During this stay at home period my driving is limited. My 2018 Prius would not start today after not being driven for 10 days. The lights did a lot of blinking but not enough battery to start car. I was able to jump start the car and now left a trickle charger on it. Is this normal? Do hybrids need to be driven more frquently than non hybrids?
Shouldn't go dead after 10 days. If battery is healthy and there are no additional devices running (like webcam, etc) it should be good for 20 days. The advice that Toyota have given us (the country is in lock-down) is to run the car for 20 minutes every 4 days. It doesn't rotate the tires, but does take care of batteries, oil pooling, and water/condensation. I think that every 4 days is too much - once a week should be fine. It's not ideal, but under the circumstance, it is reasonable preventative maintenance
primes have had a lot of bad batteries. sitting 10 days shouldn't be a problem, so it was probably weak to begin with. get a load test at an auto parts store, and if it's good, charge it up and keep an eye on it. if it's bad, replace it. check if it's under warranty
12V battery QC isn't the best, although when you consider the zillions of batteries being produced, the % of early failure is still rather low. Modern cars are exceptionally complex (duh!). Parasitic draw can come from anywhere, and you'll drive yourself nuts trying to find it. I've been using BatteryTenderPlus on ALL my 12V batteries for 15 years. Easy to pigtail onto the 12V, bundle the cord out of the way, and you've got easy access for a periodic charge (assuming you've got a driveway/garage). Terminology: Battery tender type chargers, after fully charging the battery, go to a "float" charge. This is NOT the same as a "trickle" charge, which would remain constant and possibly overcharge the battery. bisco's advice is good.
Yep, sounds like a good suggestion. I will have the battery tested at next service visit. 1 year left on warranty. Hope nothing wrong with charging system altough if I drive about every 5 days all seem ok.
Over the years we have found out that some are delivered with aged 12-volt batteries. The dealer will show off the hybrid multiple times without actually driving it. That duration taken to explain features ends up deeply discharging the accessory battery, shortening its life... which puts you in a surprise situation upon discovery. It's really unfortunate.
Get yourself a Ctek MXS 5 or MXS 3.8 battery conditioner. You can leave these on and they will keep the battery up to full charge without overcharging it.
As will a LOT of other brands of fully automatic tender type small chargers. No need to look for a specific brand.
I'm sure this happens to the specific VIN's / cars used in dealership showrooms. Back when I sold Hondas, we did not disconnect batteries for in-showroom cars. Within days of being put into the showroom, the batteries would be dead from people moving the seat controls, or just from sitting since the batteries weren't strong to begin with (having sat out on the lot for weeks between test drives). ----- The OP also lives in what I believe is a 'hot' state. Batteries last a lot shorter lives in hot states. Here, two years is about the norm between aftermarket battery purchases.
