OK ... So I went through a carwash. The "death" triangle comes up and some message that I don't remember. I DO remember that it wasn't good. How the hey do I go through a carwash? Do I kill the power? Wth? How come the big battery power bars on my whatchacallit screen went from yellow to now blue? Do I gotta worry about that? Do Prisuses get crummy gas mileage with the air-conditioning on? I've been to chicken to use mine until I asked. TIA for your help here.
I can answer the easy question: don't worry about using the air conditioner! The effect on gas mileage is negligible. And, in fact, you can see this yourself, by doing the experiment: driving on a highway, turning on the air conditioner for 15 minutes, and looking at the bar graph of your gas mileage on the video game.
Heat is BAD for the battery. If you're hot, so is the battery. Run the A/C. Naturally, it costs a little extra gas, but that's cheaper than an early battery death. On the battery level indicator, the bottom if there are only two bars, they will be sort of hot pink or magenta. At that point the engine will start because the car doesn't want the battery any lower than that. If it's up to the top or second from top, the bars will be green. That's as full as the car wants the battery. If the level is between those, then they will be blue. That's the sweet spot the car will work to maintain. I have never seen yellow bars, so I'm not sure what you mean. If your battery is original in an '05, I'd recommend saving up for a new one so you're ready since it's getting close to the maximum lifespan. As for the red TOD, without a message or a code, I can only guess that you were sitting in neutral going through the car wash. In neutral, the battery will not get charged. Ever. No matter how low it gets or how much the ICE runs. If you use a pull through car wash that makes you put it in neutral, make sure your battery isn't low when you start and turn off the A/C and other loads. Myself, I never use those car washes since there are other better options.
The only type of car washes I use (other than myself) are the ones where the equipment goes around the car (also called a touchless car wash). If it requires neutral and moving along a chain to various stations, it’s not best for a Prius as it sounds you have found out. If this is still the type you’ll frequent, make sure you force charge the battery full and avoid AC use for the duration of the wash.
You can force charge the battery before going into the car wash. That way it starts really full. As others mentioned, since it has to be in neutral going through the car wash the HV battery gets drained. To force charge the pack Parking brake on Press and hold the brake pedal with one foot. Switch to D Press the accelerator pedal with the other foot to rev the engine. You'll see the arrows on the energy display go in the direction of the battery and fill it. When done, foot off the accelerator pedal, switch to park, foot off the brake pedal, parking brake off.
if the batteries are old and weak, they need to be replaced. if they are strong, a/c and car washes are no problem.
Now that it’s summer in London, I’m using my A/C all the time in the afternoons and sometimes in the morning during my daily commute. I’m also using it on damp rainy days to keep the windows fully defogged and regularly during winter too. My default settings are manually set to 16c using the lowest fan setting or the next one up. I never use the AUTO setting. My last fuel fill up with extensive use of my A/C gave me 601 miles out of 44.0 litres @ 66.0mpg (UK miles of course). That’s 54.95mpg US. Using the A/C will definitely not cost you in fuel usage. That only happens to ordinary cars with standard ICE engines. Also, as pointed out by other Prius Chat members, your HV battery system draws in air exclusively from the cabin to cool down your HV Traction Battery in the rear of the vehicle. I firmly believe that chilled dehumidified air being sucked into and blown across the battery cells in the HV battery unit goes some way LONG TERM towards prolonging the life of my HV battery. iPhone 6s +
Unfortunately no. If you have to leave the car in Neutral the best thing you can do is turn off everything you can that takes power. AC, lights, radio. The traction battery can’t charge when the cars in neutral. Try going in with the best charge possible.
Which kind, the drag-along kind? I'm thinking affirmative on that? It will put a dent in your mpg, how much is debatable. You can see for yourself: drive a regular route, one day with, one day without, back and forth. Nope. For that reason, the kind of car wash where the car is static and the apparatus moves is preferable, if you can find one.
Yeah I think this love affair with "electric" air conditioning is overrated. We make a point to use it semi-regularly (good practice to keep oil circulated, I've heard), and shut it off (but keep fan running) a couple of miles short of destination (to give humidity in the system a chance to dissipate).
It is the fact that the ICE needs to run more to maintain heat. That is more taxing than just a little extra electrical load.
I have an 08 with 184k miles. I'm putting around 10k miles a month on it. Im an independent contractor and i have 2 routes that equal out to 470 miles a day. Bought it in april with 148k miles from a buddy. Everything has been good with it so far. Changed the transmission fluid about 8k miles ago. Ita funny you asked about the carwash..i recently was in line at a carwash and it was around 90 degrees and had my AC on. Battery gauge dropped down to 1 bar and kinda freaked me out. So i turned off the ac. It stayed at 1 bar until i got like 2 miles down the road, barely had any power turning out of the place. From what ive read on this site, thats totally fine, got worried it was going to die. starting to think the hybrid batteries probably need to be replaced soon since the car is 11 years old and will have 200k miles by sept. I've always liked Prius, but this is my 1st one. Great car for the job!
Welcome. If you are DIY consider the kit of new cells mentioned in my signature sold by @2k1Toaster here. It basically gives you a new battery for $1600 delivered. The only other good option it to get a battery from a Toyota dealer. If they install it the warranty is longer.
