air conditioning in Prius

I live in coastal Southern California so I don't regularly challenge the A/C, but I have done a little driving in the desert during the summer. The A/C kept the car comfortable at temperatures in the high 90's and low 100's. It is hard to tell how much impact the A/C had on fuel economy because these trips involved quite a bit in the way of climbs and descents. I generally leave the A/C in automatic even near home to dry the air and keep the windows from fogging up. I did run without the A/C for a period of time just to see if the MPG improved. I didn't really observe a significant difference in mileage, but then again, I had to periodically run the air conditioner to clear the windshield.

Kari

Another Californian -- but from the hotter Central Valley where it hits upwards of 110 in July/August.

No problemo here. Works quite well. Basically, the compressor is electrically driven much as the refrigerator in the house. You set it to where your comfort level is, maybe 76 degrees, and the fuzzy logic of the computer takes over to maintain a comfort level equivalent to 76 degrees. Mine is a white one since black cars here suck in the heat (although they look cool when clean and waxed well).

The engine may kick in once in a while to keep the electric to the compressor going, fwiw. You can sit in a parking lot for a long, long time and the thing keeps the interior quite cool.

B~

Mine works very well in Dallas. Using a Sunscreen in the windshield speeds the cooldown.

Very well. I live in the Phoenix area, and I usually leave it set to 75 degrees year round.