"tthomson00" <tthomson00@h...> wrote:

> ...[my dealer] stated that Toyota
> has started adding DRL to its cars
> coming off the production line.
>
> ... is he giving me a run around
> about all of the new Prius's having
> DRL?

I can't answer this one for you, but it would be a big step backwards
if true. Judging from previous threads on daytime running lights, a
surprisingly large proportion of the members of this group prefer not
to use them.

> and is having DRL going to cause my ICE to run much more often?

No. The energy cost of daytime running lights is measurable but not
large. I estimate the cost to be about 0.5% of the total energy
needed to run the vehicle, or about 0.2 MPG worsening of the fuel
economy.

> I have seen the post where turning off the ventilation fan will
> turn off the ICE at idle. I assume (correctly?) that the DRL
> will use much less power than the fan.

I don't think this is true. Although I have not measured the
consumption of the fan, I would expect it to be in the region of 60
watts. The DRL will consume about 100 watts. However, the
electrical consumption of the fan is not the reason the ICE comes on
at idle - it comes on because the heat that the fan blows into the
passenger cabin comes from the ICE's cooling system.

The ICE doesn't always come on when you are heating the passenger
cabin, though. If it is nice and warm to begin with it will stop and
the fan will draw upon the residue of heat in the ICE's coolant and
engine block. But if the ICE cools down too much it will start to
warm itself up again.

> Most of my driving is in city to work and back, so although I
> acknowledge the safety factor of DRL, I don't see the need for them
> when I spend most of my time in the middle of traffic.

This might be a problem for you. If you get the version of the Prius
with DRL fitted, you'll find that it is impossible to turn them off.

Regards,
Julian.