So I wanted to play with the nav system (specifically figure out how to make it find POI along my route... why it can't tell me the compass direction along with the distance to the 17 different McDonalds is beyond me) and when I turned the car on in accessory mode (not depressing the pedal) it shut off after two mins. I tried both "levels" of accessory mode and the behavior was the same. The car was plugged in and actively charging. What am I doing wrong?
In accessory mode your running on the 12v battery, not the HV battery. Be thankful that it shuts off 2 minutes. Earlier models don't shut off and lead to a depleted 12v battery. In which case, the car cannot be made READY.
Mechanic told me to just leave it running. The engine will turn off and on as needed to keep the 12V battery charged and running down the 12V battery creates a lot of problems.
If you are gonna be plugged in, just go to "ready" mode and play all you want. It wont really be ready mode since you are plugged in. ie: step on the brake pedal and power up while you are plugged in.
Sandie, If you time it, I think you'll find that it is closer to 1:45 than 2 min. When you stop charging, just put it in READY mode with the car in PARK and you can play with the Nav system. It is a pain that it won't stay in accessory mode. You would think that when you are charging the traction battery it could keep the 12v battery charged in accessory mode. I understand this behavior in accessory mode for the normal Prius but not for the Plug-In while it is charging the traction battery. This is something that Toyota should change. If enough of us complain maybe they will. The 12 v battery is so puny, that you don't want to have the car in accessory mode for very long if the 12 v battery is not charging.
It is frickin' annoying. I've been futzing with custom images all afternoon - and wouldn't it be nice if the system stayed on longer than a minute and 45 seconds while plugged in?!?!?
