Easy question. Do you take your Gen 1 Prius through an automatic car wash? If so, what precautions do you take to make sure no water goes into the battery vent? The last couple times I've washed my car were by hand and even then, I cut a piece of duct tape to fit over the vent. I'd like to do the same thing with an automatic car wash, but no matter what steps I take, I'm always going to worry whatever mechanism is used will knock off whatever is covering the vent. Is there a reliable measure that can be taken? I really don't want to hand wash it is those balmy midwestern winters.
Been taking my Gen 1 pretty much weekly to the neighborhood carwash for over 10 years with no preparation of the vent whatsoever and have had no ill effects. If I'm not mistaken, the vent is designed in such a way as to prevent any water from getting to the battery unless perhaps you were to aim a very high-pressure nozzle directly at it.
Good to know. Thanks. For my own piece of mind, I'm still going to use my custom-fit piece of duct tape for the vent. Just have to remember to remove it when I'm done.
I'm not sure I'd go that route. There's a greater risk of overheating the HV battery if you should happen to forget to remove the tape than obsessing about water entering the vent and damaging the battery, which AFAIK has never happened to anyone. I'd also be concerned that applying duct tape on a regular basis is not doing great things for your cars' finish.
I think the primary risk are those using 'wand', self-service car washing systems. These are the ones where an owner is most likely to spray water into the battery, air inlet. Spray systems use the stream pressure to clean the surface and this is strong enough to invade the traction battery air inlet. The automated systems I've used don't have strong streams but use oscillating, heavy carpet/cloths wiping the surfaces with only weak, wetting streams hitting the car. Wand systems using a rotating brush are also likely to be safe. Bob Wilson
