Hi all, I've done a good bit a searching and couldn't find any threads that addressed this question closely enough... I ride a motorcycle more often than I drive a car. See my intro for the backstory. This means that, especially during the hot summer months, my 2001 Prius may sit around for weeks at a time without being driven. When it is driven, it might be for one day (100mi round trip) as a rain-making front passes through. My question is whether or not long periods of disuse will hurt the life of the HV / Traction battery or other hybrid components - just as it does for the typical 12v battery? Solving this in my other vehicles was easy as battery tenders for the standard 12v are easy to find and use. Is there such a solution for the HV battery? Is it necessary? If I made it a point to drive the prius 1x per week to keep the battery up and system lubed, would this suffice? If the trip is all hwy, is that ok? I'm hoping hwy would be preferred... Would a short(er) drive of 20ish miles do the trick? Also, if anyone can suggest a better title for the thread (so others can find the info later w/ a search), I'll certainly change it.
Toyota has published a service bulletin where they suggest that the Prius should be made READY for a 30 minute interval, every two months, to help charge the traction battery. It is not even necessary to drive the car unless you need to go somewhere, just leave the car in the driveway while READY. Since your car is ~12 years old, don't be surprised if you should find that the traction battery dies one day, regardless of whatever charging solution you devise.
I too ride a motorcycle and used to ride it a lot in the summer but, I have found that the Prius gets better gas mileage. Consequently, the motorcycle does most of the sitting now.
Thanks. Hopefully that's true as advertised. The bad cells in the HV battery were replaced, and others were reconditioned. I've got my fingers crossed that they hold up for a few more years at least. Do you happen to have a reference/link to that bulletin? My bike averages 45mpg, and is WAY more fun to drive. I think that's a fair trade. Thanks again!
