I haven’t driven or charged my 2019 Prius prime plug-in since April of this year. My 12V battery died and I was unable to open the charge port door and I’m sure the primary battery has run down. I was in the hospital and rehab before I could attempt charging the primary battery. By then, the 12V battery was dead and the charge port wouldn’t open. I plan to change the 6-yr old 12V battery so I can try starting the car (if the main battery will do so). I’m also hoping that the charge port will open and I can charge the primary battery. Then I plan gently driving the car through a charge cycle or two. Have I overlooked anything?
I'm in the same boat. I haven't driven my Prime in about a year due to health reasons. I did put the less than 1yr old12V battery on a maintainer and I charged the traction battery to 100% when parked. I'm primarily worried about the fuel going stale ( i did not ad stabilizer) and was wondering if i should replace the 7 year old tires that look new (about 25K on them.) Like Jharris378 above, do I need to do anything else?
If your not driving the car; you should keep the traction battery between 75%-50% charged. A full charge is suppose to shorten the life of traction battery or at least chip away at the 25 mile battery only range. Charge the battery to full, only when your going to use it. I believe that is clearly stated in the OPs manual, under storage or non-use for over a month. Keeping the 12V on a battery tender is a good idea, so the car doesn't lose it's presets. I would probably keep the tank less than half full. that way you have the option of mixing-in fresh high octane gas to offset the old gas. Fill it up when you go on a road trip. If you have a full tank while heading home; place the car in HV, sports mode to burn down some of the gas in the tank. If you currently have a full tank and the gas is more than a year old; I'd probably suck out half of it and mix in high octane fresh gas to off-set. Use the old gas for your lawn mower or mix it into your other cars. These newer cars has a tight closed-loop fuel system, so gas going bad takes a really long time; unlike older cars with a semi-closed fuel system. That's why you get a 'whoosh' when you pop open your fuel cap when you refuel. As for the tires; I'd get them inspected at you local tire shop. If they're bulging or cracking; I'd replace them and DO NOT mention the age of the rubber; let the shop make that determination - otherwise they'll be more than happy to sell you a new set of tires - for no good reason. The shop will usually resell your half worn tires; used bargain replacements. Tires can take a lot of abuse and I've never seen one just explode out of the blue. When they're bad, they'll get noisy, vibrate, and the car's handling will be off - in other words you'll know they're going bad; if your paying attention. Good Luck......
