My husband and I are planning on going to the drive-in this weekend.
In normal cars you just turn your key to get only the radio on, would this be the same as pressing the power button without stepping on the brake? Is this going to run down my battery?
Thanks in advance for the help!

 

Well I do know that pushing the power button without stepping on the brake will give you radio, and I'm sure that will run down the battery, but I don't know how long it would take. On the other hand, you can also just leave the car on, so you can easily monitor the battery from the display, and it will kick on automatically if somehow you do drain the battery. You're not really going to be using any gas while you're sitting there with the car on anyway, right? Especially if it's warmed up and you've got the battery well-charged. The beauty of the hybrid.

 

Pressing the button once without stepping on the brake is like turning the key to ACC. Pressing the button the second time is like turning the key to ON. It will run down your car battery, but not the NiMH battery. So, I would suggest you keep the car running. The ICE will kick in when the NiMH battery level is low. Once it has enough charge, ICE will stop. But if you feel that the movie will end before your car battery dies, then you don't need to keep the car running.

Have fun at the drive-in!

 

Don't worry about it. Just press the power button once without foot on brake, after the car is parked and OFF, and the power system will then be in accessory mode. And a couple hours of listening to the radio isn't going to make any appreciable impact on the accessory battery in the trunk. Just make sure your lights aren't on, that's all.

 

TKCamry is correct - no need to even consider running the gas engine.

Scott

 

But presumably you should be able to sit there for 2 hours with the car actually _on_ and never have to think about running the gas engine, either. On the other hand you have the security of knowing if somehow you started low or you're using more juice than you realize, at least the engine _can_ kick on before you run yourself dry. In a normal car it's a big difference between on and off, but in a TCH where your engine turns off as long as it's warm and you don't need more power than the battery can give, it's pretty close to the same thing...

 

Might be a handy "feature" in a drive-in in winter or in colder climates. The ICE will come on to keep the engine (and therefore the cabin heater coils) warm -- nice.

 

If I remember correctly (I've posted about this before — you could search this forum), ACCessory mode cancels after 45 minutes. This is to protect the 12-V battery from complete discharge in the eventuality that the car is left on in ACC for a prolonged period of time. I don't think your drive-in stay would be nearly long enough to worry about. [There's no drain on the high-voltage (NiMH battery) in ACC mode.] Since the drain on the 12-V battery is minimal in ACC mode, what I'd suggest is that you press the Power button once (with foot not on the brake) to switch to ACC mode, and then when it shuts ACC off after however many minutes, just press the Power button once again to switch ACC back on, as many time as necessary for the duration of the show. [Don't press the Power button twice, though, as this puts the car into ON, which has a much bigger current drain from the 12-V battery, but still not a problem for the few hours that you're talking about.]

Stan

 

Yup. I was sitting in the TCH reading the manual, listening to the radio with the car in ACC mode. After what I thought was more like 30 minutes (maybe 45, maybe 20...I dunno, really) the ACC mode shut off.

I wouldn't worry about listening to the radio on ACC mode for the length of a movie. My kids have left the reading lights on in the back (which DON"T shut off) overnight and the car was fine.

 

They still have Drive-In's?