Is there anything I can do to keep Prius battery cooler?

Only thing I can think of is to be sure the passengers don't block the air intake by the back seat.

I always make sure people I ride with don't block that with their bags or anything

 

Always keep the cabin cool even if that means sacrificing mpg. Of course in Ontario that should not be much of a problem.

One idea would be to modify the battery blower motor to run continuously.

 

Has anyone done that before? Sounds like a great idea!

 

Didn't someone find ScanGauge codes to force the fan speed?

Sorry, I haven't checked the master list in quite a while, and can't quickly find the link.

 

I'm not sure about SGII codes, but in the Torque thread for Gen III there are codes listed to manually adjust the HVB fan speed.

 

Yes, vincent1449p has spreadsheets for both the SGII and Torque (which can be converted to Engine Link) for the Gen III that have PID's where you can force the fan speed. A search should be able to locate the spreadsheets. I have tested this both in SGII and Engine Link.

There was also a member on here that created a printed circuit board that will do this plus it keeps the fan running for some time after the car is stopped, 15 minutes IIRC.

In the dog days of summer sometimes I will keep the car on for about 15 minutes after getting home just to let the cooling fan run and cool the battery down before stopping. Because after stopping the battery temps can continue to climb 5-10F.

 

What do you mean by a circuit board?

 

What do you mean by a circuit board?

 

Not sure why that double posted^^

Mod delete please?

 

He took an off-the-shelf printed circuit board and modified it to control the battery blower motor. He could set the DC volts output to control fan speed and it had a timing circuit that he could configure to set the time delay off to keep the blower motor running after the car was off.

When I have some time I will see if I can locate his thread.

 

I notice that the gen 2 sends the air from the cabin to the traction battery and then directly to the 12v battery area, then out of the vehicle, while the gen 3 sends the cabin air to the traction battery and the spare tire area then it's filtered to the 12v battery and out of the car, I'd suggest first controlling the air and preventing it from going into the spare tire area, also, possibly a fan pulling the air out of the 12v battery area, if someone offered an easy to install kit, I bet it would sell jmho,ymmv

 

I'd love to see a relocation kit for the intake vent. It makes me, and hence, my kids nervous about blocking it. I like how they moved it to under the seat in the newer designed Prius V.

 

Yeah that's a poor design. It often can get blocked when someone sits there

 

I am not sure what you mean by that for the Gen 3 that the exhaust from the traction battery is sent to the spare tire area where it is filtered to the 12V battery and out of the car. My car does not have a filter in the spare tire area.

For the Gen 2 drawings that I have seen the exhaust air from the traction battery goes through a continous air duct to the 12V battery area and out of the car. For the Gen 3 this duct stops in the spare tire area but uses the plastic storage compartment tray as a "tunnel" to direct the air to the 12V battery area and then out of the car by the rear tire well. Are you calling this "tunnel" in the storage compartment tray a filter?

 

I'm not aware of any good single grille location that can't readily be blocked in fairly normal use of the vehicle.

A better design for a critical element like this would be to have 2 intake grilles designed such that either could be blocked without compromising the battery.

 

Yeah that's a poor design. It often can get blocked when someone sits there

 

The air inlet would be much better under the rear seat leg area. Much harder to block that area.

 

Say what you will but tinting your windows with quality, high UV resistant materials, significantly reduces interior temperatures. I lve in Southern California where Summer time readings often exceed 100 degrees. I used Marathon tint on my windows and it keeps the interior temperatures way down. Tinting the lift hatch with dark Limo tint probably is the most effective measure. I never have a problem with A/C efficiency in the Summer. Cooling the interior after sitting in the sun is minimal. It cools down to the point that you have to adjust it because it gets too cold. Having said that, the traction battery benefits tremendously.