Hey guys, I think this is my first post in Prius Chat. I browse often, but never post. Yesterday I replaced the 12V battery in my 2015 Prius with 67k miles. I live in Tucson, AZ and it's not uncommon for car batteries to not last very long due to the extreme temps we deal with here. Was curious to hear from anyone else in extreme desert climates to see how their Prius is holding up. What all have you had replaced (aside from the battery), what is the age, year and mileage? Like I said, I browse often and have read through many forums about replacing the 12V battery, but rarely do I see age, mileage and location all included in one post and I think location would be pretty important regarding battery life and expectancy as temps can kill a battery. Would love to hear good and bad input on this. Should I be worried about the traction battery failing in this heat? Anything to look out for? I really just need this car to last for another 3 or 4 years, at 20-30k miles a year is that too much to expect? Thanks in advance. Wes
it might be, but who knows? best things you can do for the traction battery are parking in the shade, tinting, window shades, keep the cooling fan and intake grille clean, run the a/c full blast.
It's pretty rare for a prius 12v to die in 3 years. Have you ran it down a few times? What symptoms brought you to replace the battery?
Always get the best bang for your buck, so I expect a lot from my Prius also. I used to work at a place that had no shade so I enabled the solar fan thingy all the time and folded the rear seats forward. When I never forward folded the seats, the HV battery starting temp was higher so I now drive with rear seats down all the time. You can also lay an additional mirror type sun shade on top of tanneu cover if you need rear seats up so sun reflects away and not right directly to rear seats.
I have had very good 12V battery life in my previous 2008 and my current 2011. I recently replaced my 2011 battery at 164K miles and probably close to 8 years of service. Purchased the Toyota Truestart. I put an Optima Yellowtop in my 2008 at 95K and probably 5 years of service. Traded that one in almost 3 years later for my 2011. The difference is I started using a battery conditioner in my 2011, a Optimate 5. Hook it up about once a month. Long time desert rat and have replaced many a battery in other vehicles, in as little as three and a half years or as long as seven. The desert heat is rough on a battery.
Thanks for the reply. I've left a dome light on a time or two over night... Also bad at sitting in my car and waiting for a song to finish before going inside. Interior dome lights and dash lights were extremely dim. (Dome lights were so dim I couldn't see the floor at night before i finally had it tested). Had the battery tested at auto zone and it tested bad. I drive around 80 miles a day down i-10 and back (normally after midnight) and didn't want to run it till it died on me, so I replaced it before it failed, so I'm not sure how much life I could have gotten out of it. Thanks for the tip! How do you measure the starting temp of the battery? I have my back windows limo tinted and leave the fan with the solar roof on. Thanks for the reply! I was happy to hear from a fellow desert rat! So no troubles to report even with the traction battery, eh? I just googled the optimal 5 and I think I'll look into it for less than $60. I put an Optima Yellow top in... Purchased a Bosch battery online with pep boys and when I went in to replace it, it didn't fit. Ended up talking them into taking 15% off the Optima and put it in, though after reading through many forums, don't feel that it was necessary. Oh well. Maybe it will last a little bit longer. I put a battery in the ex husbands's car at 4 years and 70k miles (2013 Fusion) Again, it wasn't totally dead, but noticed the headlights dimming when the windshield wipers came on and it also tested bad. I don't like to wait till I'm stranded to have things replaced though.
It's hot here also ( 113 today ). I generally get anywhere from 4 to 5 years on a 12 v in my 2013. I don't drive very often, maybe once or twice a week so I keep a battery tender hooked up when it sits.
