12v Portable Jump Recommendation

That is a really good reason to keep a charger elsewhere!

I didn't like having to get in the car backwards to open it, but as long as I only have to do it a couple of times in the car's life, I can manage it. My last car was a VW Touareg which had the battery inaccessible under a bolted seat, as well as other maintenance access issues, so I would still take this design over that or a battery under the hood.

 

I should add that the 12V battery was totally disconnected in my case because I was working on the wiring. And then I was stupid enough to close the rear hatch even though I had told myself many times to not forget and do that. Much, much swearing.

And I realize I could have done something simple like lay a rag over the latch to keep myself from closing it accidentally, but hindsight is aways 20/20.

 

I’ve used that style of cable, to maintain the car’s memories during battery disconnection, say when replacing battery, by supplying 12 volts from a jump pack.

The cable’s OBD plug only has the pins needed to supply 12 volt, and the cig lighter plug connects to corresponding socket on my JNC660 jump pack.

It also has indicator light(s), to help confirm connections.

 

Whichever jump pack you purchase, make sure that you get one with a standard EC5 connector. Many of the new ones use a proprietary connector.

Many accessories use the standard EC5 connector.

An EC5 pigtail can be directly connected to the 12 volt using an EC5 connector. Having done so, you would not have to fumble with those clips in a tense emergency situation.



This one using an EC5 connector can be had on Amazon for $36.
Good news,

Portable Car Battery Jump Starter - 1500A Peak 12800mAh (Up to 7.5L Gas or 6.0L Diesel Engine) 12V Auto Battery Booster Portable Power Pack with Indicator...

 

It's not a scanner.

It's a simple cable that lets you apply 12v from a portable source into your car's dashboard. Rather than taking power out of the car, you're using this point-of-access to put power back into the car.

These are sold as "memory savers" so that your car doesn't lose clock & preferences when changing out the 12v battery.

If you use one to connect your car to another booster or battery, the car should have enough voltage to open the trunk release. Maybe not much more... but enough to do that anyway.

The idea is that plugging this thing into your dashboard and hooking it up to a portable battery is easier than crawling through the car and working the gate release.

Once it's open, you'd move the booster there and hook up to the battery for starting.

 

The 12v pin in the OBDII interface is straight to the battery- and it has to be, by Federal law.

So the memory saver principle is just creatively abusing this fact.

It wouldn't have come with any Prius, but they are cheap to buy or make.

 

Just bought this one.

OBD2 Vehicle ECU Emergency Power Supply Cable with Cigarette Lighter plug.

https://a.co/d/axkzQvr

Edit: My jump pack doesn't have a 12V lighter receptacle, so I added that as well

14 AWG SAE to Cigarette Lighter Female
https://a.co/d/eN9rlSz

I have plenty of attachments for that SAE 2-pin Quick Disconnect from the trickle chargers I bought throughout the years.

 

No, my dad's friend makes them using cables with clips by removing them and crimping lugs on them.

 

Really, its best to have a bigger booster in the garage for if something happens while you're home, or you are called out to help someone (since boosting from the hybrid to an ICE is a big no-no). The portable small pack really is an emergency situation thing and in those rare instances it may be needed to help yourself, unlatching the hatch manually or going from the inside with the seats down is probably fine if you can't fit the booster in the (very small) glove compartment

 

I thought about direct-wiring an EC5 connector, but it turned out my jump pack gets used more often to jump other people's cars than mine, and their cars won't have the connector anyway, and for as seldom as I need to use it on mine, the clamps are ok.

 

I like having both and the cable on the lawn mower, too.

In an emergency, it's too easy to hook up the clamps wrong.

The red box on the cable is a high capacity diode. It allows the current to flow only to the jumped battery and not to the jump pack which can damage it.

 

Walmart has good buys on some like Everstart and Battery Tender. There are the lead acid kind too.

 

I’ve got five NOCO GB40s in my different cars. They hold at least a 50% charge 6-12 months, then I top them off to bring back to 100%.
I’ve used them to jump lots of other’s cars off, including diesels. I just keep them in the trunk since my cars are always garaged.
I only used one once on one of my own cars, and that was just to show my wife and verify how to use them.

 

I was never very good at remembering to regularly top off my old ones every few months.

It has only now occurred to me what a perfect use that would be for one of the "driver's choice" maintenance reminders that can be set up on the MFD.

 

I set reminders for this kind of thing in my smartphone calendar, which shares calendar data with my laptop.

Home and car maintenance stuff has its own category, and I generally leave it invisible/muted until I get to a day when I'm at home and available. Then, when I know I'm going to spend some time working on home & vehicle, I turn it on and suddenly have a timely to-do list.

Charging ours came up due by the calendar a few weeks ago, but I was working out of town so I didn't see the reminder until this past weekend. And then didn't get it done until Monday, but that's for the vent thread, maybe...

Anyway it's been an easy-to-use way to track periodic maintenance items around here. It's now survived easy migrations through serial phones and laptops over the years, and the reminders still work, so I'm inclined to stick with it.

 

Clore (JNC line of jumpstarters) will send you a tri-monthly email reminder to recharge theirs. I suppose you could have any charger, request this reminder (just fib when telling them which charger you have, if needed). It is a thinly-veiled infomercial of course, but it IS a reminder. And their new products are interesting to read about sometimes.