Would my Prius make it across the country?

Plan for winter, it is already below freezing in Elko NV.

 

Do you have a planned month yet? We're going coast to coast again next year and might be taking I-80 from Salt Lake to Chicago before we drop down to NC and GA. If we both are going at the same time we might be able to hook up for 1,400 miles or so.

It will help you a lot to plan the trip. Consider what I posted here as post #13

These Hybrid Cars Get Double The US Average MPG | PriusChat

It makes a long trip much less nerve wracking. There are a lot of long empty stretches out there so we just planned to top off the tank at around 300 miles whether it seemed like the car needed it or not.

 

Ok next summer starts mid June!

 

Summer starts every year around June 21 in the US. For @alanclarkeau it is different since he is in Australia.

 

First year I was in Elko, hard freeze July 4, second year snowed 18 inches memorial day weekend, last three years it snowed on !ast day of school. I married my wife June 8 2002. She was not amused to wake up to 29 degrees and snowing. I live in MS now.

 

Here - summer is DECEMBER - FEBRUARY.

The reality of it depends on where you are - I guess similar to USA. Just looking at forecast for next week - Melbourne 14°C, Perth 22°C, Brisbane 28°C (near me), Darwin 34°C. Oh, and snow and -4°C at Mt Hotham on the Snowy Mountains.

 

I understand your countrymen like to enjoy Christmas on the beach.

 

Not just the Ozzies. LOL.

 

Of course not! Do you expect any problems from your car between oil changes? It's about the same distance from San Diego to Bangor, ME as a 3k service interval

100% that it is dying. From the day they are new they begin degrading, but that's not *really* your question. At nearly 12 years old, the HV pack is absolutely on borrowed time, you may have days or YEARS left of good service in it, it is impossible to KNOW for sure.

One thing you can do to guestimate the pack's health is to see how far you can drive in electric only mode at low speeds. If say 10+ miles at 20-25 mph, I would say you have a healthy pack, especially given it's age. If the range is only a few miles, then medium health and if less than a mile, honestly you are looking at a new HV battery soon.

For reference, our 2005 w/190k and the original HV pack, it will drive about 8 miles in EV mode on a fully charged HV battery.

 

Nobody can really answer that. The idea itself isn't bad.

IMO not really. If you haven't seen a degradation in performance or gotten any codes then the battery is working. Once they reach a certain age, the future is not guaranteed.

Obviously there are Prius owners on this very site with Prius with higher mileage, equal or older than yours. But nobody can predict whether your personal Prius would or wouldn't make the trip.

If you are committed to making the trip with your Prius, all I would recommend is when you get closer to the trip, try to make sure as much of the maintenance issues you can control are in good shape. Tires, Fluids, Etc......
Then if the vehicle is running OK? It's up to you whether you want to attempt the journey.

Could a 11-12 model year old Prius with 120,000 survive that trip? I think you can say certainly. BUT....
Could that same vehicle break down or have problems. Yes...tomorrow, or 2 years from now.

If I was ABSOLUTELY committed to making the trip, then I'd invest as much as I could into maintenance that I can control.
Maybe unfortunately as a chemistry based component, the hybrid battery pretty much works....until it fails. And once you reach a certain age or point, when that failure is going to happen is pretty hard to predict.

If you are lucky? You may notice a degradation in performance and get a code. But when that may happen? Tomorrow or ????? Who knows?

 

8-10 miles? I can't even come close to these figures.

 

I have owned two new Prius 1.2 miles is max. (Gen2 and v)

 

Same here, I could drive EV for only 1 mile on level ground before the ICE started.

Maybe HV packs are bigger in TX?

 

You have got to be REALLY careful with the accelerator and be on pretty level ground. I've done 8 once after a long highway drive, typically it is more in the 2-5 range because of all the short trips (for Texas) it does.

BTW, that is at 90*F and the AC on set to 75*F.

 

Yes, some do - not me - too hot, I burn easily. A/C for me.

 

Undoubtedly it could make the trip fine. But - as with any car with 120k miles, it's not as certain as a brand-new car. I've had cars with that number of miles or age which I've gone off on trips in.

Have it serviced before you go, check that the ty res etc are in good condition, and do regular checks the same as you would driving around town.

 

Even some of our fellow countrymen who live on the Best Coast enjoy Christmas on the beach.

The wife's family lives in Orange County and spends Christmas on the San Clemente beach.

You should try it sometime .

 

It's pretty neat when the weather cooperates. I'm one of those people that has been fortunate enough in to go cross country snow skiing near Big Bear in the morning and go body surfing at Newport Beach in the afternoon on a December day.