Leaving a cooler of ice in the Prius for hot weather.

I would say that it's unnecessary because there is a battery cooling fan right beside the right rear door so if the battery ever starts to get hot the fan will cool it down

 

I do not, but MS suffers more for High humidity than truly hot weather. It was 96 yesterday with a max of 91% humidity and an average of 78%

I am not not as concerned for the battery at rest as when it is generating internal heat charging and discharging.

 

@matt b. The fan does not work when the car is off. It'd actually be a good idea, if it could run a minute or two after shutdown, in hot conditions.

@Pijoto I doubt very much a freezer pack sitting in the car will lower the battery's temp at all.

 

Liability lawyers would have a field day if the fan could run when the car was off. The interlock to prevent the fan running when there were rear seat passengers or the case was open would be devilish. Owners with weak 12 batteries would be upset that the car did not start.

 

A state near TX also on the Gulf of Mexico.

Perhaps the most Southern state, sadly not in a good way.

 

would you mind doing a test for us? i'm thinking a thermometer in the car with and without the ice, parked in the same place, on days of similar temperature. would be interesting to know the measurements every hour or two.

 

i would think the closer to the battery, the better, but not sure. if you can reduce the entire cabin temp, that would be great.

 

Yeah.... water+batteries=what could go wrong?

I'd strongly suggest you look into premium solar window tint; the kind that includes windshield applications.

 

It's not unusual for fans to run a minute or two after shutdown. One of our previous cars ran the AC and radiator fans thus, in hot weather, to avoid hot-soak I guess. If only for one or two minutes, not a lot of load, similar to headlights in auto setting.

 

Yeah that's the usual dark tint that does more good for privacy and looks than for heat. The kick butt solar stuff is actually nearly clear and thus can be used on all windows including the windshield and reduces heat tremendously. It's not cheap but at least you would be benefiting from it too; not just the batt.

 

That's the impression I got from my "tinting days", that if anything it made things hotter, at least the aftermarket stuff we got. It was some sort of metallic reflective, I forget what exactly.

 

overkill ////

 

I do worry about moisture/water in the car.
The main thing we usually say is to use A/C to keep the batt cool.

Interesting thought though. If you used those frozen-type packaged cooler inserts that would elim the moisture problem.

 

A few gallons of plain cool water in the interior might absorb as much heat as the ice, with a better cost/benefit ratio. I considered doing that with a few plastic gallon milk bottles of water each morning, because I have to park my car in the S.C. sun nearly every day. Then I contemplated the risk of a bottle springing a leak above the battery ...