1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Safety Connect doesn't work when car is off?

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by delrey, Oct 24, 2014.

  1. delrey

    delrey Member

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2004
    280
    14
    0
    Location:
    SF Bay Area (East Bay)
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    Hi All -

    I thought I would start a new thread on this issue. I recently had my car lose power and all warning lights on, I was able to coast to the shoulder and once safe I turned the car off, hoping that cycling the power would fix this odd problem. No such luck, the car was completely dead and unresponsive except for the door locks and the hazard lights.

    So I hit the "SOS" safety connect button to get someone to come tow me. NO luck -- oops, I guess the car is *really* dead. I had my cell phone and the rest of the story is in another post.

    Now here is my question:
    Is Safety Connect supposed to work when the car is off? It seems way less useful in case of an accident or malfunction if I can only call for help if I can turn the car on.

    I originally figured that this was caused by whatever else had gone wrong with my car. However, it turns out that Safety Connect only allows me to call for help with the car powered on. Is this expected/correct behavior?

    Thanks!
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,693
    48,945
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    i suppose it needs some power, but that would seem to defeat the purpose.
     
  3. gallde

    gallde Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2004
    238
    130
    0
    Location:
    Tarrytown, NY
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
  4. delrey

    delrey Member

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2004
    280
    14
    0
    Location:
    SF Bay Area (East Bay)
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    Maybe the power is only drawn from the battery if a collision is detected?
     
  5. PRPrius

    PRPrius Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2004
    327
    198
    2
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    I agree, the back up battery for Safety Connect is only use if the car detects a collision. This is due to a design limitation that requires the replacement of the battery after one use only.
     
    rxlawdude likes this.