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If it's like the first plug-in model, you've got to turn the heat all the way to the lowest setting to prevent the engine firing up. Did you try turning the HVAC off altogether? Any window defrost setting will probably fire up the engine too... I've been loaning out my Prius for the past 6 months so I'm losing some of my operating knowledge.
The Bolt suffers a tremendous range penalty by running the resistance heater. I think it pulls something like 2 kW until the set cabin temp is reached, and then still has a large draw to maintain it. The Bolt will also use its battery energy to keep the pack temperature above freezing as long as it has at least 40% charge. It uses wall power to maintain temp while plugged in, and that can represent a fairly significant extra consumption in the winter in unheated garages or especially if kept outdoors.
Anyhow, when my Prius fires up the ICE for any reason, it stays on until 130 F coolant temp is reached. Initially it uses battery power only as the engine warms up to some minimum amount, I'm guessing to reduce pollution as the cat and engine comes up to temp. It is annoying to burn fuel and get nothing from it other than heating.
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