I dont think that's true. I think the ICE running is still dependent on heat whether the AC is on or off. I've definitely used AC (cooling) while in EV. The remote AC works just on battery power as well.
Thank you for the confirmation of my assumption, that running the AC should not require to run the ICE.
If the OP needs heat, I recall some Leafers using 12V Heater w/ Fan (at least initially?) since the Leaf's heater is slow to warm up and draws a lot of power. The Leaf's heater also apparently heats water (http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6892), which is why it's slow.
A possible new habit pattern for Pip owners can be to power ON (instead of READY) and adjust the climate control below OAT or LO, before starting out.. then power to READY. Its better for me to set it before starting out, instead of before shutting down. How do you get power ON you ask, 2 pushes of the Power button without a foot on the brake pedal ---adjust climate control---- from that point READY mode will be one more push of the Power button with a foot on the brake pedal
Unless the temperature setting is on LO, you're telling the system to run the heater. It makes no difference what the outside temperature is. LO means "give me outside venting only". All else is will cause the engine to start. In other words, there's no glitch. True, there could be a more eloquent of specifying & indicating that. But those of us having driven a Prius for many years already knew what they meant... hence me not having the engine start. Lastly, it looks like the video link in my previous post didn't appear. Here it is again... http://priuschat.com/forums/toyota-prius-plug-in/105347-phv-prius-owner-videos-2.html#post1507987 .
Just be glad the Prius HVAC design gives you the "LO" option. In the LEAF we dont' have that option If it is "chilly" outside but I want venting only I get to open windows.
For the most part AC being electric seems to run without the ICE almost all of the time. I had the ICE come on once. why who knows.
I had this happen to me twice in a week I had a demo PiP. Both times, I was standing still with the car.
So you turn the temperature down past the point where it would want to engage the A/C, but at the lower limit there is a special value "LO" that will engage neither the A/C nor heat? Or do you have to explicitly turn off the A/C so it doesn't try to give you an Arctic experience in your car?
Heat is what requires the ICE to be running. A/C runs on electricity and is independent of heat, i.e. the heater can be run w/ A/C (for dehumidification) or w/o A/C. The advice to set it to LO is to make sure the heater is off. I've had heat start the ICE a couple times unwanted. I want to see if I can get away with climate control off and heat warmers in those cases, but I'll need to get in the habit of turning the climate control off (b/c I don't know what the threshold for turning on heat is based on ambient temperature) when it's cold. Maybe I should just always turn it off when I shut off the car and require a deliberate choice to turn it on.