Hybrid battery needs to be replaced, but can I wait until I am able to drive it more frequently?

Generation 3 Prius no problem If you're not driving the car don't fix it save your money You can do way better on a battery than $3,000 holy Christ You just haven't looked into it enough yet and what have you If the car is going to sit parked because of whatever personal issues you've got going on don't fix the hybrid battery just yet now unfortunately for you you bought a 12 volt battery for I don't know what reason you hadn't reached the conclusion that you were going to not be driving the car so there must have been some different thought processes going on a minute ago. Which is what goes on with people If I wasn't going to be driving the car I wouldn't buy a 12 volt nor a hybrid battery I would park the car where it wouldn't get bombarded by tree garbage maybe put a cover on it if I had a carport maybe that would even be better. What have you. Then when I'm ready to begin to think about starting to use the car then I would think about batteries and things like that. If you look on eBay you can find this guy called the hybrid doctor who will send you a balanced rack of modules for about $700 and even send you boxes to return your old ones etc etc etc It takes a slow person that doesn't do this kind of work only a few hours to change out the racks of modules between two cases or a box in one case. But you're not ready for this yet.

 

Running the car for a 20 min drive (or idle) would be good to keep the hybrid battery in as charged a state as its aging life will allow. IMHO I would have it run every 2 weeks for 20 min if possible. Fill up with 91 or 93 octane gas to help out the ICE Engine and plan for an EGR cleaning. How many miles on it? You can use the 8 months to save for a new hybrid battery...and if you plan on keeping the car for 2 more years or so. I would buy a NEW BATTERY.

 

Hey, Pancake! I don't think you have to rush to get it replaced if you are able to do, at least, a weekly or so drive around with her. (At least 20 miles to get everything up to operating temps and clean out that ice engine.) At least monthly, give that ICE engine an Italian tune up...get her up to operating temps and get somewhere (interstate?) where you can floor the gas peddle for a few miles...helps blow out a lot of carbon and junk from the engine, manifold, and exhaust.

 

How do you know you need a new battery? Does it still drive? What's the sensor, temp?

I'm gonna guess that IS the price with the core for both options.

 

You can get a nexcell lithium upgrade pack for $2100 and it doesn't have the self-discharge issues that OEM Prius pack has. You'll also get way better MPG, longer distance in full EV and your AC will run much better.

So in 8 month use my affiliate link and I'll offer you unlimited tech support and I'll also find an installer for you in the region you live in unless you have a friend or family member that wants to help you with it. It's a fairly simple job: https://projectlithium.com/?ref=9qLPw

 

In general, that is NOT true. The hybrid battery does not fail from non-use like the 12 V one does.
So.......if you wait TOO long to replace the HV battery, you probably will need another new 12 V too.

You should be able to find an excuse to drive it for an hour or so every week.......right ??

 

Our drives are once~twice a week now, no hybrid battery problems. Only 96K kms on the odo (seems like for about 6 months now...). The 12 volt is pretty much constantly on a smart charger, coming up on 8 years old and still testing like new. FWIW the majority of our drives are significant, enough to fully warm the engine and give the hybrid battery a workout.

^ Regarding your hybrid battery, how did you come to this conclusion?

 

DITTO to what Sam Spade 2 and Mendel Leisk said. Regardless of the Chicken Littles on this site, you REALLY CAN drive these cars like most people do and not experience significant problems.

 

Sitting is not good for any battery.
Just DRIVE the car. Drive somewhere for an hour or so.
Get on the interstate and drive 65pmh for a while.
That will help the hybrid battery.

 

I don't think the car would move if the the hybrid battery was totally shot.

Not sure if anyone's mentioned Dr Prius app. Couple that with a Carista bluetooth OBD dongle and you can roughly assess where it's at.

 

the hybrid battery starts the engine. without it, you're out of luck.

if it's still running you can keep driving, and if it won't start, you can try disconnecting the 12v neg for a sec to clear the code and try to start again.

but if you're just trying to maintain the 12v, you'd be better off with a thirty dollar battery maintainer.
the rest of the car is fine sitting

 

Pancake,
If the hybrid battery is totally dead the car won't even start. The Hybrid battery starts the car and the ICE engine runs and turns an inverter that charges the hybrid battery back up. If it is truly dead. I would park it indoors if possible and remove the 12volt battery as well or disconnect it to keep it from dying. You can put the 12v on a self regulating trickle charger to keep it alive until you can buy a new hybrid battery.

 

You have been told wrong.

Unless it sits totally unused for a LONG time, that is NOT true, unless the battery was failing to start with.

The heat is more of a factor than periodic charging.

It IS true for the 12 V battery but that's a different animal.

 

This mostly comes down to your definition of safe.

At some point, the engine won't start. Another possible situation is the hybrid battery "venting" which has been described as a loud bang and a bad smell.

You've probably already experienced extra sluggishness, which is likely to get worse until it just doesn't start. Do you feel safe in it? Some people would, and others would not. Highly subjective.