Tips for battery health/longevity in the Prime?

Chron.com recommend before storing a Lithium-ion battery, bring the charge down to 40-50% State of Charge (SoC). Store it in a dry environment with 59 degrees temperature for optimal functionality. That's why when you buy a new phone, battery starts out at around 50%. Cheers

 

it is always wise to let the engine finish the warm up cycle and shut itself off. we don't have any history on the gen 4 engine yet, but gen 3 has been a nightmare.
if you don't want to sit and wait after you get there, switch over manually a little bit sooner.

 

With my PiP, whenever the engine starts just before I am arriving to my destination - I let it finish the warm-up before shutting off. The gas used is minimal, just what needed for the warm-up and it is not a completely waist as it is charging the traction battery.

 

my practice as well, as soon as the cold start knock reared it's ugly head in the gen 3 forums.

 

Great to know this. Thanks. How long does it take to warm up typically?

 

That'll depend on when it was last run and how warn the weather is. But I think the Prime warms quicker than the PiP due to some nifty plumbing involving the radiator hoses and the catalytic converter. I would guess about 2 minutes. My PiP is about 3, I think. Never really timed it. Prime owners will chime in soon with hard numbers, I hope.

 

2-3 min is not bad. But is that long enough to burn off condensation inside the ICE and exhaust system?. I always thought it takes a reg car 20+ mins - many people reco driving on the hwy for that long occasionally.

 

longer in winter. it wouldn't hurt to take it out in hv once a week for 20 minutes if you're driving ev most of the time.

 

Actually, just checked that this morning. I went 3.2 miles in warm up before it switched to EV from ICE, 35 accelerating to 60 mph @48°. At warmer temps the distance seems to be shorter.

 

That's a good point. I think it would be hard on the muffler especially if you just let it warm enough to be able to run in EV all the time. Everything up to the Cat and a little beyond should be dry by then, but I don't know if that's enough to dry it all the way to the tailpipe. However, it's designed to warm the engine quickly, so the exhaust should get hot sooner and start drying out the system sooner. Maybe someone has studied this. Another thing that might make a difference is that exhaust systems are much more rust resistant than they used to be. As far as I know, rusted exhaust systems are very rare on the Prius.

 

Unless you use ethanol blend otherwise
In my book best way to do this what other have discussed is to use charge mode ...for last couple miles or when at destination use charge mode that will do quick warm-up and have necessary load to heat up...where in return you gain charge...
And loss is minimal

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Charge Mode with cold engine? Not in my book. Cold engine is dirtier engine.
It is contrary to the prius philosophy of cleanliness at all circumstances. The warm-up is performed with minimum gas consumption possible where the burden of propelling the car is mainly on the battery (energy that is returned to the battery later on by the warmed-up engine).
Best and cleanest warm up cycle is done IMO at low loads on the engine.

 

The PiP (I think Prius Generation 3 in general) also has the exhaust/coolant plumbing which uses heat from the exhaust system to warm the coolant.

 

Nice to know. I'm still learning about this amazing car. That the Prime is even better is staggering when I think about it.

 

I agree. If my ICE has not run that day I would want to drive it for at least 10 miles constantly at highway speed to make sure it gets totally warmed up.