Parking My Prius v for a Few Weeks

Aside from reading the instructions, , Some folks like to fashion a permanent installation if they plan to need it regularly. Otherwise just pull out the covers in that corner and hook it up.

 

I left my Prius v for 2 weeks and nothing was notable in the year old battery once I got home.

A trickle charger is not recommended, a maintainer is for multi week/month storage. Used one over the winter for 5 years. Cheaper Ctec. Car in the driveway. Cnnected via a 100 foot extension cord to the charger that connected to the cig lighter that was always connected to the battery on that model. Never a problem.

Consider a friend driving the car every few weeks, lots cheaper. Unless you take off the insurance while there are no drivers in the area.

 

That company is CTEK. Up here a lot of places sell the CTEK 3300 (3.3 amp). There is a replacement in that amperage level now, new and improved in some way.

 

I did 3 weeks on my 2014 Prius v with no precautions. I had no problems at all. The Key is to have a good 12v battery.

 

And be sure it is fully charged BEFORE you leave.

 

We have left it alone for 1.5 months with no problem and in a month we will leave on vacation for 3 months, but I will put a battery tender on the 12 volt. The car will be in a garage to keep the snow and cold weather off it.

 

Where ya going for vacation, 3 months sounds like a world wide tour.

 

We found a nice place just outside Death valley Junction, on the Nevada side of the state line. It is central to almost everything in the south west corner of the US. For us it is warm and dry...excellent winter...no snow

 

Schmuly, sounds like a wonderful place to live through the winter. We live in FL so we do not worry much about the cold of the winter.

 

Thank you,
Sunny about 350 days a year and average 2.5 in of rain a year, most things hibernate during the winter down there, so very safe for us.
We are putting the Prius away for the winter this year and taking our Sienna AWD down so we can go off highway to sand dunes, old mines, ghost towns etc.
The place is on 2.5 acres completely fenced and gated. The mountains in the background are the funeral mountains on the east side of Death Valley NP.

 

Just went to start our Prius v after sitting in the garage all winter for the last 90 days,
Touched the door handle to open it, it started to whirr for about 45 seconds.
Sat down and pushed on the brake, pushed the start button, everything lit-up.
Traction battery is down 3 bars, (IIRC it was down 2 bars when we parked it)
Disconnected HF style battery tender, seemed to work ok.
After 10 seconds the ICE started up like always, Light shows I have a low tire, visually looked them, they all look OK.
Let run for about 3 minutes with garage door open, then shut the car off.
Everything seems to be great, but it is only 3am and didn't want to wake my wife or neighbors, so back to bed for now!

 

What's a "HF" style battery tender? Anyway, sounds like it saved the day. With that sort of stretch, I'd suggest some actions to preserve your tires, with the car sitting that long. The simplest is to air them up to max side wall. Better is to bring the whole car nearly off the floor, with jackstands. Also good to lift the wipers off the glass a bit, and leave a window open just a crack.

 

Oh sorry, HF is "Harbor Freight".... there little unit is only $1.95 or something like that on sale. I used one on my bike over the winter before with no ill effects, so I thought I would try it on our Prius. I might try blocking it up next time.