I have heard that the TCH A/C does not work well in stop and go traffic. Is this true? What has your experience been?

I also heard that the HCH A/C has it's own compressor to run while stopped so it actually works better. Is this true?

 

The TCH compressor is electric and runs great in stop and go traffic.

 

Yes, the AC unit in the TCH is run by the hybrid system and has no belt connected to the engine drive line. It's run off of the eletrical charge from the generator/motor system. I know the AC system in ECO mode doesn't use much energy.......unless you set it at max cooling. It works great!

 

Not true
Whoever made that statement never drove TCH or had broken AC in his. Makes little difference if you're moving or sitting in traffic (albeit there is some difference due to better air flow cooling when moving, also in heavy traffic outside air is locally warmer , being heated by all the cars around you, but that applies to every car on the road), much better than most of the cars I owned before. TCH has ECO switch for better fuel efficiency, but if it's really hot, just turn it off.

 

Yeah, whoever said that is very confused. Actually, I thought the early Honda's had a problem where the ac would not work with the engine off.

 

Ok, here is the source......a honda salesman. I just thought I would get real feedback as I didn't buy that one either.

 

A Honda salesman told you the TCH's AC doesn't work [well] while stopped?? Oh boy...I really suggest you don't buy from there. You may even want to send them a letter (leaving names out).

Heck. One of the coolest (no pun intended) features of this car is that I can sit in a parking lot waiting for someone, listening to music and running the AC without worrying about killing a 12v battery or wasting mass amounts of gas.

 

I know, I know....I thought it was crap too. I just wanted to see what was said before I let the cat out of the bag.

I have already scratched that dealer off my list and sent a copy of the toyota page on A/C to him for review.

 

Nice

 

Like the others said - AC works fine. I live in Nevada and spent several weeks in Yuma, Arizona, this summer (not something I'd recommend) and AC worked fine. I did find that in short city trips in Yuma (120 degrees) I had to turn off the ECO switch to get it to cool faster. This was where I drove 10 minutes, went into store, came back and drove another 10 minutes, etc. Too hot in Yuma to really cook down TCH in 10 minutes (or any car for that matter). In "normal" conditions, around Nevada I always keep it in ECO and never have any problems cooling.

John