Regarding the Prius? If you had to choose a location to live, would you prefer to live at the top of a hill or the bottom? By this I mean is it better to start the day at the top of a hill (around 2 miles) so that when the engine is cold and warming up you could put the least amount of stress on the motor when it is cold? And then at night climb the hill to get home when the car is fully warmed up, or the other way around?

 

I can't speak to the Prius per se, but I did actually change my morning driving route after I bought my 2010 Insight for just this reason. I did this chiefly to let the CVT warm up a bit more and was less concerned with the ICE.

As I leave town on my old route, on the south side of the river, I used to hit a fairly steep hill immediately and wasn't comfortable stressing the CVT before the fluids had a chance to warm up, so I now cross a bridge and travel on a road north of the river which is much flatter.

I don't think I would actually base my choice of housing location on this single issue, but if I had no choice but to climb a hill first thing in the morning I would probably let the vehicle warm up a bit more than I do now.

 

Use a block heater and climb the hill in the morning. The engine will be warmed up but the cat will still need to get hot before the hybrid system will start working well. The engine is going to run anyway so use that time to climb.

Coast back at night and charge the battery for a helpful boost the next morning.

 

I live in a valley and in the morning, a long line begins to pile up when I go up the hill because I only drive my escalade hybrid 25mph until it is fully warmed up. with my turbocharged evo, it warms up pretty quickly which is good for my 11 mile commute to work in the morning