Charging tips?

The electric motor is probably the most reliable item on the Prius. We've owned 4 generations of Prius (Gen 2, 3, 4 and Prime) for years and the electric motor has never caused any issues.

Are you thinking the high voltage battery? For charging, here are some tips (That are also found in the owner's manual)

• Try to use the "Charge By" timer function. This means you tell the car what time to finish charging. (Different from telling the car when to start charging). This reduces the length of time that the battery sits "full" between finishing the charge and when you start driving. It's better if you start driving as soon as it's finished charging
• When leaving on vacation or not driving the vehicle for a long time, park the car with close to an "empty" battery. By that, Toyota means let the car go into hybrid mode (HV mode) before parking the car.
• Avoid charging the car immediately after driving in high heat or after the car has been parked in the heat for a while. Heat reduces the life of the battery. The car may not charge or will charge very slowly to help preserve the life of the battery until the battery temperature is lower
• When you turn off the car in the summer, the car will ask if you would like to use the battery to power the A/C while charging to help keep the battery cool. Select Yes. (it always defaults to No so you have to tell it).
  
• Park in the shade where possible or use tinted windows and/or sunshades to keep the interior cool
• Avoid hard acceleration in high heat (at least until the interior is cool).
• Use the Pre-Cool function when charging (or when plugged in) to allow the interior to cool while the car is plugged in, reducing the load on the battery to cool the car after you unplug and drive off. It also helps with range.