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How are the batteries on the Prime cooled?

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by yiujai86, May 15, 2019.

  1. yiujai86

    yiujai86 Member

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    Just wondering if the Nimh battery and the Lithium battery are both air cooled? Or if they have separate cooling methods/channels?
     
  2. schja01

    schja01 One of very few in Chicagoland

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    Prime has only one traction battery it has a fan to cool it when necessary. My Gen 2 also had a fan.
     
  3. m8547

    m8547 Senior Member

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    There are a couple fans on either side of the back seat, which both cool the one lithium battery. If the battery is hot and you're driving around 45-50mph, you might slightly hear the fans, but they set the fan speed so the fan noise is slightly less than the road noise, so most of the time you will never hear them.

    If you plug in to charge while the battery is hot, it will ask you if the traction battery cooler can be used. If you say yes that runs the AC on full blast for maybe up to 30 minutes (but it won't start until about 5 minutes after you park), while also running the battery fans full speed. It gets quite cold and windy in the car. As far as we know you have to (and should) select Yes every time, and there's no way to make it automatic. You can disable that feature, but that would be bad for the health of the battery.

    Since the AC provides cooling for the battery it might be a good idea to use the AC while driving in hot weather instead of suffering or opening the windows. But I'm not sure how much it helps since it doesn't get as cold as the traction battery cooler cycle, and because the battery fans are running at a lower speed.

    There is also a fan at the bottom of the back seat that cools the charging electronics and DC-DC converter while charging.
     
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  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    prime only has lithium battery, ben 4 prius has lithium in some models and nimh in others.
    all prius are air cooled
     
  5. CharlesH

    CharlesH CA HOV Decal #5 on former PiP

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    I wonder if some people are confused about EV vs HV batteries by seeing references on the Web to the early Toyota plug-in prototypes (before the 2010 PiP) that indeed did have two traction batteries, one for hybrid mode (NiMH), and one for plug-in EV mode (Lithium)? They went to the single lithium traction battery with the production model in 2010. Or is it just the "HV" and "EV" bars on the HSI screen that suggests two distinct batteries?
     
  6. huskers

    huskers Senior Member

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    I play smooth jazz in my car. That seems to keep things cool.
     
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  7. Usle

    Usle Active Member

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    Cool.
    But, possibly this thread's subject...battery cooling, will hit a note with toyota like all wheel drive did.
    Toyota released all wheel drive for prii, now...toyota needs to release liquid cooling for toyota traction batteries.
    Air cooling is so 12th century.
     
  8. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

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    I have heard that the car will ask me if the traction battery cooler can be used, but it has never asked me. At least I think it hasn't. How does it ask you if you are standing outside the car on the passenger side plugging it in? Does it talk to you? Or is there something on the display in front of the driver who is now outside of the car? And if you are asked the question how are you supposed to say yes or no?
     
  9. Prius from Dad

    Prius from Dad Senior Member

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    The traction battery cooler message will pop up on the bottom of the big screen when you turn off the car. It will only show up if the outside temperature is high enough to warrant its use.
     
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  10. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    It's a pop-up message that supposed to appear on display immediately after you turn off the car. It comes up only if the battery is very hot already. Living in the Northern climate where even in the middle of the summer hight temp rarely gets above 90F, I have not yet seen this message pop on mine. However, there is the setting you can turn off this pop-up. You might want to check the setting to see if it is inadvertently turned off. Yeah, I don't see the situation when you DON'T want to turn the cooler when the car thinks it is too hot and needs to implement the battery cooler, but somehow, Toyota made this feature off as default. I think the correct answer to your last question is that you say "Yes" to the cooler when asked.

    Screenshot 2019-05-22 at 8.20.55 AM.png

    I have never seen the battery cooler pop-up on my car, but the manual seems to suggest this pop-up comes on MID not on the "bottom of the big screen" if by "big screen" you mean 11.6 inch display. Am I wrong?
    Screenshot 2019-05-22 at 8.15.15 AM.png
     
    #10 Salamander_King, May 22, 2019
    Last edited: May 22, 2019
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  11. Prius from Dad

    Prius from Dad Senior Member

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    On my 2017 Premium it comes up on the bottom of the 11.6 display. Maybe it is simultaneously on the MFD but I haven't seen it. The message doesn't last long at all. You may not see it if your temps don't get into the 90's+.

    [edit] Damn, now I have to wait for higher temps to see if I remember correctly.
     
    #11 Prius from Dad, May 22, 2019
    Last edited: May 22, 2019
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  12. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Humm, I have my 11.6 inch display turned off most of the time. I do remember even with the screen off, it will show brief boot-up animation at the start-up and then it goes dark. I can't remember what the screen does when I shut the car off if the screen is already off. Yeah, I probably have never had hot enough day requiring the cooler. From what I have read, this cooler uses traction battery power to operate cabin AC to cool down the battery temp, and it only comes on, if the battery is already hot. So, what happens, if there is no traction battery charge left (i.e. no EV range) when you stop the car? Where does it get the power to operate AC? Would it eat into HV reserve portion of battery?
     
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  13. Prius from Dad

    Prius from Dad Senior Member

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    See edit above. ^^ The battery cooler only operates when charge cord is plugged in.

    upload_2019-5-22_8-51-19.png
     
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  14. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Thanks, that explains it. That means, even if I ever see the "battery cooler" message pop-up and I hit "Yes" on that question, I will probably never see the cooler implemented on my car. I never charge my car during the day. I may plug-in my car in the early evening upon returning home while the sun is still out but the charge schedule is always at night. By then the traction battery has certainly cooled enough. ;)
     
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  15. Prius from Dad

    Prius from Dad Senior Member

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    Same here.
     
  16. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Probably because of the display. Doesn't the battery charge graph scale change when switching to HV mode?

    Because of this, someone suggested the cooler was more about countering the heat given off in the cabin by the charger.

    Or, since the design is Japan centric, Toyota assumed people didn't want to default to paying for the extra electricity to run the cooler.
     
  17. m8547

    m8547 Senior Member

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    Even if you don't schedule a charge, the traction battery cooler doesn't always seem to run after you say yes to the message.
     
  18. m8547

    m8547 Senior Member

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    Interesting theory. We need someone with Hybrid Assistant or a similar app to check the battery temperature before and after the cooler cycle runs.
     
  19. Prius from Dad

    Prius from Dad Senior Member

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    The cooler only runs if it is deemed necessary when charging. The pop up comes on if it thinks it may be needed but it won't always be needed. As @Salamander_King said, you can set the charge in the afternoon when it is hot (message pops up) and when it charges overnight the temps are cooler so it won't run.
     
  20. jb in NE

    jb in NE Senior Member

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    No, it does not.
     
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