allen84 Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 So its been really cold this past week where i live. -10 C ( 14 F ), and EV has not been activating till about 10-15 min in of driving it seems, because of the extreme cold when starting the vehicle. so i found out a way, how to enable the EV mode faster now, Turn off the cabin heater. Yeah you will be really cold while driving lol, but the EV should get warm enough and the green box appeared within 2-3 min !! than after 10+ min of driving, turn on the cabin heater if you wish ....but if you're in stop and go traffic or really slow (traffic jam, construction work being done) than continue to keep the heater off, because it will rob the heat very quickly from the engine. Ive been experiencing some slow traffic the past couple days due to construction, and after 15 min of driving, i was getting really cold and turned on the heat. Than i noticed the engine temp, dropping fast within a few minutes !! and my ICE kicked on. This is the one of the ways ive figured out, to even remotely try and get more efficiency out of my hybrid vehicle like it was meant to be, in the extreme cold. I do not have a Engine block heater with my car, is it even worth getting, how much is it? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eneg Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 So its been really cold this past week where i live. -10 C ( 14 F ), and EV has not been activating till about 10-15 min in of driving it seems, because of the extreme cold when starting the vehicle. so i found out a way, how to enable the EV mode faster now, Turn off the cabin heater. Yeah you will be really cold while driving lol, but the EV should get warm enough and the green box appeared within 2-3 min !! than after 10+ min of driving, turn on the cabin heater if you wish ....but if you're in stop and go traffic or really slow (traffic jam, construction work being done) than continue to keep the heater off, because it will rob the heat very quickly from the engine. Ive been experiencing some slow traffic the past couple days due to construction, and after 15 min of driving, i was getting really cold and turned on the heat. Than i noticed the engine temp, dropping fast within a few minutes !! and my ICE kicked on. This is the one of the ways ive figured out, to even remotely try and get more efficiency out of my hybrid vehicle like it was meant to be, in the extreme cold. I do not have a Engine block heater with my car, is it even worth getting, how much is it? That's ridiculous! What do you save, 10 cents a day? I'd rather be comfortable. . . Eneg 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolder Posted December 10, 2010 Share Posted December 10, 2010 (edited) The use of cabin heat really affects cold weather mileage the first few miles before the ICE warms up. It keeps the ICE on when otherwise it would stop. The 12 v.d.c. power points might be used for a small electric heater for these first few minutes. You won't get any heat out of the car system anyhow until a certain ICE temperature is reached. The 12 vdc power points are limited to 180 watts. They have a 20 amp. fuse. Harbor Freight has a cheap 12 vdc heater 0096144 (~15$) that has a 15 amp in line fuse so that should work. Heat requires energy so nothing is free but this might be more efficient than warming up several hundred pounds of engine just for cabin heat. This heater probably doesn't put out much heat though. "The OCD Mileage Group" Edited December 11, 2010 by lolder 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfruth Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 This would be a good time for the heated seats 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_8797 Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 This would be a good time for the heated seats ^^ thats all i ever use, we're in similar climates 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimFFH Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 I have heated leather seats in my minivan, and they get so cold its ridiculous. I think I'd rather have non-heated fabric like in my hybrid. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runutzzzzz Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 Really? That's crazy! I'm all about MPG but I'm not going to freeze my azz off to do it. Sounds like someone needs to buy a plug in Prius :leaving: LOL 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfruth Posted December 11, 2010 Share Posted December 11, 2010 To set the record straight I have non-heated fabric seats - never the less this is a good tip, thanks ! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savngas Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 I love my heated seats, and would opt for heated steering wheel if offered. Nice thing about FFH is if I start the car before I go to work it heats the cabin and then the ICE turns off. I realize I am getting 0 MPG during the warmup but it sure feels good when I leave for work. No mileage OCD here...:-0 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyF Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 My FFH's leather heated seeats are wonderful. After about 10 minutes I find that they are too hot and I turn them to their lower heat setting. After about 5 minutes of driving, the heater is throwing out the heat. The other day, I had the heater off, only the seats on and the radio off. I stopped at a red light and thought the car had stalled on me! In my panic, I turned off the ignition and restarted --- only to realize that the ICE was off and the FFH was only doing its thing. I still have a hard time getting used to the silence. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaDD Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 So its been really cold this past week where i live. -10 C ( 14 F ), and EV has not been activating till about 10-15 min in of driving it seems, because of the extreme cold when starting the vehicle. so i found out a way, how to enable the EV mode faster now, Turn off the cabin heater. Yeah you will be really cold while driving lol, but the EV should get warm enough and the green box appeared within 2-3 min !! than after 10+ min of driving, turn on the cabin heater if you wish ....but if you're in stop and go traffic or really slow (traffic jam, construction work being done) than continue to keep the heater off, because it will rob the heat very quickly from the engine. Ive been experiencing some slow traffic the past couple days due to construction, and after 15 min of driving, i was getting really cold and turned on the heat. Than i noticed the engine temp, dropping fast within a few minutes !! and my ICE kicked on. This is the one of the ways ive figured out, to even remotely try and get more efficiency out of my hybrid vehicle like it was meant to be, in the extreme cold. I do not have a Engine block heater with my car, is it even worth getting, how much is it? Thanks for this tip! It's been really tough watching my mileage drop off since winter hit here in London, Canada. And it did hit us! Google it. I've got heated leather, so we just use that while the ICE heats up, takes at least 10 - 15 min before it's high enough to for the EV to be stable. Just a new thing to learn how to balance. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolder Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 Look for reverse cycle heat pumps/AC units in vehicles in the future, particularly EVs. It only takes a few valves to make an AC into a heat pump and some of them work down to near zero F. Resistance heating will still be needed in EVs for colder temps. The Prius hybrid is a little ahead of others as it has an exhaust heat exchanger for even more rapid warming of the ICE. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfruth Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 So why no exhaust heat exchanger (aka the thermos) in the 2010 Prius ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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