moving "dead" car

You can't get it out of park unless you can get into the ready mode, so you need both batteries. But if only the 12V is dead you can always jump it from the under hood connector. As soon as the car goes into Ready the traction battery will come on line and charge the 12V battery.

If you need to get the hatch open with a dead battery you need to crawl back there and open it manually, owner's manual shows where the latch is.

I plan on replacing my 12V battery after it's about 4 years old just in case, think I'll use one of these.

12 Volt (12v) Toyota Prius Auxilary Battery for 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 with installation kit

Can't vouch for the site though, I get a warning from my browser that they can't be trusted. But the idea is good and you can pick up a yellow top Optima and make or buy the cables. It would be better and cheaper than the batteries the Toyota dealers sell.

 

I have been backing into my garage for 5.5 years now and never any problems. Batteries do not go bad instantaneously so in the meantime you can prepare by get.ting a battery charger or a known good 12V spare and connect it to the bat jumper points under the hood, it's good practice. There is a release somewhere inside the trunk, but you have to climb over the seat, also good practise. Personally I would do the former. Observe polarities.

 

You can charge the 12V battery from the jump-start terminals under the hood, which is easy to get to even if you have no power at all - the mechanical key can unlock the driver's door, and the hood is a mechanical lever. So if your battery dies while you're parked back-end into your garage you should be fine, no crawling into the back looking for the mechanical hatch release.

 

Further, you can move the car if you lift the front wheels off the ground. A floor jack with wheels on a smooth concrete surface makes this possible. Just in case.

 

Keep in mind that it doesn't take a lot of current to jump start a Prius, so you can make an extra long set of jumper cables that will reach under the hood even if the car is parked front-in.

Tom

 

Such as these. 10 Gauge finely stranded, and note the solid copper clips, the small ones are for the Prius. The large ones are for the electron force "doner". Mueller clips, cable designed for troller motors (boats). DO NOT build cables like this and try to use them on "normal" cars. They will overheat in that use. Fine for Prius or other hybrids though, as long as they use the Toyota system.

 

OR: hook up two 6 V lantern batteries in series.

 

I thought about trying this recently, but I don't think they have the current capacity needed - their internal resistance is too high. As has been noted before, you need something that can supply about 40 Amps for a few seconds.

One my coworkers suggested just keeping a short stack of watch batteries around if I ever need to jump start my car. If only...

 

If you could connect AA NiMH cells in series with low resistance connections that would work. You need 10 cells. The commonly available plastic holders aren't really good enough though. The interconnects can't handle the current and the contact resistance is too high. Perhaps tabbed cells, soldered or spot welded together.

But the easiest thing to use is a "booster pack". Available at auto parts stores everywhere, and not very expensive. Make a short "adapter clip" to ensure easy connection to the boost terminal underhood and you're set.

 

I have not actually tried 2 lantern bat, but do keep a small gel (block) rated at 7 Amperes. It works fine. I keep it handy under the right front seat, in an old fannypack.