Prius and Long Steep Uphill Drive

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dawning Sky @ Sep 26 2007, 12:27 PM) [snapback]518008[/snapback]</div>

I don't think you will have any trouble unless it snows there, wherever SJ (San Jose?) is. You might even get better gas mileage that way, first 5-minutes of drive when engine is least efficient will be all downhill! Going home, your battery charge will probably be down some when you park overnight. None of that is any concern though, your Prius will know how to handle just about anything. It's the smartest car I've ever seen.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dawning Sky @ Sep 26 2007, 01:27 PM) [snapback]518008[/snapback]</div>

That is a steep hill. I'm sorry I don't have any constructive feedback for you. I don't have mountain grades where I live only hills and fire ant mounds.

 

I don't live on a steep hill, but I do make the commute from San Jose to Santa Cruz at least 3 times a week over highway 17, and as I'm sure you know, that drive is rather mountainous (I'm assuming you live in San Jose, too). My new prius seems to be doing just fine so far!!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dawning Sky @ Sep 26 2007, 11:27 AM) [snapback]518008[/snapback]</div>

 

I've driven some pretty long and steep grades in the mountains without any problems, though not on a daily basis. 1500 feet shouldn't be an issue, but I'd have that burning smell checked out. You're sure it was the car, and not the locals?

 

There's a lot of discussion of mountain driving in the Prius in this thread:
http://priuschat.com/index.php?s=&show...st&p=465373

Also, simply searching on the word "mountain" will bring up abundant threads.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Sep 26 2007, 03:38 PM) [snapback]518079[/snapback]</div>

The car should not smell. Something has overheated--first guess is the transmission; second guess is high voltage cable insulation. Really doubt it's the cable. The problem with your trip up the moutain is the low speed of <20mph. The Prius has no variable gearing--the engine operates in high gear all the time and therefore, it cannot drive the wheels at low speed. That's why the car always starts off in the electric mode. I do not what speed it stops providing power to the wheels. About 3-4 years ago, there was an article in the
Consumer Union magazine where they drove a prius slowly around the base of a moutain to drain the propulsion battery, and then went slowly (don't know what speed) up the moutain and the car stalled. Other people on this forum have read the same article. I bet if you stayed above 30mph, there would be no smell. The smell is a serious problem that should not be ignored. Assuming it is from over-heated transmission fluid, drain about an ounce out and take to a Toyota dealer and see if they can tell anything from the color. Or call several Toyota dealers and see what they say. If no info, then send it to an oil analysis lab. There are threads about oil analysis. Do not put regular transmission fluid in the prius--buy it only from a Toyota dealer; it's special fluid for a special transmission ( it's a plantenary gear--and that's all i'm going to say about it; there are threads about the transmission, also called the power split device (OK term), eCVT (BAD term). If you find out what the smell is, please report on this forum. There is no problem with the prius going up mountains at highway speeds where the engine can provide the power.

 

Hi Dawning Sky,


All the electricity in a Prius Battery comes from the engine turning a generator. How fast you can climb a hill indefinately depends on the grade, and auxiliary loads on the battery (A/C, headlights, etc). The Prius has a indicator which shows when the electricy is draining from the battery. Have you tried to rent a Prius and driven your hill? My guess is 20 mph is not going to be fast enough to require battery power. The engine should just run at a much higher RPM than other cars. Which is actually a good thing (more coolant flow).

The question is if the length of your hill will cause any thermal problems for the generator, motor and inverter at that slow a speed.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dawning Sky @ Sep 26 2007, 03:44 PM) [snapback]518188[/snapback]</div>

No problem, the ICE will run to generate electricity to power the motor and get you up the hill.

If you noticed the smell after coming back down the hill, it was probably the brakes. Sounds like a good time to use "B".

 

The smell was probably just the new electronics running very warm providing current for the climb. I wouldn't worry.

Going home, you'll use up most of the battery's charge, which is good. In the morning, you'll replenish much of it by braking down the hill.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dawning Sky @ Sep 26 2007, 08:48 PM) [snapback]518254[/snapback]</div>

There are 2 motor/generators in the car. Either one of them can generate electricity and send power to the other for propulsion.

The engine can run at any RPM chosen by the computer. Then the car uses the motor/generator to direct some of the power to the wheels. Any excess power can be taken up by the battery, or shunted over to the other motor if needed.

 

I don't have much experience with mountains or steep grades (especially here in Texas) but when I was in Utah I drove up through the mountains going to Logan, UT on Highway 91. I'm not sure how steep the hill you're planning to be on would be in comparison to this but it was fairly steep for a long distance and the Prius handled it without any trouble at all. I also drove down through the steep grades in Moab, UT coming back down to Texas and once again, no problems.

 

My own car emits a very slight hot-coolant smell sometimes on a long
uphill burn. There's probably a very minor leak somewhere that lets
a few drops out as the system pressurizes. Lots of cars do this, in
fact. The coolant level in the reserve tank or radiator doesn't
drop, it's that little, but as soon as that stuff vaporizes in free
air it makes a fairly strong smell from very little source fluid.
.
_H*

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MegansPrius @ Sep 26 2007, 03:24 PM) [snapback]518066[/snapback]</div>

The OP already has a Prius and states in the original post that he has twice driven it up the hill. He is considering buying the house, not the Prius.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Sep 27 2007, 07:39 AM) [snapback]518409[/snapback]</div>

Doh!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MegansPrius @ Sep 27 2007, 10:39 AM) [snapback]518454[/snapback]</div>

I do this with some regularity. Another of my favorites is to skip down and post an answer without reading all of the posts in between, only to discover later that someone else posted exactly the same thing.

Tom