the 12 volt outlet

nope!

 

Hi Jim,
From the owner's manual, page 379:

[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]The power outlets can be used when [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]The "POWER" switch is in ACCESSORY or ON mode. [/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial](Please don't take offense, but was this question really postworthy, when it could be answered so easily from the user manual, or just by plugging something into it and turning off the car?) Just my two cents. I'm no moderator.
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Understood. Again, no offense. (FYI, your cell phone probably has a battery indicator icon that has a lightning bolt (or similar) when it is plugged into a charger.)

Yes, I think most of these outlets are now "switched". Kind of a pain, but probably too many car fires, and the lawyers got involved. There have been quite a few occurrences of lithium-ion batteries (like those used in cell phones) catching fire when they go bad.....

I would like to have at least one unswitched, too...

 

GM's are still unswitched I believe

 

I want to either add another outlet that is always hot, or make the outlet under the bridge hot when car is off. I don't have a problem finding a place to put an extra outlet, but if somebody has already done this, where can I tap always hot wire under the dash or do I have to go to the fuse panel? Sure would help if someone has done this with directions.

 

Nope, power off, socket off. I think the reason for this is so people don't deplete the battery by leaving things plugged in and running or charging when the vehicle is parked.

 

Our '04 Saturn has two sockets that are always live...I really miss them in the Prius; I always had a fully charged cell phone.

 

More likely, back then they didn't have many plug-in accessories that could deplete the starting battery. The lighters themselves automatically shut off when heated. I didn't even think of the issue until the 12V coolers came along. Leave one of those things plugged in overnight while camping, and bye-bye battery.

While setting up dad's GPS in his Jeep, I found that it had two sockets on the console, one switched, the other always hot.

 

On the other hand, if you leave the car's ignition on, you can draw power from the 12V outlet for over a week. There are people who attached 110VAC inverters to the Prius 12V battery to power campsites or even their homes for several straight days.

The high voltage battery will keep the 12V battery charged, and if/when the high voltage battery depletes, the engine will automatically start, charge the high voltage battery, and shut itself off.

 

Correct.
IIRC you can't lock the car with the fob with the IGN on, but I think you might be able to manually lock it...if you're inclined to do so.

GM's 12V outlets are unswitched (as of '09) but the battery in my dumb old pickemuptruck is a little more robust than the one in my G3. I have 2 cell phones that have been left plugged in for 3-day weekends with no problems.
I don't think that the 12V outlet is considered by the vehicle's power management system. I can leave my radio, lights, etc on for about 15-mins, and then the truck says "OK....that's enough!" and shuts down those circuits, so it might be possible to deplete the battery through the 12V outlets.
Still....I MUCH prefer their layout---especially considering the automatic lights....but that's a different story.

 

I would also love to have an always hot 12 volt outlet in the Prius. Since neither my Insight nor my G2 Prius had one I've got used to it though. I keep a Power Jolt for my iPhone plugged in. Before someone asks why I don't just plug in the iPhone, this is for when I'm out and about. No plug handy. You simply take the fully charged Jolt with you. It will add 10% or more to my iPhone battery.

Only my Lincoln Navigator has always hot outlets. However, I do enough driving that the Jolt usually stays pretty well charged up.

 

Makes sense, even if it is annoying, that it'd be switched power. I could easily see people leaving their taking their garmin and chucking it into the console still plugged in when they go park at the airport, not being aware that there's still a small current draw.

Guess you could always try this mod: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...97-unswitched-power-plug-cigaret-lighter.html

 

Hmm, people still want to fully drain the tiny Prius battery?

 

On the gen3, there is an always hot 12v on the main connector into the radio/cd unit. Just pop out the head unit (5 min job) to get access to the connector. You can find the +12v lead very quickly with a voltmeter (and the car off). From memory it is a greyish green colour and is one of the thick wires at the end of the connector. Not sure if it is fused or not but it is not switched.

 

When the Gen 2 came out, there were a lot of cables (even from Coastaletech) to make the front wire hot- it was just a wire with 2 clips on it. I have one in my 2005 Prius.
Hoping that the 2012 PIP can get it too since having it aways hot is nice for charging that cell phone (I have 2 that I carry and sometimes they fight for the charger).

 

My 2004 Ford TBird has always hot power outlets. Anyone dumb enough to leave anything with a lot of power demands plugged in deserves whatever happens to them. I prefer to be trusted to unplug things. As it is, the switched power outlet in my Prius (and in my Lexus CT200) means my IPhone discharges overnight so I turn it off and remove it, which further means that unless I remember to turn it on before I start the car up, the contacts and speed dials get erased every single time and have to be reloaded.

 

I had thought about using a small "battery maintainer" solar collector whenever the Prius is parked for an extended period -- outdoors of course. Without an always-on 12 receptacle this becomes a bit more complicated.

I could tap into the dome light circuit since a number of us have discovered the hard way that this is always on!