Not sure of a simpler way to put this question and was unable to find an answer through google search. This would apply to any toyota with HSD i assume but since i drive a prius v this is where i will post my query. Sometimes in traffic i will come to a stop while climbing up a hill. I notice the Prius can hold its position on an incline just by holding the right pressure on the gas pedal without putting foot on the brake, no noise, no fuss from the ICE of course because its not running. Other times if the grade is just right i can release both gas and brake and the simulated "creep" mode in the HSD will keep the car stationary on the incline. What i'm wondering is does this cause any extra wear/harm to the HSD? since load is being applied to the electric motor to keep the car stationary is it simply causing more draw on the battery versus just holding the brake down or would it also put extra stress on the electric motors?
Do Prius v's have hill start assist? I don't really know the answer to your questions, but I do know that maintaining position on an incline using torque and the engine is something I never did with my ICE vehicles, I certainly wouldn't want to do it with my Prius. And at least the case of Standard Gen 3 Prius, Hill Start Assist makes having to do so a situation that really never arises.
Holding the car stationary with the accelerator will not cause any undue wear/harm to the HSD. Like you say it is just using a little extra amp draw on the HV battery and a little torque on MG2. Like mentioned above, if the v has the Hill Start Assist this works well also. Just press the brake pedal a little harder than normal and you will hear a beep and a symbol of a car with squiggly marks will appear on the dash. When you release the brake pedal the brakes will hold for 2 seconds to give you time to press the accelerator pedal and develop enough torque to prevent roll back.
Yes I have used hill start assist on occasion if its especially steep to avoid rolling back but usually i can be quick enough to go from brake to acceleration not to have to engage HSA. As to loading the HSD to remain stationary on a hill I never did this either on my standard ICE vehicles as i'm quite certain it would cause extra wear on the clutch(manual)/torque converter?(auto). Its really a matter of laziness I suppose, easier to control my forward movement with foot on the accelerator pedal than to switch from brake to accelerator when crawling along in traffic.
It won't do any harm, but it will draw power from the HV battery, which will need to be replaced later by running the ICE hence affecting fuel economy. Pressing the brake pedal disconnects the power to the HV battery saving fuel.
Is that why the high pitch whistle of the inverter stops if i push down on the brake pedal hard enough? If i have just light pressure on the brake(enough to keep the car from moving) it whines/whistles a bit, making me think power is not disconnected unless you push hard on the brake?
This can be displayed on the car screen display, put the picture of the car up with the arrows showing where the power is going to/coming from and you will see the power from the battery still going to the electric motor when it's holding itself, the power flow to the electric motor will stop when you press the brake. If you are having to press the brake hard to stop the flow then your brake light switch probably needs adjusting.
No harm, just the benefit. Precise responsive control of torque. You won't want to go back to a car with a torque converter in auto tranny.
