12v battery recommendations

Welcome to PC! I'm thinking, if you got 13 years on the original battery, why would you even consider changing brands? The OEM is a very good battery.

 

Optima yellow top. Your car will ot have to turn on as much to charge the battery like the little oem one yellow top are 2 x the size just fit in there

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I think you missed something. The car was just purchased. By now it should be ready for it's 3rd 12v battery. There's nothing that indicates it wasn't replaced at least once before by a previous owner.

I am satisfied enough with the Optima reviews here to go that way but I did go with OEM battery since I included it with my 120k major service. The dealer gave a discount for the extras I had done on that same visit.

 

Shop around for the Prius battery.

There maybe a dealer nearby who sells online. Or a local dealer might be willing to come down off their FULL retail price. Unfortunately Toy dealers won't ship the 12V batt due to cost and hazard label; but OK for will call pick-up.

Don't forget AAA, Costco, AmEx, etc have discount on parts w/ participating dealerships. Maybe you are police/fire/military/National Guard/etc, and the local dealer will give you a discount. Never ask, never get.

Also some dealers have their parts discount coupon online; other dealers will match such discounts. Something else to look into.

Reference this post for the part # for the 12V 45Amp-Hr battery. 12V Battery Upgrade: non-Smart Key (35A h) to Smart Key (45A h) | PriusChat

 

INCORRECT!

The Optima Yellow Top for the Prius is a 38Amp-hr battery!
DS46B24R | OPTIMA Batteries
The battery may be slightly bigger size wise, but that does NOT mean it has a larger capacity, as is the case here. Optima's use of spiral cells is the reason why lower capacity, b/c the spirals waste sapce, unlike a traditonal plate design (no wasted space). Bigger IS NOT always better.

The Toyota battery is 45Amp-hr. If your car has SKS, you really want the larger capacity battery, not smaller.

 

he wins best member name lol...

 

CCA is meaningless for the Prius b/c there is no starter motor that cranks the engine, like a traditional car.

Toyota uses Amp-hr for a reason.

To give you perspective, a small 12V SLA (Sealed Lead Acid) battery typically found in home alarm and UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) for home computers, can start the Prius. This type of battery can NOT start a conventional car, but can start a Prius.

Ultimately, it is your money and car.

 

If you are really driven by price, and can not get a local dealer t o come down in price, considerably, then get a Bosch. Specs identical to Toyotas, but 48moth warranty.

$143, Bosch, Pep Boys
Car Batteries | Auto Batteries For Trucks & SUV's | Pep Boys

PepBoys has various coupons for %off dollar amounts too. Look, sign-up for Pepboy emails.

 

But the yellow top is a deep cell battery so you can park your car longer then a week with out having a bead battery. You really dont need a crack amp there no starter
If the oem battery was so good way is the box next to it filled with Capacitors To assist the brakes

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Optima markets/advertises their batteries as superior to traditional wet cell, 12V batteries, in terms of longevity and discharge survivability. Optima uses AGM in a spiral format vs a traditional plate design. Toyota True Start Prius batteries (along w/ Bosch and Exide) use AGM batteries in a traditional plate design. Optima's spiral design is inefficient; there are gaps between the 6 spirals, that are not used, thus the lower Amp-hr capacity. A traditional plate design is efficient, and uses all the space inside the battery; thus a higher Amp-hr capacity. Optima AGM spiral design = 38Amp-hr, vs Toytoa (Bosch, Exide) AGM plate design = 45Amp-hr.

I am aware of NO battery company comparing their AGM battery to other AGM batteries. This would be a useful comparison: apples to apples. Optima compares their AGM battery to traditional wet cell batteries: appels to oranges comparison; not as meaningful. If you know of such a study, share the results with us.

I would bet all the people who had a dead battery after a week, most likely had a battery that was in a discharged state (slightly to significantly) to begin with. A battery in good condition, and not discharged, should be able to survive longer than a week of disuse. Mine has.

That is correct. CCA (Cold Cranking Amp) is meaningless for the Prius, as there is no starter, that cranks the engine.

Have your heard of a concept called redundancy/back-up/fail-safe?

IIRC (If I Recall Correctly), there are 28 capacitors, which serve as a failsafe/backup power supply for the brake system, should catastrophic power failure to the to the 12V side occur. Catastrophic failure would require the 12V bus on the inverter supply to fail, which will lead to failure of the 12V battery, b/c it will get drained. When the 12V battery fails, the capacitors are the last line of defense. You will have to be a moron, not to see the warning lights and feel the brakes are not functioning correctly, when the 12V bus fails. You will have to be deaf to not hear the warning sound coming from the capacitor bank. At this point, Darwinism should remove your genes from the gene pool, and hopefully you did not procreate; there are enough stupid people in existence. Be thankful the Toyota engineers have thought of the capacitors as a failsafe back-up, which will allow you to stop the vehicle.

Clearly, you are an Optima fan. If you are only concerned with deep discharge and longevity, you should read what member Britprius did for a 12V battery upgrade; impressive, and makes the most sense. His approach just requires a few modifications. His reasoning, rationale, and findings are all listed here: https://priuschat.com/threads/fitting-mobility-12volt-agm-battery.122920/ Now it becomes a question of comprehension on your end.

 

I sure did! I still favor the OEM myself after talking with a friend whose career is selling & fixing hybrids. Not to say others are not also good.

 

Sorry. Not true at all.

 

The 12 V battery in a hybrid does NOT crank a starter, therefore CCA is pretty meaningless.
A cold climate will actually be good for a battery........down to about -40F or so.

 

Where DO you get these off beat ideas ??
No, never mind.

And a healthy OEM battery will sit for a LOT longer than a week if left completely alone; like several months.

 

Becasue its there to assist the brakes if the 12 volt battery goes by by.

 

I think it was @ChapmanF that postulated, that high cranking amp rating is actually detrimental to battery quality in a Prius battery, it compromises other factors, maybe the aforementioned amp hours rating?

I went with Optima Yellow Top two years back, but next time around I might go with Canadian Tire's rectangular cased AGM:

MotoMaster Eliminator Ultra AGM
Product Number: #010-5122-6

Obviously not a US option, but it is reputed to be rebadged:

Exide FP-AGM51JIS

(This is third gen research, not sure about second gen, if it's the same.)

 

I don't know what the situation over the pond is, but here in EU we can buy OEM battery (Yuasa GS, 46Ah 310A) at retail stores, without the need to go to the dealer (the difference is that there's no "Toyota" branding, and, of course, no dealer markup).

The retail price for this OEM battery is €173. Compare that to Optima Yellow top, which is €168 - the price difference is negligible.

 

Had a local Pep Boys Service Center put in the Bosch today, I paid $146 on a 30% discount special with free installation. Having them put it in was much better than doing it myself, as they used a Memory Saver which I don't have. I was able to drive in and drive out, with no loss of settings or reprogramming of any kind. 48 mos. free replacement, then prorated from there. Properly vented, too, after the elbow swap to the left side. It took all of five minutes since I pulled the center auxiliary box, the 12V battery cover and the 12v battery maintenance cover for them before heading in. My OEM battery was at 6 yrs 2 mos, so my trusted mechanic recommended that I change it (he couldn't beat the price or warranty). Yesterday the dealer quoted me $395 installed. I've got better uses for my $249.

I'll add that I never had any intention of letting Pep Boys work on my Prius, but this was strictly a service center and they did a great job, were very courteous and quick. Until today I never knew that Pep Boys had standalone service centers not attached to a retail store.

Thanks to everyone here at PC for the valuable info, especially NavyLCDR and his posts and pix over at

BOSCH 12v AGM 51-440BAGM does not need to be vented! | PriusChat