New (to me) prius owner here! Just got the Dr. Prius app a month ago, as I'm getting the dreaded P0A80 code, I knew it was probably coming sooner or later, but not two months after getting this car. It's a 2011, the battery has theoretically been worked on before, meticulously maintained and generally in great shape. Wondering if anyone can decipher what the visual is saying? I have read that the middle section is where you want to look and that higher numbers mean more likely cells are failing, they all seem good to me from here? This was at idle, hadn't been driven in an hour or so. Is that correct? Planning on getting into the battery soon and checking out the bus bars and battery fan, etc. Any more ideas are welcome! Dr. Prius by LibTech posted Nov 29, 2025 at 1:58 PM
The Dr Prius screenshot shows that there is a voltage difference between the highest and lowest battery blocks of 0.41v, which is high enough to trigger the P0A80 code. The screenshot is only a brief glimpse at what is happening with the battery. The battery was only discharging at 1.20 amps at the time the screenshot was taken. At higher current charge or discharge rates, the voltage difference between the battery blocks will increase greatly. The freeze frame data for code P0A80 would provide a much better idea of what is happening with the battery when the code was activated. To look at the freeze frame data, you need a scanner that is capable of reading it. Most scanners do not have the capability of doing that. How many miles on the car?
By scanner, are you referring to the obd2 dongle or the software app? In either case, can you give us an example of the dongles/app that can read freeze frame data?
A scanner can be the older style ones that have a cable that connects to the OBD2 port in the car and also the newer OBD2 Bluetooth dongles that work with an app on your phone or tablet. Both of these type of scanners can be used to read the freeze frame data (FFD) for a diagnostic trouble code. Usually the older style scanners that are capable of reading the FFD are expensive ($175 and higher). The OBD2 dongles that can read FFD start at $60. Techstream software on a laptop computer can also be used to read the FFD. I recommend the Autel AP200 OBD2 Bluetooth dongle which normally sells for about $60 on Amazon. For Black Friday and Cyber Monday (today) the price is $50 for Prime members. There are other OBD2 Bluetooth dongle that can also read FFD. Two others are mentioned in this thread, Gen2 OBD2 app review. Read the first post and then scroll down to post #37 for an overview of the 10 scanners that the OP reviewed.
Hmmm interesting. Thank you! It has 250k miles on it. Not surprised by the code, just trying to learn more about it to determine the best thing to go forward. I'm still getting 43-45 mpg. I currently have a bluetooth OBD. I bought one of the one's Dr. Prius recommended the Vgate iCar Pro 2S, but guessing that is too cheap to read freeze frame data.
I bought two dongles last week, a Veepeak BLE+ and iCar Pro 2S, both capable of doing IOS with bluetooth 4.0. I am going to try both out and then return one I like the least. Would be nice to get see if either of them are capable of getting freeze frame data, but my Prius does not have any DTCs.
What apps are you using with the two Bluetooth dongles? I would be very surprised if the apps that you are using could read FFD.
I do not know yet. Going to try Car Scanner, Torque and whatever else is out there. I can't really read any freeze frames like I said, because I don't currently have any DTCs.
Car Scanner and the Torque apps can not read freeze frame data. Read post #37 in the thread that I linked to. Consider purchasing the Autel AP200.
The Bluetooth dongle is just a communication device between the car's OBD2 port and the app. The app is what is requesting the data from the car's many ECUs. So, the app needs to be capable of asking for the freeze frame data for a trouble code. Most apps, like Dr Prius and Car Scanner and Torque, are not capable of reading the freeze frame data. Again, look at post #37 in the thread that I linked to in my post #4 above.
