Complete loss of power on busy road! 60k GEN3 2010 Prius III

Worrying about imaginary hazards makes no sense.

 

Yup. Any car is capable of a wide range of catastrophic failures at any moment. Tire blowout, maybe? Or I was reading about a case where a limo's suspension collapsed, then the driveshaft started rubbing and started a fire, killing half of the passengers who couldn't escape in time. The only real defense is to be alert and prepared, and when an emergency happens, stay calm and find a safe escape.

That's true of any modern vehicle. A lot of the hacks demonstrated so far require something to be plugged into the car; typically, a laptop, but in theory, you could plug in a bluetooth or other wireless adapter into the OBD-II port (which is legally required on all cars since 1996) and control it remotely too. A few hacks have also been demonstrated via wireless methods - probably the best of which just required that you had a Sprint phone, and could then hack any one of about 1.4 million Chrysler vehicles with the right knowledge. (Those vehicles were then recalled, to fix the vulnerability; but the point is that auto manufacturers in general are unfamiliar with securing computer networks, including those within the car, so there are undoubtedly many more potential vulnerabilities in the wild). The Prius is really neither better nor worse than any other vehicle in this respect.

You can easily pop the hood and check the 12V battery, there's a jump starting post up there. You can measure voltage there, or connect to some sort of tester if you like. There's not really much else to check.

And I don't know what sort of "weird tie-in" you're thinking of. 12V battery is used to boot up the car, then the relays in the traction battery are closed to connect it to the car's electrical system. At that point, there's a DC-DC Converter that is used to charge the 12V battery. It's basically the same as an alternator, but it runs off electrical power instead of mechanical power. When you turn the car off, the traction battery is disconnected again, to prevent any accidental exposure to it.

I believe there is a vent hose from the 12V battery to outside the cabin, just for that reason. I believe the exhausted gas from the traction battery is vented towards the outside as well, although I believe it makes its way there by going past the spare tire, and not through its own vent hose. In any case, the traction battery is very much protected from the over-charging that would cause it to vent any gasses, because doing so would ruin the battery and subject Toyota to a lot of warranty claims.

That's perfectly understandable. Experiencing traumatic effects like this can have a great effect on you, and one that isn't always for any logical reason. Just like having your house broken into might make you feel unsafe (and thus motivate you to buy an alarm system, or even move), having your car put you into an unsafe situation is a perfectly fine reason to sell it and find another one that doesn't carry that baggage.

Though I'd say it's up to you if you prefer to blindly take action that makes you comfortable, or if you prefer to do a little bit of research to meet the goals that are important to you. For example, you might consider buying a car from before 1977, when software started to be used in production vehicles. Or before 1996, when OBD-II became required. Or without bluetooth, cellular, telematics (eg OnStar or Safety Connect), or anything else wireless. (There's even a small potential that things like the key fob, immobilizer, or even FM Radio - with its embedded data that shows artist and song on some head units - could be used to gain access to a vehicle.) On the other hand, getting an older car without all these features also means that you'll be missing a lot of safety features that have been added to cars - everything from crumple zones to 3-point seat belts to airbags... So yeah, cars today aren't perfect - but they're probably better than cars were yesterday; and tomorrow's cars will probably be better than today's. But I wouldn't say that anything relating to hybrids or EVs makes them any higher risk to drive than any other modern vehicle.

 

The traction battery does have its own vent hose to carry any gas escaping from the cells directly to the outside. The only thing flowing past the spare tire is the air that is drawn in at the back seat and blown over the outsides of the modules to cool them.

-Chap

 

FoxFireFiver, perhaps you'll be more comfortable in one of GM's fine automobiles. Perhaps you can still find one with a defective or substandard ignition switch or recalled Takata airbags.

The way to avoid computer problems is to shop from the classics ads. If you limit your choices to the mid 1960s and earlier you're be able to avoid seat belt problems. One advantage to driving an older car in NJ is that it is not subject to state inspection.

Best wishes for finding something you are comfortable with.

 

I have a feeling the OP is not coming back.

 

Had somthing very similar a months ago check my post I was able to read the codes myself before getting to Toyota so they did not even try to trick me.... they read the same codes plus subcodes whichc my scangauge couldn't...

It was inverter replacement under warranty only cost to me the rental car since it was over two year old (dealership would have provided a courtesy car if car is under 2) ... unfortunately it happened on Friday, and was no hybird tech working on Saturday so I could only get it back on Tuesday ...

In my post I put all the part numbers as provided by toyota...