[s3nfo]

Every article talks about expense for replacing the traction battery, but I've always been taught that 90% of the wear on an internal combustion engine happens during start-up. The engine on the Prius starts hundreds of times more often than the engine in a non-hybrid, sure makes good, quality oil a necessity and I'm thinkin I should start saving to replace the ICE, not the batteries.......

What do you guys think?

 

[mrv]

http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-miscon ... Restarting

 

[hyperion]

john covers it all but the ICE in the Prius is not comparable to a standard engine. It is started and stopped quite differently with very little stress and it is even difficult to know exactly when it is even reunning.

 

[C.Rickey Hirose]

Also in the Prius ICE atkinson cycle power plant the BIg Electric moteur
will crank or spins the cranckshaft with the valves open for lubrication to let say 850~900 rpm for a fraction of a second before fire ! it keeps doing that time after time and the most noticeable wear and tear item in the ICE is the timing belts which the Prius ICE has the chains instead ! and also note that the chains, are engineered and should go the distance for the life of the ICE ! Thank you Toyota Engineers !

 

[DanMan32]

There's a falacy about the engine spinning 'with valves open'. Both valves are operated by camshafts, chain driven by the crank shaft. Now the intake timing can be shifted by 15 degrees or so, but the valves cannot be completely held open throughout all 4 stroke cycles.

But it is true, the engine is spun fast enough so that when fuel and spark are added, there is minimal impact to the engine wear, unlike a conventional car where fuel and spark are provided as soon as the first turn of the engine is done by the starter, and at a very low RPM. It is the combustion that actually helps start the ICE in a conventional car, as can be demonstrated when the engine can't maintain itself, but you can tell it is 'trying' when the engine RPM increases while you are trying to start it.