Battery preservation.

Congrats!

Don’t try to drive it in ev

 

Congratulations. I think I've heard that '09 was the best year ever for the Prius.

Shade is always good. Also a good sunshade for the windshield for those times when there is no shade.

Not likely in a gen 2 unless he has installed an EV button.

You may want to check the many threads here about grid charging. Prolong Battery Systems. Extending the life of your hybrid. — Hybrid Automotive has about the best gear around for keeping an older but still healthy battery balanced. Lots of us here use it. It's not cheap and there is debate on whether it's worth the expense since it give longer life but it won't make the battery last forever. I got ours when we had two gen two Prii and that made it almost a no-brainer. If you go that route, now would be a good time. It's old enough to benefit from balancing.

Otherwise, there's not a lot you can do other than try not to abuse it with super high temperatures. Not much you can do with driving habits to make a difference.

 

Actually, it was easy for me to ev at lower speeds during pulse and glide in my 2004 and 2008, but it doesn’t save gas, and it isn’t good for the battery

 

Gotchya! I was only thinking of it as in "EV Mode," not as in judicious use of the throttle. Even if it wasn't bad for the battery, it's way more bother than it's worth.

 

But quiet, a lot of fun, and a gateway to pip or prime

 

Nice car! Like the color. We have a blue '08 Prius and it has been great so far; just needed new tires, 12V battery, and combination meter.

If you DIY on repairs you will save big $$.

 

"EV" is "electric vehicle." Gen 3 and newer have an EV button so that you can move the car short distances, such as out of the garage to wash it or whatever, without the engine starting up. You have to hit the EV button within about the first 7 seconds after powering up the car or the engine will run no matter what you do with that button.

Some people will use the EV button after the engine is warmed up to drive the car. That's not a good practice. It limits acceleration in the extreme and it limits speed. But the worst part is that it runs the traction battery down quite a bit and then the car has to recharge it more. Not only does that waste gas, it wears out the battery faster.

 

When the engine is warmed up, you’ Notice that light application of the throttle will propel the car via the electric motor, without the engine starting at low speeds. Some people try to extend this ev mode by not stepping harder on the gas.

 

I would say, do the required maintenance and then if you want to play with getting higher gas mileage follow all the tips this forum has to offer.

How many mile does it have on it?

 

Wait, this is bad for the car?

What are the best practices for keeping the battery happy then? I'm pushing 183k on the original battery in my 08.

 

That's not necessarily bad for it. But it can be if you abuse it. When driving a gen 2, if I'm getting close to home, and showing green bars on the battery monitor, it only makes sense to try to keep the engine off and burn off the high state of charge before I park. But I wouldn't want to run it down to the purple either! As soon as I start it back up cold, the engine is going to run and it's nice to have room for the charge it'll make available. But if I constantly try to keep the engine off, that's just excess charge/discharge cycles and a battery has a limited (although very large) number of them before it begins to degrade. It's safe to not obsess in either direction. In almost all situations, the computers manage the battery better than we can.

 

best practice is probably to drive it like a normal car, but who knows for sure? we have no scientific testing. read the o/m for any toyota advice, although, they are only interested in getting most cars beyond warranty.

 

I always liked that red, I didn't have much choice when I bought my 2008 new but loved the car.

 

Not to rain on anyone's parade but I kind of feel there is precious little one can do to preserve a battery. They are a chemistry based component that will eventually wear out. Have you ever had a battery operated product that the battery didn't eventually decline and fail?

IMO, Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive system is brilliant. If you aren't having any symptoms of battery failure, just drive it and enjoy. As different an animal as a Hybrid is? IMO Toyota went a long way in making Prius simply driveable. You can investigate specific driving techniques if you wish, but I was always impressed with how well my Prius actually operated, by my simply driving it. All the software and feedback on the dash, kind of overtly and subliminally trains you to be a good hybrid driver.

I actually think I'm a better driver today, because I did own a Prius.

"The Rain" part of my commentary is that you have a 10 model year old Prius. That doesn't mean you might not get many, many more miles, and/or many many more years on the hybrid battery currently in the vehicle, but it does mean it's aged enough that battery failure is a potential problem at any given time.

If you plan to keep this vehicle a long time from this point? I'd also plan that at some point Hybrid battery replacement will be in your future. How far in your future is hard to evaluate or determine.
But until that becomes a reality...you can just enjoy.

The only real action I would consider battery failure preventive maintenance is keeping the Hybrid Battery fan inlets and the Battery Hybrid Fan itself clean.
There are threads on how to do this for every Generation Prius.

 

I do pretty much agree. I still think that the Prolong grid charger will prolong the life of an aging battery. But that mostly has to do with premature failure due to SOC imbalance or possibly helping eliminate crystal formations. In other words, it helps get all you can get from the battery. Still, the battery will eventually fail as do all batteries. There is no "fountain of youth" for batteries.