That is a good question. Why would a all-electric AC would even pull down the gas mileage.
After all the compressor runs off the traction battery. Someone said with the AC full up it pulls 8.5 horsepower. I can understand that getting into a very hot car sitting in the sunlight and turning on the AC. A cars AC must have an enormous capacity to cool down a really cars hot interior in just a few minutes.

I ran my AC yesterday when in town. I thought to my self, here we are using a variable compressor and a fan to blow out the cool air. I try to keep the temp control at 76 (with eco) and the fan on one or two bars depending on the outside temperature.

I keep forgetting about the amps being used by the constant high speed fan pulling air though the AC condenser up by the radiator. Now I wonder if that fan shuts down if you driving at highway speeds.

 

A trick I use is to open the sunroof (tilt only) during the first few minutes the AC is on and select the external air source (non recirc). The cool air coming in from the AC sinks, so it will rapidly displace the hot air in the passenger cabin and also provide flow over the interior to cool the cabin materials. It only needs to be open for a few minutes to rapidly cool a hot cabin down to 80 or so. Then close it and let the recirc mode do the rest.

 

Another I remember. During a hot 105 degree July day in Dallas. I had a friend at work drop me off at the Chevy dealer so I could pick up my car. I had some warranty work done. They sent a young man up to the parking area which was up on top of the single story building. He brought the car down in a few minutes. I noticed when I got in it was already rather cool inside. He was still near the car so I decided to ask how did he get it to cool so quickly. He said they were told to open the vent with he compressor running. Turn it up to high fan and then drove up to the customer pickup. At that point they put it on recirculate and that was it.

I guess thats not a good idea with the hybrid. Lots of heat being pulled in vs the compressor and the high fan would mean high amps. I forgot to mention that he mention the vent being open on high fan forces most of the heat out of the cabin.

I occasionally slow the fan speed down. I don't notice at first, but in about 20 seconds the car puts the AC on vent instead of leaving it on recirculate. I have had my car for few weeks, so now i'm still learning what to look for.

I like the doors opening before getting in or rolling down the windows for a few hundred feet. Both allows the hot air to vacate the cabin.

 

Can you actually remotely open/close the windows/moonroof with the Camry key?

 

Not that I know of...

Scott

 

I don't have the moonroof. No, I don't think there is anyway of working with the power windows using the fob or Camry key.

I get in the car and press the black button twice which activates the accessories. (amber light on) Then the windows and radio will work. Another press to shut off the accessory mode.

If I press the brake even in the accessory stage I can still set the car to the ignition on mode by pressing the button once again. (green light on)

You mention Camry Key, I think your referring to the key fob you keep with you all time.

 

I had a '81 diesel rabbit that got in the mid 50's gas mileage. I tried the open windows and ended up loosing near 5 mpg. I even tried the Vent windows to full open and that pulled me down 3 mpg.

No more of that. Any open windows with the TCH will be on a parking lot sitting still or while driving slow. Any street driving will be with the vent or AC turned on.

 

That's kind of discouraging. What's the point of having a moonroof then? I like having all of the windows down and the moonroof open.

 

I was cruising down from southern Maine Sunday on Rt 1 with moonroof wide open and windows down mostly going ~40mph (up to 50 on cruise at times, down to 30s at times), and got home (as mentioned in my thread on it) from ~85 miles of driving with a displayed FE of 56.7 mpg. I can't imagine the increased drag from moonroof/windshield is going to be much of a factor when you're cruising at any speed I'd really want my windows all the way down for anyway.

My brother mentioned something about Mythbusters doing the windows/AC test and "one was worse going fast, the other going slow", which is pretty obvious. At high speeds that makes a whole lot of drag which means a lot more energy lost to the air resistance. And I suspect going at full highway speeds your AC (esp in your TCH) will be a bit less of a problem because you may be drawing more power from the battery but generally highway driving is providing an excess of electricity anyway. You're rarely using much _from_ the battery, but every time you go downhill or coast you're charging it up some more. I'd say that would compensate for a good amount of the power for AC at least.

Meanwhile, I've just been driving through the towns between here and home for my commute, so windows down and no AC suits me just fine.

Not that I ever really use heat/AC all that often anyway, but still.

And after 7 one-way commutes my FE is still nominally over 50mpg, with windows open on every one of those commutes....

 

I doubt the moonroof being tilted up would affect your gas mileage at all. I'm sure this would be better than running the AC. I have cracked the front windows about a inch when driving at 50. I try not to include cracking the rear windows unless i'm driving 35 or slower.

I had the powered moonroof on the '03 Corolla. I paid $795 invoice so I could get the side airbags on that car. I did like the moonroof. Great for letting the heat out of a parked car. Heat goes up anyway. This way it goes right out of the moonroof when open and you start driving. I remember on my trade-in the moonroof got me a extra $495. Not bad for three years use.