[wayneswhirld]

One minor annoyance I find is when I'm done driving but still want to hear the radio, the way in which the Prius is shut down means that I lose a few seconds of radio before I can power on to Accessory mode. Am I possibly not aware that there's a way to not interrupt the radio as in just turning the key to ACC in a conventional vehicle?

 

[DanMan32]

I complained about that very same thing.

Unfortunately, there's no stock way to go down power levels without passing OFF. One of the pitfalls of 4 power states and only one button.

However, if you connect a power source, such as one of those emergency rechargable booster batteries to the outlet in the console, the accessories that normally operate in ACC will stay on from the backfeed of the ACC turn on current, even though the rest of the car is responding properly to the power states.

 

[wayneswhirld]

Thanks, DanMan, for confirming this and the suggestion.

 

[redwein]

I thought about this too and determined that just sitting in park wasn't using significantly more power than just being in ACC mode. That is assuming the engine is warmed up enough to shut itself off. We do note how great of a thing the engine shutting off is and this is just one more way to take advantage of it.

 

[redwein]

My Sienna minivan has the same problem, even though it has a regular key. When the kids are watching the video in the back and I stop for gas, I can't turn the car off without turning off the video too. I never looked closely enough to see where the key ends up to turn the engine off, but I definitely can't do what I want with it.

 

[DanMan32]

Some cars have the ignition key in the following sequence:
ACC-Lock-Off-On-Start (sometimes lock and off postion are one and the same). You have to pass Off in order to get to ACC.
Others have it as off/lock-ACC-On-Start. This one you can go to ACC without going to Off.

On in a conventional car without the engine started is equivalent to Ig-On mode in the Prius. On with the engine started is equivalent to READY.