Now that it is starting to get colder in Rochester, I have noticed the following phenomenon: Within the first 5 minutes or so, if I stop at a red light, the car will sometimes keep the engine on...But I can then get it to turn it off by lowering the temperature setting. In fact, I can sometimes toggle the engine off and on by jumping the temperature setting up and down between, say, 65 and 66 degrees!
So, I guess the Prius makes the decision to keep the ICE on if the temperature you want is higher than it thinks it can provide with the current state of the engine coolant temperature or whatever? Does anyone with more experience with this know exactly what the scoop is. In particular, I was sort of curious whether this depends on what climate control mode you are in. I have tended to keep the climate control out of automatic mode...which means it doesn't automatically turn the air conditioner (in the sense of the compressor to cool the air) on but it does seem to still provide heating if necessary.
So, I guess the Prius makes the decision to keep the ICE on if the temperature you want is higher than it thinks it can provide with the current state of the engine coolant temperature or whatever? Does anyone with more experience with this know exactly what the scoop is. In particular, I was sort of curious whether this depends on what climate control mode you are in. I have tended to keep the climate control out of automatic mode...which means it doesn't automatically turn the air conditioner (in the sense of the compressor to cool the air) on but it does seem to still provide heating if necessary.