Prius shuts off after 30-45 mins of running on battery

Question, how are you powering the car? Are you leaving it in Ready mode or are you using IGN-ON or ACC where you press the POWER button without the brakes?

To run the accessories for that length of time, it would be best to leave the car in Ready mode so that the ICE can start every now and then to recharge the HV battery which in turn charges the 12V auxliary battery.

In IGN-ON mode, you are running just on the 12V battery without recharge. In ACC mode, the HV battery is charging the 12V battery but the ICE will not come on to recharge the HV battery.

Only in Ready mode will the ICE come on periodically to charge the HV battery.

 

Also, be in Park, not Neutral. The ICE can not charge the battery in N.

 

Not true. The HV battery is electrically disconnected all the time except in READY. The difference between ACC and IG-ON is in how many devices are powered up. In ACC only a few devices are powered on; in IG-ON everything required to drive is powered up except the system main relays that connect the HV battery. On a Gen 2 Prius IG-ON pulls 300-400 watts, which takes under an hour to completely flatten the 12V battery. If it'll actually go READY after your movie, you must be in ACC.

ACC will still drain the 12V battery but at a much lower rate. It's possible Toyota have added a feature to protect the battery by forcing it OFF if you haven't made it READY for 45 minutes. You might be able to fool it if you have the radio on but with the volume on minimum?

Personally I'd have the car OFF when watching a movie anyway, or do you need some device powered by the car to get the drive-in sound?

 

Yes, I keep getting the ACC and IGN-ON backwards. Are you sure about the HV battery not being connected except in READY? I am sure I have read on here multiple times where the HV battery is connected when IGN-ON as there have been recommendations to use the IGN-ON versus the ACC for this very reason as not to drain the 12V battery.

 

Just turn the car on, full "Ready". It will run the ICE when needed, otherwise battery only.

 

Have the car on
Regards,
Jim

 

As the other posts above state, leave the car running as normal. The ICE will only come on when it needs to recharge the HV battery which in turn will recharge the 12V battery.

When you press the button once without the brake pedal, you are in ACC mode which will let you use the radio. This is running on the 12V battery and the battery is not getting recharged. Since the Prius does not need the 12V battery to start the ICE, this battery is much smaller than a typical battery and can be discharged rather easily. So you do not want to use the radio for very long in ACC mode.

 

I'd suggest keeping the car on in READY. That way you can enjoy without worry of trying to drive away with a dead 12v battery.

 

Drive in? ...
What's a Drive in.
ound:
Ok, I am a fossil, so I DO know what they are. It was a mere quarter century ago that I last went to a Drive in. I had to google to see if there actually WERE any more of those dinosaurs left. By golly there are still about EIGHT left in CA. That's plenty, for the 40 million or so that live in CA (counting the illegals, & criminals that don't partake in the census). That's one drive-in, for every 5 million people. Maybe one drive in for every 2.5 million drivers.

I didn't know there were THAT many people still left, who:
- Never heard of netflix ($9 a month unlimited movies ... drive-in's cheaper than that?
- Never heard of DVD's
- Never heard of cable TV
- Never heard of satalite TV
- Never heard of regular TV

I left out, - Never heard of walk in theaters. Theaters of ANY kind charge about a 1,000% markup on soda, nuts, candy, hotdogs etc (not to mention the high cost of the movie). Don't know how a theater is cheaper. Maybe bring your own food? Still there's the gas. It's intriguing that folks who'd want to buy a Prius that's famous for SAVING MONEY ... would still kiss off their money for all these over priced items (unless you bring your own food), not even counting the extra gas wasted.

Often after paying high movie prices ... some people complain that gas is too expensive (much less, that lots of it is imported from terrorist countries). I'm thinking that gas isn't too expensive yet. Not until folks can no longer afford to use their cars as generators, to drive amps that run painfully loud/base filled stereos ... as they drive around aimlessly, blasting tunes only they think are cool. Gas will be too expensive, once big fat morbidly obese people stop sitting in their cars outside of Walmart ... which is air conditioned ... opting in stead to use their CARS as air conditioners ... instead of walking inside the store. Ok, so I'm too easily intrigued.

What does a drive in cost now days?
Why not just leave the Prius turned off?
.

 

Alll this talk about the battery dying makes me wonder: When I got my 2006 Prius, people were talking here on the forum about camping in the Prius, keeping it in Ready mode, and saying it would automatically recharge as necessary. I just recently traded for a 2010 Prius. Does all this mean I can no longer spend the night in my car? (Not that I ever did before, but COULD I?)

 

If you leave it in Ready, in Park, sure.

 

The 2010 is identical to the 2006 in this respect. Keep it in Ready and you are good.

Tom