New Prius Owner (Texan living in Sweden)

If you look in the owner's manual for that model Prius that's a 1NZ series engine Prius very much an ice engine in use and a lot of other vehicles in that extreme cold I'm imagining you're going to want to run a 0-20 oil 030 maybe if they have such a thing and wide range synthetic oil so that you'll have good starting in the morning or whenever you start the car and the warm up will be quicker with a center weight oil that's more capable and constant zero degree weather that may be a thing look in the owner's manual for your car I think it's online and if you're in that low attempts it might be a thing checking with other owners in your area that far north would be good they'll tell you quickly The cars had five owners so must be doing pretty good that's just the way it is over there we live there in the '70s but other than that you should be good Yes the hybrid battery is what starts to car One of the motor generators or whatever spins the shaft to start the motor just like a starter wood it's got way more torque and a lot more rear end behind it than any starter could ever have and generally you're hybrid batteries just not going to go dead from sitting in the cold unless you're going to leave it for a very long time The hybrid battery should have enough juice in it pretty much any time to spin you over and get you running once that littl 1nz starts It's one of Toyota's bread and butter engines If it's even been remotely taken care of somewhat it should run like gangbusters that's the long and the short of it I mean I don't know if in the cold up there people are putting in some type of magnetic block heater in hose heater that goes right in your lower radiator hose generally plugs into an outlet I don't know if that's a thing there or not I was never that far north but all those things are available and are relatively inexpensive an inline hose heater that plugs into an outlet is quite an expensive just remember to unplug it before you try to drive off.

 

welcome!
correct, the engine cannot start with a bad hybrid battery. the 12v only boots the computers and relays to connect the hybrid battery to the system.
i'm surprised it doesn't have a block heater. that would be helpful if they are available.
i think a good running prius will be fine in cold temps. but if it is not well maintained, you may have issues.

 

Yes you can buy block heaters that will fit in the one and a quarter one and a half inch ID hose on the Prius I had them in the '70s and '80s I know they're still available today I just saw one online a second ago no matter what electrical service you have and what country. Even with the CHS tank and all that and extreme temps and no way that little thermos bottle is going to be doing much but that electric block heater will definitely.

 

-40C is also -40F. Anyway, the Prius is said to be very good at starting in cold temperatures, but it will run like a dog until both the ICE and HV pack have warmed up. Also if that little town somehow has you sitting at a stop light for a couple of minutes the ICE will cool off very quickly if it is allowed to turn itself off, but it probably won't because the heat will be on. Putting a grill block in during the winter might be a good idea as it will both help the ICE warm up faster and retain heat when it turns off.

Anyway, you should be OK, other than seeing abysmal MPG numbers in the winter. Ulan Bator also gets very cold and people there drive a lot of these cars:

Everyone in Mongolia drives a Prius