Emergency backup 12-volt battery for Prius options

good idea, i think a lot of people are carrying booster packs.

 

Nice packaged external battery and adapters.
I, in case of need, I use a left over alarm battery (12VDC) and some jumper cables with small alligator clips. It does the job very well.

 

Good job. I hope I'm not the only one who thinks it's ridiculous to have your car dead-in-the-water whenever your little 12V aux battery goes dead, even when you have over a kilowatt of electricity on-board.

 

Wrong unit there! The traction battery capacity can be stated in kilowatt hours, but not in kilowatts:
Energy Capacity of the Hybrid Battery | PriusChat

 

I hope I'm not the only one who thinks it's ridiculous to have your car dead-in-the-water whenever your little 12V aux battery goes dead, even when you have over a kilowatt-hr of electricity on-board.

 

I`m a little sceptical, just eyeballing the size of the thing, and read some negative reviews.

I picked up a Jump-N-Carry JNC660 for around $160, maybe a decade back. It will easily fit in the under hatch floor tray (but it is the elephant in the room).

 

I carry a small lithium-ion battery pack, about the size of a hoagie, designed to plug into the lighter socket. It's capable of boosting a regular vehicle, so it's more than adequate for re-juicing the Prius, and it holds a charge for long periods of time.

It doesn't work through the socket, because the power there is switched, as it is with most cars nowadays, so I use a pair of alligator clips connected to a socket, so I can boost it using the battery terminal in the fuse-box.

 

Here is what I bought a couple of months ago (just in case): Mini Multi-Function Jump Starter: BatteryMart.com
- hope this helps

 

Well, so far, I've used the flash-light, and have charged various phones and laptops all very effectively, however I've not tried it in a real dead-flat automobile battery situation. I thought that if I'm prepared for the worst, it might never actually happen (c.f. the reason I always carry an umbrella in the car is in order to help prevent rain! ) - I'm sure the MMFJS will deal with the current requirements of a Prius with no problems, but I'm waiting for the opportunity to arise where I'm able to come to the rescue of a stranded damsel-in-distress (…or she could be wearing a skirt or trousers (pants on this side of The Pond)), with a totally flat car battery, and I am able to save the day with a device no larger than a paper-back book - I did some research on the LiFePO4 technology used in the MMFJS, and was impressed. Hope this helps - Wil

 

I will pick-up that spare battery from my messy work area in my former-garage and take a pix. It's so simple......

 

Robert,

Have you actually used your Instaboost to charge your Prius on a dead battery? If so, were you able to jump start you Prius with connection under the hood rather than directly on the 12V in the trunk? I have been following your wonderful postings on camping in a Prius. Thanks so much for all the wonderful photos and tips! I am preparing for a month long trip to Utah to explore the great National Parks there (Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonland, Arches, etc) and I am wanting to purchase a portable jump starter and power bank for my car and electronic devices so that if I am stuck somewhere with a dead battery at a remote "primitive camp area", I can easily rescue myself. I have research some portable jump starter / power bank devices on Amazon. One lady with a Prius indicated that with Powerall Jump Starter and Power bank, her husband had to use the connection on the 12V battery in the trunk and that it would NOT work with the connections under the hood. Please advise. I don't want to purchase one of these device only to find out in the middle of nowhere in the desert that I cannot use this portable device to start my car quickly under the hood and have to crawl through the back seat with all my camping gear to the trunk to make that connection .

 

The big red cable at the jump point is connected directly to the battery (+) post and the body is ground (-).
I don't see how it can NOT work.......if you do it right.
Or maybe if there are some really bad connections somewhere on the main battery cables.