen to it and she said “uh that’s the same damn noise my car makes, it’s normal hybrid sound” . So case closed, thanks for the suggestions y’all.
Yes, but different in a way also. I had a non-plugin Prius for 14 years and there was a high frequency whine when driving the mile or so in EV mode. When I got my 2023 Prius Prime, I expected there would be times I heard that high freq whine. Turns out it is a different frequency, and while it is actually quieter than my old Prius, it was quite noticeable at first.
Haha right? Wish I still had access to the ‘17 to compare. My husband doesn’t remember if it had the same noise either. His theory is that I never paid that car too much attention since it was a hand-me-down car and this one is my new baby so I’m overly obsessed lol.
Or just enjoy the sound of pure electric driving without the ICE noise. My wife calls our Prime a “space mobile”, and that whine is obviously the noise a “space mobile” makes.
The electric whine is quite different from what I'm used to from years of Gen 2 driving - the difference will primarily be that the electric motor is much higher RPM and lower torque - it's geared down so it spins 3 times faster. Difference is going to be less noticeable for people coming from a Gen 3, and it's basically the same as the Gen 4. Max electric (MG2) speed is 6,500rpm in Gen 2, 13,500rpm in Gen 3, 17,000rpm in Gen 4/5.
It could be the high pressure fuel pump and direct injectors turning on and off. Gen 4 only had port injection so you wouldn't hear any of that. The D4S that Toyota uses can use either port or direct fuel injection separately or under certain circumstances have both running at the same time.
there's a sandy munro video where he and his wife swear the radio is on in the bz4x they are test driving. but they can only hear it when moving.
I transitioned from 17 Prime Advanced to 23 Prime SE - I too have noticed the increase in noise level from the 17 to 23. Noise doesn't linger long but enough to be audible. If you have your radio or music loud then sound can be easily missed. I was just thinking they made the 23 noiser so pedestrians can hear the car coming and not so much a faulty car. The 17 was super quiet and pedestrians were even surprised a car was behind them. I definitely need to pay more attention as to when sound was occurring.
the pedestrian warning system shuts off at 15mph. it could be louder on the 23, depending on what volume levels might have been allowed previously. easy enough to roll down the window and have a listen
2023 pedestrian warning sound shuts off at 23 mph, and has some logic about how loud it is played by speed
