Replacing my '04 Prius

[akrvbob]

I'm surprised it looks smaller, will it be long enough to sleep in?

I'm so sorry I'm so far away, I'd love there to be with you when you go out and get your first new dents in it!

 

[Suanne]

The smaller-ness of the ''15 over the '04 is an optical illusion. The '15 is actually a few inches longer.

Ah, those first dents will be cringe worthy I'm sure ... after that, they'll be water off a duck's back I suspect. Has your new van been initiated yet?

Now, off to spend my last night in the '04.

 

[rvpopeye]

I guess you won't have to reprogram your brain to look for a different car in a big parking lot then.

I had a pickup truck I really liked so when it was time to replace it I placed a truck wanted ad for the exact same one.
Got a call two days later ,,,,called it truck2! They weren't the same color though. But I did have a nice supply of spare parts!

 

[akrvbob]

Yep, she's been initiated! A couple of dents and lots of stripes!

 

[Bill_Toyota_Matrix]

Okay, I'm REALLY intrigued!!!!

How can you run the A/C and/or heat during the night (say 8 hours worth) without destroying the car, batteries, and/or other things?

How much do you have to drive to recharge the batteries? Do you have to plug in the prius?

I'm sorry...I'm extremely ignorant about these type of cars. But I'm HIGHLY interested in learning!!!

 

[RVTravel]

The car is put into certain mode. It starts up periodically to charge the battery, while the battery runs the AC or heater. It only uses a small amount of gas overnight to perform these functions.

 

[Suanne]

How can you run the A/C and/or heat during the night (say 8 hours worth) without destroying the car, batteries, and/or other things?

How much do you have to drive to recharge the batteries?  Do you have to plug in the prius?

The Toyota hybrids have a "Power" button that is like turning the ignition key to start a regular car.   When a Toyota hybrid is powered on and the transmission is in Park, the gasoline engine only comes on to bring the high-voltage batteries to a good state of charge.  When the high-voltage batteries state of charge is good, the gasoline engine remains off; that is, the engine doesn't run at all, not even at an idle.  If there is no extra draw on the high-volatage batteries while the hybrid is in Park, the gas engine runs for about 5 minutes every half hour to keep the batteries at a good state of charge.  This is all managed by the Toyota hybrid's internal computer systems.

Unlike a regular car, Toyota hybrid's AC system runs off the high-voltage batteries.  So, my experience is when I'm trying to sleep in a hot, humid area, I set the Prius' AC to about 76 degrees, point the vents to blow into the back area, and crack the windows just a little bit.  The Prius' AC removes the moisture from the inside of the car, and cools to the set 76 degrees.  It's mostly the removal of the humidity that helps me to sleep.  In those conditions, I found that my 2004 Prius ran for about 5 minutes every 25 minutes.  I don't yet have any experience in my 2015 Prius, but expect similar results.

I will also turn my Prius on while I'm parked to charge my electronics when there's not enough sun for my small solar panels to do their work.

The high-voltage batteries get recharged in several ways.  The ways that I remember are by driving (from the gas engine similar to when in Park), by braking, and by going downhill.  There may be other ways, but that's all I can remember.

The two Prii that I've had are not the plug-in variety.  Toyota does make a plug-in Prius; I just don't know very much about them.   When I looked at them as a possibility, their range on just batteries was not far enough for me.

I hope that starts to satisfy your curiosity.  The forum PriusChat is a good place to go to get much more indepth info, if interested.

 

[Bill_Toyota_Matrix]

Thank you.... my mouth is watering... from this new appetite.