park 6 months below freezing - advice wanted

Letting a vehicle sit for long periods is very hard on it. If you can start it every couple of weeks to warm it up and keep the batteries charged, that would help. Taking it for a short drive on nice days - assuming you have any - would also be beneficial, though salted roads aren't good for it. I'm not familiar enough with your local climate to know what the average conditions are - maybe it's too cold for salt most of the Winter.

If you can't keep it in a warm garage, the next best thing would be to cover it with a temporary shelter, so your car doesn't turn into a snow sculpture for half the year.

You should also check under the hood regularly, to be sure no critters have moved in to dine on the wiring.

 

Why not drive it from time to time?

All vehicles have trouble if left unused long enough... fluids, tires, etc.
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Absolute wrong car to let sit below zero for months. Its not a truck its really a fairly fragile commuter car with very expensive electronics and more importantly has 2 pretty big electric motors.There not half as tough as a motor.And if you discharge the hybrid battery your in for a real hassle.
I'd sell it before I would do that to it.

 

Actually, if I go through the mists of time, back to when I knew nothing about hybrids except whispers and rumors, part of my decision to start looking at Hybrids was based on my observing electric pallet jacks in a warehouse setting. Those electric motored "things" absolutely get abused, and they have the reality and reputation of being tough and "industrial". I think it's a misconception and misrepresentation that the electric motors are not "tough". How many times do you ever hear of one of them failing in a Prius?

That being said? To the OP....if you can avoid abandonment? Avoiding abandonment is always a good thing. 6 months of below freezing storage in Alaska would be tough on any machine.

 

...on the positive side, batteries actually last longer in cold temperatures. Consider taking 12v to warmer place keep on trickle. Disconnect 12v in any case. There would be a concern about any fluid in the car that might freeze and expand. Possibly drain some fluids especially waters. Any oils should be artic type. Possibly have a engine block heater. Presumably we have a shelter to keep the dry air dehydrating so fast.

 

Take the 12V inside. It would not last a week due to the parasitic draw and extreme cold. Keep it on a charge maintainer. Once a month, at the warmest time possible, take the 12V out, start up the car, and let it run until the engine shuts off.

Consider putting some kind of cover over the wiper tray. I could see expansion/contraction of melting snow and ice causing cracks and having water leak into the spark plug wells.

 

If you put a Battery Tender on the car (I connected mine at the under-hood fusebox boost point) the 12V battery will be fine. I would start up the car and let it run for 20-30 min every two months to ensure the traction battery is charged.

I've done this with other cars and have not had any problems. The Prius is no different at cold temperatures than other cars. As you live in Alaska your fluids are cold rated already. Just make sure you have inflated the tires to perhaps 44 front and 42 rear (they will loose a lot of pressure when it gets cold and this will ensure they retain good shape just in case you have to move the car).

Pearl will be sitting with the Battery Tender this winter for weeks on end if we get a lot of snow again.

 

Give it to a friend to use while your away! H

 

I meant that in this particular application I don't think the Prius CVT is as tough as an internal combustion engine and manual trans. I would be hesitant to leave a Prius out in sub zero weather for months. And clearly the OP has
reservations. So let us know this spring OP. Good Luck!
Its as tough as a pallet jack apparently.

 

Your premise is ridiculous. What is sitting in the cold going to do to the CVT, electric motors, or electronics? Precisely nothing. You make the car sound like a spring flower, trembling at the thought of a late frost. (And you do understand that the big aluminum thing under the hood bolted to the transaxle is an internal combustion engine, right?) Sure the OP has reservations, so let's give the guy actual information instead of FUD!

If the OP has anything of consequence to worry about, it's six months of the HV battery slowly losing charge. For that reason alone he probably ought to drive it (or get someone to drive it) once every few weeks to keep it and the 12V charged. Next on my list after that is critters making nests and/or chewing the wiring, which can happen with any car that sits outdoors in the cold.