charge daily or when needed?

Nope. Only in software can this be done. Toyota implemented a sleep mode to replace the switch.

 

That's because they have settings that will let you top out no where close to 85%.

 

He had to jump start and then drove a few miles. That means 12V battery was dead but PHV battery still had charge. We don't know the state of charge prior to shipping. Not sure why it is not charging nor do we know the history of it as it was pre-owned.

I would hook up battery tender to 12V and leave the PHV battery at 50% SOC.

Tesla's case is different because they use active thermal system that regulates battery temp even when the car is turned off. There were also other issues that contributed to the vampire draw. The loss was 4.5 kWh per day (more than one charge for PiP). The fix brought it down to 3.5 kWh, then to 1.1 kWh per day. It is still significant for PiP standard but that's the price of having a big battery pack with thousands of laptop battery cells.

Imagine a Tesla owner that only drive 10 miles a day. The actual electricity consumed to drive may be less than the vampire draw. More is not better.

PiP disconnects the PHV battery completely and leaves the 12V to handle the alarm, SKS, etc. I went on two weeks vacation once and I didn't recall a change in EV mile estimate, when I came back.

 

All good info, but based on my experience with rechargeable batteries, I don't trust any of them to hold a charge for more than a few months. They're like air-matresses, fine for awhile and then suddenly flat.

 

The PiP seems to go to sleep after some number of days (I don't know how many). Lots of stuff gets turned off, like the SKS and (in the Advanced) the Safety Connect cell phone. I went for a vacation for a couple of weeks without the car (kind of hard to drive to Australia), and on a lark decided to use the Entune app to inquire about the location and charge status of the car. It couldn't communicate with the car, since apparently it had gone into hibernation.

 

At least be aware that there are differences with automotive grade battery and consumer electronic cells.

You may think the regular Prius NiMh would only last 500 recharge cycles and unusable in a few years.

 

The regretful remorse one feels when one's rechargeable battery has diminished, is only but delayed by the expensive kind.

 

Really?

Let's see: 2A per hour, and a 38 Amp-hour 12V battery... Yep, you can't let a Prius sit for more than 19 hours or you'll have a dead battery.

NOT!

 

but i wouldn't want to keep it fully charged for a year against toyota recommendation either. this is a concern i've heard from a few people who would consider a hybrid, but don't drive year round.

 

Yes, if you are out of warranty. 10 years is unheard of in consumer electronic.

 

That's a great point. Imagine a phone or computer battery lasting even half that long and still delivering so much.

 

Electrode degradation is a fact of life in most rechargeable batteries. The better the design, the slower the degradation.

 

Nobody is saying it doesn't.

The point was, mixing up the difference in the "life" of each product. They are designed with different goals.

Toyota suggested to keep the SOC and temp of battery low to get the most out of it.

Charging as needed is ideal but people sometimes forget to charge. Things need to balance out per their preference.

 

how do you get it out of hibernation mode?

 

Press the Unlock button on the fob since Smart Key would be disabled?

 

ah, thank you. i was away for 5 weeks last winter and didn't notice it.