Remote Start on Plug-in?

The a/c button does not turn on the heat. Too bad. I wish it did too

 

wow, that's a disappointment. Thought for sure it meant it was just turning on the automatic HVAC system, using the settings entered before turning the car off.

 

The remote A/C system is designed to not cause the ICE to fire up. And with the PiP, heat comes from the ICE. So no heat.

 

it does. but if the exterior temperature is below the set temperature, nothing happens.

 

Charles explained why that is. Heating in the PiP is provided by the ICE, because electric heating would be insanely inefficient.

 

I'm guessing no one has come up with an affordable add-on which will trigger the ICE when A/C is remotely turned on in cold weather? I'd hate to invest in a full blown remote starter, and carry another fob, when we are so close to having this system already.

 

When I ordered my pip in july I asked my dealer about a remote starter and he wasnt sure if it will be available now for the pip nor if the one for the regular prius will fit on the pip but I dont know why it wouldnt fit cause a pip is just a prius with a bigger battery and a charger. Also, he told that they usually install remote starters from an aftermarket brand instead of the one for toyota. They are cheaper and have a better range than the oem (80 feet only). At first, I was disappointed that the remote ac button wouldnt heat the car from the battery but when you think about it, it wouldnt make sense to use electricity to heat the car when heating from the ICE is done from wasted energy. I think that using the ICE first and saving the battery for ev miles is a smart choice from toyota but I dont expect too much ev miles in winter months since I am only 5 miles from work. What doesnt make sense to me is having to let the car idle for minutes before using it at the single purpose of generating heat. This car is supposed to be designed to use every drop of fuel as efficiently as possible. Toyota should sell an auxiliary electrical heater taking power from the grid while the car is plugged (from the charging cable or the engine block heater wire) to at least defrost the windshield.

 

you'd need a pretty high wattage heater to heat the cabin. I have a 400 watt oil filled heater that plugs into 120 volts. tested it out overnight the other day when the outside temp. was 47 degrees. with the heater set at max, the inside temp was only 51 degrees ( expected 70 or higher)

 

Slurpy.......

 

I am considering a block heater and yours should have heated seats.

 

That is my feeling also, there sould be at least 1 x 110Volt plug inside the car where you can connect a heater with some kind of programmed timer. I believe the Leaf has this option of heating the car from the grid.

 

new to this forum, as recently bought Prius Plug-in, I wasn't able to start my car, using this A/C button on my key fob, am I doing something wrong ... or it's bad ... do advice, how to check/verify ... is it really working or not.

And also my miles @full charge also reduced to just 9 miles, in just 5 months

 

Your situation is being faced by many of all of us in winter time.......

 

The A/C compresser is electric, so it doesn't need the engine to run.

 

A/C button doesn't start the car; it turns on climate control if the temperature setting when the car was turned off is below the outside temperature.
the "range" issue is covered in the FAQ.

 

So this means in Canada, whenever we turn on the heat (for 5+ months), the internal combustion engine must fire up, thus defeat the purpose of having a plug-in?