Prius Hybred Battery Charging

Noleman · #1 (**permalink**) 01-12-2006, 09:08 PM

Hello,

I will take delivery on my 2006 Prius tomorrow and I was wondering if anyone has figured out how to charge the hybred battery at home (plug-in). The dealer has to have a way to charge the battery when they are servicing the car if there is a problem. I wonder if the factory repair manual indicates how to charge the battery. I want to make sure I have a completely charged battery every morning before I leave so I can run on battery power more of the time.

Noleman

mustang67408 · #2 (**permalink**) 01-13-2006, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noleman

Hello,

I will take delivery on my 2006 Prius tomorrow and I was wondering if anyone has figured out how to charge the hybred battery at home (plug-in). The dealer has to have a way to charge the battery when they are servicing the car if there is a problem. I wonder if the factory repair manual indicates how to charge the battery. I want to make sure I have a completely charged battery every morning before I leave so I can run on battery power more of the time.

Noleman

There is no way to "PLUG IN" to charge the HV battery. That battery will not go dead, the ECU wont allow it. It is designed to give you warning enough so you have to take it to the dealer for repair if it gets low and stays there. I was the first one in LV to become HYBRIID certified and in the last 5 years have never seen a HV battery go dead. If you were to let that battery sit for 10 years, it would still have enough juice in it to hurt you if you touched it wrong (as per TOYOTA).
Toyota does have a specific battery charger for the HV battery, it only costs $35,000. It was designed for thoses rare times something goes wrong. There are only 5 chargers thru-out the whole country, that I know of.
The HV system on your 06, has up to a 150K warranty depending on your state and year and which specific component fails. I wouldnt worry about it. Enjoy your PRIUS. There are great.
My parents got rid of their 04 Avalon for a 05 PRIUS and love it even better than the Avalon.

Noleman · #3 (**permalink**) 01-13-2006, 09:06 PM

Thank you for taking the time to explain the HV battery system. I was not concerned about the battery running out of juice but wanting to know if there was a way to charge it so the car would always start the day with a full HV battery. I assume if the batter is full as I begin the day I would be able to dirive on battery power for longer periods of time assuming I keep my spead and acceleration at the appropriate levels.

Noleman

Noleman · #4 (**permalink**) 01-13-2006, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mustang67408

There is no way to "PLUG IN" to charge the HV battery. That battery will not go dead, the ECU wont allow it. It is designed to give you warning enough so you have to take it to the dealer for repair if it gets low and stays there. I was the first one in LV to become HYBRIID certified and in the last 5 years have never seen a HV battery go dead. If you were to let that battery sit for 10 years, it would still have enough juice in it to hurt you if you touched it wrong (as per TOYOTA).
Toyota does have a specific battery charger for the HV battery, it only costs $35,000. It was designed for thoses rare times something goes wrong. There are only 5 chargers thru-out the whole country, that I know of.
The HV system on your 06, has up to a 150K warranty depending on your state and year and which specific component fails. I wouldnt worry about it. Enjoy your PRIUS. There are great.
My parents got rid of their 04 Avalon for a 05 PRIUS and love it even better than the Avalon.

Thank you for taking the time to explain the HV battery system. I was not concerned about the battery running out of juice but wanting to know if there was a way to charge it so the car would always start the day with a full HV battery. I assume if the batter is full as I begin the day I would be able to dirive on battery power for longer periods of time assuming I keep my spead and acceleration at the appropriate levels.

Noleman

gls1000 · #5 (**permalink**) 03-14-2006, 12:06 PM

An even larger issue than the availability or process of separately charging the battery is the desirability of doing so. For most people, the possible savings is quite low; the environmental impact is probably negative; and there is a distinct posibility of damaging or significantly decreasing the life of the battery (at what cost?). I looked into it and decided I could do it, but why work on what may do significant bad and will almost certainly not do significant good. All this is for my personal driving pattern and might not apply to everyone, although it undoubtedly is true for the vast majority! Still, I admit I'm still playing with all the variables. As a 'fun' rather than a practical project, it has it's attractions.

budput · #6 (**permalink**) 06-12-2006, 05:51 PM

Your 200 volt hybrid battery is rated at 6.5 ampere hours. Fully charged it would have 1300 watt hours of energy or 1.74 horsepower hours. Guesstimate that you need 17 horsepower to move the car, and power the radio and lights.That would let you travel for six minutes, assuming you could drain a fully charged battery flat at 100% efficiency. This is not a big thing. A conventional 12 volt car battery would be rated at about 50 ampere hours, and would store 600 watt hours by comparison. That hybrid battery is not very big. It doesn't have to be to do its job of mopping up and putting to work the little bits of energy that are routinely wasted in conventional cars.
I think covering the roof of the Prius with solar cells and driving on sunny days would make more sense than trying to plug it in to the mains.