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Prius C 2012 - Removing Back seat

Discussion in 'Prius c Main Forum' started by NeverFollow, Jul 1, 2012.

  1. NeverFollow

    NeverFollow Junior Member

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    I am considering buying a Prius 2012 C but I wonder if it is possible to remove the back seat?

    I would like to carry one or two bicycles in the back of the car and I need to remove the back seat completely to do so.

    Of course, I could buy a Prius III or a Prius V, but I want a small car because I live in a city and parking is always an issue.

    Note: I like to keep my bike inside the car because on week end I used also to go shopping after doing a bike ride and I cannot park inside a mall if I have a bike on the roof. Also using a bike rack on the bumper or the trunk door makes parking in the street difficult, exposes the bike to be damaged by other cars, or been vandalized and have some components been stolen, also I cannot anymore open and use the trunk.

    The rear seat doesn't fold completely, only the vertical part fold above the bottom part, making the truck not very practical, also there are two pieces of foam, above the spear tire, that I would like to remove to take advantage of the full truck size.

    See also the following thread and pictures: Foam panels under trunk?
    Foam panels under trunk? | PriusChat [​IMG]

    I looked at the Prius C at the dealer, but I was not able to be certain:
    1. If it was possible to remove the seat (I did not see any screws)
    2. If the battery was located inside the back seat (explaining why the seat cannot fold down)
    3. Or if the battery was located below the back seat, thus allowing removing the back seat
    without exposing the battery.

    I found the following video showing the body frame of thePrius C:
    Toyota Prius c Technical Presentation - Dave Lee w/ Q&A


    If you look at the 24:34 to 24:56, it seems to me that the battery is well below the back seat and there is a metal frame on top of it (see Red color in the picture shown in the video.)

    If the battery is below the back seat, I wonder why Toyota decided to keep the bottom of the back seat fixed and use a piece of foam to make the trunk flat?

    If you own a Prius C, can you look more closely and tell me what you think.

    May be I will try to rent a Prius C for a weekend allowing me to get all the measurements that I need!
     
  2. Erikon

    Erikon Active Member

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    I don't have a c, but I imagine the rear seat is attached with clips like everything else in a Prius interior. You just yank it up firmly, the clips may break, so buy a few extras if you intend to put the seat back in at some point.
     
  3. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    i've taken the rear area of the car apart... including the seats... mostly clips, with a few bolts here and there.. nothing super complicated.

    the rear seat cushion is attached to the cage... so after you remove the bottom plastic surrounding, you remove the cushion.. and yes... everything will be exposed. the battery, the 12V battery... etc..
     
  4. NeverFollow

    NeverFollow Junior Member

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    Thank you for your reply. If you can post a picture, that will be great.

    Do you think that there is any issue with the battery not covered?

    Does the battery get hot and Toyota did not wanted to have a fllor mat too close above the battery?

    Is there any vent above the floor that will be on the way or do you get a full flat surface, except above the spare tire?

    Do you need any tool to remove the clips? I might have to this operation at least every weekend. I would like to design some kind of hinges to fold the back seat against the back of the front seats.

    I am still puzzle why the back seat cannot be folded like in the Honda Fit?
     
  5. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    not sure how the Fit's seats fold... so i don't know.. but my guess is because of the traction battery.

    there's no issue leaving the battery uncovered... i've actually seen people report that removing the back seat cushion helped improve their mileage.. where it could be in part from the weight reduction... it might've also been more due to the improved cooling to the traction battery with it exposed.

    the only clips that you might need a tool for are the two that hold the rear seat cushion in on the sides... there are two of them which with a panel removal tool.. would be a lot easier to yank out. otherwise, the clips that hold the bottom plastic section.. you just push the center piece in and the clip pops out.
     
  6. dellrio

    dellrio Im pretty much awesome

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    Within the next week or so I will be doing my entire car in mega mat (better than dynomat stuff). The material comes in on Friday, but I work 30 hours every weekend so it will probably be weeknights next week. If you are still needing help at that time I can take any pictures that you need when I remove the interior from the rear of the car. Just let me know specifically what you are looking for, I can not imagine it is going to be too difficult, I have yet to find a vehicle that has been.
     
  7. NeverFollow

    NeverFollow Junior Member

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    I am surprised that there is no air vent to cool the battery. In general there is a special vent integrated within the rear window or bumper. Here is a picture of a Prius
    [​IMG]

    There is a white fan on the top right:

    [​IMG]


    Honda Civic Hybrid, the vent on the left is quite noticable.
    [​IMG]

    Here is the full Honda CR-Z Hybrid

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    The Fan is located near the spare tire
    [​IMG]
     
  8. NeverFollow

    NeverFollow Junior Member

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    It would be great if you can document the removing steps and also describe the battery pack and air vent mechanism.
     
  9. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    there is one....

    the air vent is underneath the left rear seat... it is mentioned in the owner's manual.. and specifically also warns you not to block or cover it.

    the fan is there as well.... it brings in air, goes over the traction battery to the right side of the vehicle... and then the exhauast is blown back and into the rear trunk area... you'll see the vent on the right side of the car back there.
     
  10. NeverFollow

    NeverFollow Junior Member

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    The Honda Fit back seats can fold up
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Or they can fold down:
    [​IMG]

    The new Fit-EV does not provides this dual configuration:
    [​IMG]

    Ford Focus EV trunk , not too great....
    [​IMG]


    Focus-EV battery, should be located under the car floor
    [​IMG]

    The Nissan Leaf has all the batteries under the car floor, still the trunk is kind of cumberson:
    [​IMG]
     
    strongbad and Prius Sea like this.
  11. dellrio

    dellrio Im pretty much awesome

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    He is correct - if you look at the rear seat behind the drivers seat and look at the plastic piece under the cushion you can see the vent there.

    I will do my best to document the rear seat removal process for you, again, probably not until next week that I will have time, but I will try and document the whole process for people who have questions in the future.
     
    Prismart likes this.
  12. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    yea... the C can't fold up... because the batteries are underneath them.. and probably the reason why the Fit-EV can't either..
     
  13. NeverFollow

    NeverFollow Junior Member

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    I was thinking that the back seat was covering the battery, and part of the battery was inside the seat.

    In fact the battery is located well below the back seat, so I don't see any reason to have the bottom of the seat been fixed?

    If you look at the video showing the body frame of the Prius C at the 24:34 to 24:56 time:


    Toyota Prius C Technical Presentation - Dave Lee w/ Q&A

    You can notice that the battery is bolted on the floor panel and there is a metal frame on top of the battery (see Red color in the picture shown in the video.)

    Because of that, there is this "strange" piece of foam, about 7" thick, in the trunk to make the trunk at the same level than the back seat when folded.

    [​IMG]

    At least Toyota could had designed a box like in the Prius to store some small items.

    The piece of foam is a waist of space and real no no!

    It looks like an afterthought for a car using such advanced hybrid technology?

    I was going to get a Prius C but I really got cold feet when I looked at the trunk and the piece of foam.

    I wonder if anyone had the same felling?
     
  14. Erikon

    Erikon Active Member

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    Probably just as well, removing the seat and leaving the battery exposed so you can haul more stuff is asking for trouble in the long run. Something pokes the pack the wrong way and your warranty is voided at best, or a fire in the worst case!
     
  15. WaspE

    WaspE New Member

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    Thanks for sharing! Just got my C! This forum is great
     
  16. prj

    prj Member

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    My 2011 regular Prius is great for one road bike. There's 6 feet of space with the rear seat folded down, and the passenger front seat moved up to the middle of it's range. I can roll the bike in, front wheel first, leaned way over on it's side. I don't have to take the wheels off. It's really convenient. Two bikes could fit, but would need two people to load them, and some padding between them.

    The regular Prius is 19 inches longer than the C. It's 176 inches compared to 157 inches for the C.
     
  17. secondspassed

    secondspassed Member

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    They managed to build a car that gets the same mileage as the Prius liftback for as much as $5,000 less and you're worried about a piece of foam you should never have to see? I think that might be nitpicking a bit.

     
  18. NeverFollow

    NeverFollow Junior Member

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    Thank you for following up but my point was to try to understand why Toyota decided to make the trunk of the Prius C so tiny, as it would had been simple to make it more deep by not placing a 7" piece of foam above the spare tire.

    And also making more practical by making the full back seat folding all the way as this seems possible by adding a set of hinges.

    I imagine that a lot of Green cars drivers also like to ride a bike and carry a bike inside their car, and that was my issue.

    I was not comparing the C to its older sister.
    The Prius C 1.5L ($19k-$23k) is more a Yaris 5-Door 1.5 L ($15k-$$17) with a well designed hybrid system in it, than a Prius 1.8 L ($24k-$30k) with a reduced one foot and a half size length.
     
  19. Erikon

    Erikon Active Member

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    I imagine that first this is a modified Yaris chassis, so that will add some compromises to the design as opposed to being a all new platform. The rear seat houses the battery, and requires a cage that allows air to circulate freely around it to maintain safe temperatures. Add in sufficient padding for comfort and that determines the seat size, hinges to allow fold flat capability would increase cost and make the resulting floor even taller, which would mean the trunk floor would be higher and the rear opening smaller. In other words you'd lose a lot of cargo room! It doesn't look like that foam is seven inches thick to me, though?
     
  20. dellrio

    dellrio Im pretty much awesome

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    I was told that the foam pieces are for sound insulation.