I always hear the stuff about needing to find the positive terminal under the hood to get the +, and then as usual you can use any chassis component for -. Is there a reason you can't just use the + terminal in the trunk?
It's difficult. Why would you? Have to pull the trunk apart then pry off the red plastic cover and then unbolt the positive assy Besides jumping a Prius is a death sentence.
I could be wrong .... but I do not believe the 12v battery does anything but power the assessors. Now, it the HV battery is charged, and only the 12v is needed to power the computer ... perhaps it would work??? Personally, I think it would be safer to walk outside in an electrical storm in a suit or armor than deal with the Prius electrical system. Isn't the HV battery something like 460v?
The 12v battery is needed to go from the off condition to Ready mode. When the car is turned off, the HV battery is disconnected by a relay. The 12v battery is required to energize that relay to reconnect the HV battery. Therefore if the 12v battery is dead, a "jump start" is required to get the car into Ready mode, at which point the HV battery does take over and the 12v battery is not really needed but does charge until the car is turned off again.
If the 12v is really low or dead, then it's very difficult to reach the battery because the hatch won't open electronically. For most folks, it's MUCH easier to reach the hood points rather than doing the contortionist act to reach the manual switch/lock.
OP's question is vague. He's posted in 2nd gen forum, and says "new priuses" and "+ terminal in the trunk". So who knows. The thing I keep thinking: you shouldn't need to be regularly jump-starting the car; if you are, it's time replace or recharge the battery.
I have a Gen 1 Prius so I don't have that particular feature. However, it was the cause of much confusion for me the first time I wanted to jump my Prius, since I was looking for a positive pin under the hood, but then discovered this did not come into existence until the Gen 2. That's why I was wondering why they did this with the Gen 2 and up. The only thing I can think of is: 1. To avoid taking off the positive terminal off of the battery. 2. To avoid having to take the cover off in the trunk. 3. Conventional car users are used to having it under the hood.
my head is spinning. a new prius would be 2017 generation 4. a 'newer' prius could be anything from 2004-2017.
This probably refers mostly to Gen II. I always use either my key to open the trunk or the lever by the driver's side door. Is it different on a Gen II?
You can directly jump the 12V battery. We've done it in the Prius. We tried the hood thing and it wasn't enough to charge the car but jump it directly and it was able to turn on and run the car after a few minutes of charging.
