Big orange cable under the body... Safety concern?

All the Cs have that. Ive had my for almost 2 years and not one problem with it going thru snow and rain. I recently examined the orange cable when I installed my chassis brace and did not see any type of wear and tear on the wiring.

 

that orange cable is made out of titanium

so don't worry

 

That's not so much cable as sheathing, robust looking too. And yeah, Orange is code for the hybrid system wiring.

 

You could wrap it with another layer of insulation, but that's probably over-kill, and I doubt it would accomplish anything.

 

Just a thought on this but if you take a chunk out of that cable driving over a rock, would the car notice and isolate itself by switching off?

 

That wouldn't be a good idea, since insulation causes heat retention. Electrical wiring insulation is temperature rated. It's heat that causes insulation to melt in wiring and fires from short circuits.

Making a protective steel or heat conductive metal shield would be better.

 

Probably leaving it alone would be better.

 

Unless you're driving it like a stolen tesla, you shouldn't worry too much about freak accidents

I've (very carefully) driven my C in some pretty rough dirt/rock roads that no C should go on and I was more worried about random rocks/ditches puncturing other components then the orange wire

and

my clutsy wife has also gone straight from a curb onto the street and the metal side thingies have also protected the underbody of the car pretty well (it bent a little inward...but it is still there hanging down lower than the underbody components)

 

I think the infamous Tesla incident to which I think you refer, was a freak accident, caused by a piece of metal puncturing the battery pan.

 

an aftermarket kryptonite protective sleeve might sell pretty well, especially if they can make people worry enough.

 

If you punctured the insulation it most likely would create a Ground Fault. The system has a GF detection system that would generate a DTC and safely shut down.

 

No, since he said "stolen", it is most likely this one: Officers Injured, Stolen Tesla Split in Half After Fiery Pursuit Wreck | NBC Southern California

Although it could be the one in Mexico in which the stolen Tesla was driven into a turn-about at 100mph, hit and traveled through a concrete retaining wall, went airborne, went through another wall and then caught on fire after the thieves got out and ran away.

 

It's fine. I kept my hybrid parked outside all last winter with temps down to -15F.

And when the temps warm back up, I take it to a car wash and have it spray the undercarriage, and it's still fine.

 

Do Habanero colored C's use a different color for the Orange cable?

 

lime green. stay thirsty my friend.

 

My 2015 prius c with 29k miles would not start yesterday after I pulled into a gas station for some coffee. Towed 2.5 hours to the dealer, "Found corroded positive battery cable" "replace pos. battery cable." $1,753.40 not covered under warranty! The mechanic told me to file an insurance claim, kept insisting I hit something. I did not hit anything.

 

ask for the old parts back and post a pic. sounds like a ripoff. but it could be that something damaged the cable, i'm presuming the high voltage cable to the hybrid battery?

 

Take his word, file a claim?

If insurance assessment there was no hit, go back to Toyota? This shouldn't be happening, and your car is near-new.

There's a few other threads here on hybrid battery cable failure; I'd suggest to just search with google for "priuschat hybrid battery cable (etcetera)", not this site's search function. Or try both. Might find something helpful.

Assuming there was no evidence of impact, I'd definitely contact Toyota corporate, don't see why this wouldn't be warranted.