Not sure what is wrong with jump starting another car with your Prius. Simply hook up the dead battery first and black to inverter metal casing and red to the terminal in your fuse box. Make sure 2 cables will not come in contact of each other.
The Prius 12 volt battery is tiny compared to 'real' car batteries. The 'real' battery may demand far more than your Prius is able to supply. You want to ruin something far cheaper than your Prius. (Done wrong, it can be a $1000 repair for a new inverter DC to DC converter. And towing.)
Yeah, you might be ok. Or not. Especially if the other vehicle is pretty sizable. I always carry a jump pack too, would not volunteer to jumpstart, let someone with a larger vehicle or truck step in.
I've just moved all of my stuff from my old car to my new-to-me Prius C. The jumper cables... I have always carried them, and used them from time to time mostly to jumpstart other people's cars. This thread is making me think I might do well to give the jumper cables to Goodwill to remove temptation. I had an object lesson about a month ago with my old car; I jump-started someone, carefully connecting the cables as one should. His car started. Without giving me a chance to stop him (I was still in my driver's seat), he removed both cables from his battery and ground, and accidentally touched them, making a nice big spark. There goes a lot of money if it had been my Prius. Even if I know what to do, how can one stop others who are not so careful from screwing things up? So... are there any reasons that I should keep carrying the jumper cables? Or am I prudent to ditch them?
Maybe get yourself a jump pack, then you're ready to help others or yourself. Does the c have an under-the-hatch-floor tray? Handy location to store it.
Thanks for these suggestions. I think that I will get a jump pack, maybe the little one that jimnjo mentioned above. With the Prius C, I am finding that "small is beautiful" in terms of stuff that one is going to routinely carry around in the vehicle.
