Will my car start after 10 days parked?

parked in the garage again, seemed to start up fine after two weeks and i remembered to unplug the adapter this time lol. also, at the two week interval drove around the garage for about 1/2 mile to force the EVSE to charge the car and top up the 12V battery too.

trading in is a terrible idea! i'm probably going to sell but my mom is still attached to this car so i've kept it for now. though if the new pip sells out soon then maybe i should hold on to it a bit more ;-)

 

Sounds almost like the system doesn't charge the 12 volt while charging the traction.

 

There is some power supplied to the OBD II port at all times for scanning with the car off. An accessory can leech too much, and this was over 30 days.

 

it does charge the 12v when charging.

 

I have a Scangauge plugged into OBD port all the time, no issues. But it could depend on the device.

 

Ever leave the car unplugged for 30 days?
I think that was the main issue. The OBD bluetooth device may have drawn more than a scangauge, but going that long will start taxing the 12 volt with just the car's accessories. Part of the reason the Model S loses more range while parked unplugged than other BEVs is that it is maintaining the 12 volt from the traction pack so the car can start and drive to a charge station after sitting for awhile.

 

I am confused about the scenario here. The EV battery was charged at 60%, but what does that have to do with the 12v battery? Running the gasoline engine has nothing to do with charging the 12v battery in a PiP; the 12v battery is being charged any time the car is "on" (READY), or if the car is being charged from the plug (the yellow light next to the plug is on). Leaving the car parked for any length of time is not going to effect the charge in the EV battery; the issue is the 12v battery discharging. Sorry if I am missing the point.

 

The 12 volt did die after being parked for 30 days, unplugged. Jump started it, and drove 1.5 miles to home. Tried starting it a few hours later, and it attempted to boot up, but failed, and needed another jump start.

I missed the underlined part the first time. Going 1.5 miles doesn't give enough time to charge the 12 volt, unless it took a half hour to cover the distance. Then plugged in, a few hours isn't going to be enough time to charge it while also charging the traction pack.

When drained down to the point that the car doesn't even try to start, the car needs to run over 30 minutes to get the battery back up. Even better is charging the 12 volt from the wall.

 

Even non hybrid cars have some things drawing from the battery while it is parked. Something just plugged into the OBD port or 12 volt outlet shouldn't add much more to that amount. Something actively sending data is going to use more juice, and a BT connector may also do so if it is continually looking for the phone.

Either way, if the car is sitting for that long between use, it is probably a good idea to charge the 12 volt up periodically with a basic charger to get the longest life out of it. Alternators generally aren't the best way of charging up a battery that has drained low from sitting or multiple starting events in short order.

 

A Prius does not have an alternator, in the sense that regular cars have them (a generator turned by the engine). There is a DC-DC converter in a Prius powered by the traction battery that provides 12VDC (more or less). But I don't know what the charge rate to the 12V battery is. It is probably not very much, since one is not dealing with a 12V battery that has to be big enough to crank the engine to start it. The 12V system just has to power the electronics and lights and such.

 

I know. My post was about 12 volts and cars in general, but I don't see why the Prius PHV would charge the 12 volt any faster than a regular car or standard Prius. The design expectation is that the car won't sit for such extended periods, and the battery will start near full charge. In which case, a slower charge rate is better for battery life.

My main point is if the 12 volt has died in any car, let the car run for at least 30 minutes, if not longer, to charge it up by the car. Better yet would be to charge it up with a grid charger once you got home. Leaving it in a low state of charge not only risks needing another jump, but will shorten a lead acid battery's life.

 

well this got out of hand…lol.

yes, for some reason i was expecting magical superfast charging of the 12V from the traction battery. Which potentially is what *was* happening after the second jump given the ridiculously rapid EV miles drain.

and the adapter is definitely on even when the car is off – there's an indicator light that blinks on it. in the past I have left the car parked for ~12 days with no issues. i guess 30-40 days was just too much.

It appears that it was though. The car was plugged in for a little over 2 hours and took over 3 kWh of energy, clearly more than the energy needed for the traction pack alone. there have also been no starting issues since.