Worry about Batteries for no reason?

David, your root issue is due to this partial "shelving" the car through the winter months. Are conditions that bad? Is it due to lack of snow tires?

I know I can't really talk, we're practically still mowing lawns out here, lol.

 

It's not the 12V battery at fault, it's the fact that a Prius hybrid has so much "always on" electronics that will deplete the somewhat small 12V battery in 2-3 weeks.
I have a BatteryMINDer charger / maintainer / desulfator hardwired to the 12V battery. If my 10 hatchback is to be parked for more than a week I plug in the BatteryMINDer to maintain the 12V at full charge.

 

Actually there is very little that is "always" ON.
Many here have reported letting their cars sit for a couple of months with no apparent ill effects.
So actually it pretty much IS the fault of a battery that has been abused in one way or another........or was not quite perfect to start with.

 

Specifically, how many amperes constant drain with everything off, to the extent Toyota allows? Anybody know? It wouldn't be difficult to measure. The pointless non-stop flashing light on the dash seems like a silly waste of power, although it's probably only a minor portion of the drain.

 

Gas is at $1.08.9 last night, pretty sure we managed to get $1.06.9, gassing up s few nights back.

Yeah I had snows on separate rims within a week of of our (November) purchase. I'm a bit obsessive though; some years we have next to zero snow.

Look at it this way?: in the long run you're only out the cost of the extra rims.

 

So in 1000 hours (that's about 6 weeks) a fully charged, new 12v Prius battery is toast. In the real world cut it in half to 3 weeks (lowered battery capacity and not fully charged).

JeffD

 

that can't be right, i've gone six weeks.

 

Hello......you missed a turn somewhere.
We are talking about the 12 V aux. battery here.
The HV traction battery is NOT known for premature failure, either because of abuse or other reasons.
It pretty much takes care of itself.

 

The best part about batteries is no matter what rules you follow, there's always just a little bit of magic lurking in them too. My 12V battery was drained to 0.4V (i.e. "D-E-D dead") a few months after I bought the car. It sat for probably 5 days while/after draining before I noticed. Today, almost 5 years later, it's still in just as good of shape as it was before this event (by measuring the battery voltage with a multimeter; I've also let it sit for up to 3 weeks, and it was just fine). By what many people here will tell you, my battery should've given up the ghost years ago. Meanwhile, others who haven't drained their batteries even once are finding their 12V battery is underperforming in far less than 5 years.

 

That little battery will be at 50% or less charge after two weeks, maybe enough left in it to boot up the computers after 3-4 weeks, but the battery is in real danger of severe sulfation damage from setting 50-90% drained for as much as a month or more, that is real battery abuse and will greatly shorten the battery life.
Keep that battery charged by daily use or with a battery maintainer and it will live a long and healthy life.

 

I JUST replaced the 12V battery for my 2010 Prius. After 10 years, RIP. It might have lasted longer if it hadn't died after I left it parked without driving it for 2 months during the Stay At Home Orders. To be honest, I mostly drive my electric car--the Prius is my back-up. I'm going to hook up a battery maintainer and drive it once a month. Any recommendation for a battery maintainer or suggestions on specs it should have?