Just wondering since I am planning to make a man-cave out of my garage and I plan on hanging out there, is there any harmful fumes after the electric charge runs out? If I park in the garage and then just start hanging out there, I want to make sure I'm not breathing anything toxic in.
As I read the article Lithium-ion battery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia the answer is not unless it catches fire, in which case you have other issues.
I mean if I am no longer running on the charge and running on hybrid instead, does the car give off fumes?
This reminds me of Arnold Schwarzengger's recent claim that internal combustion engines (ICE) are bad for society because you cannot live in an enclosed garage with one running. I want to stick him in the nearest coal plant, which ain't too far from here. A warmed up and properly operating Prius, will make very little CO. But if the room is totally enclosed you will deplete the oxygen and also fill the room with CO2. Eventually without adequate oxygen in the air, perhaps the Prius would start making Carbon monoxide. Note my garage has so many air leaks, I suspect I could get away with it. But you need adequate ventilation, if the car is running. As far as trace contaminants you have the 12v battery and the Li battery neither of which is expected to be a problem. At the same time recently, Schwarzenegger also said fossil fuels kill 7 million people annually and therefore are intolerable. But the 7 million he is talking about are the poor folks in China/India burning wood, dung, and coal in their houses without ventilation. I told my daughter that is the worst dis-information I've ever heard from a (former) elected official. But I do not think it was intentional disinformation, he just doesn't understand at all.
Yes, the same toxic fumes that is emitted from any other internal combustion engine will come out the tail pipe when there is no charge left.
I recall detecting toxic fumes from my garaged plugin Prius only once! Its was after a spirited drive back from picking up some tacos and beer On a more serious note, no toxic fumes while parked (turned off) or charging.
The bigger risk, and this is for ALL vehicles not just plug-ins, is fire which sometimes seems to happen when the cars are just sitting there. So fire alarm in garage is probably a good idea.
