"Vent" on the back next to the seat

Air intake to keep the battery pack cool.

 

Should be in the Manual - Along with the warning not to block it.

 

Exactly..Maggie just do not block it, it keeps the batteries well ventilated. It is for the MAIN high voltage batteries, to get max life, do not block that at any time.

 

It's weird - the fan in our car comes on whenever we go to this place that is on a cliff near the beach. We've gone there four times and all four times, when we get in the car to drive away, it comes on. The weather has been different all 4 times, too. Sometimes cold, sometimes hot, sometimes foggy, sometimes clear. And this is the only time that I have ever heard the fan come on - and it is loud! I though we left the back door ope the first time we heard it!

 

I have never hear mine come on. It's been in the 90s and very hot. Is there a way to check to see if the fan is working? (Startup diag?) Would I hear it from the front seat?
Just wondering?
-Lee

 

I've heard it... hard to hear over radio and a/c fan blowing. It'll come on if need be.

I noticed the rear seats are upside down and facing the wrong way in that graphic... but otherwise very nice.

 

page 16 of your 2005 Owner's Manual, if this helps.

 

OAT is probably not the driving parameter to determine when it runs. High rates of charge/discharge will heat the battery more than air temp. Perhaps there is a hilly area that stresses the battery more near that location, explaining why you hear it there under varying weather conditions.

 

Except that the originator of this thread wrote the following in the "Description of your topic" field: "too lazy to find in the manual, what's it for?"

 

Well, with the exact page #, no need to 'find' it now.

Also, I'm not seeing the 'description of topic' when browsing by 'new posts'. Is there something I don't have configured in the PriusChat interface?

 

Mine has come on twice in 23,000 miles; both times for no apparent reason, since I was just driving away from my house at 6:30 a.m.

 

It shows only in the forum topics menu, not in the new posts listing.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee\";p=\"112882)</div>

The reason the back seat appears to be upside down and facing the wrong way is probably because the photographer put the seat there for safe keeping. The "graphic" is actually a colorized photograph of the area in question. Check out the wire just above the auxiliary battery. I would doubt that a computer graphic artist would even put that wire in, let alone give it such random bends and twists.

 

:roll: "..too lazy to read the manual..."

**SIGH** There's a wealth of information in the Manual. There will likely be a time when those "too lazy" will suffer major inconvenience, possibly even damage, not having invested time to read about it. An example would be how to jump start your Prius, what the warning lights mean, etc.

 

Weird, I was just looking at mine tonight wondering what is was for. I was going to read the manuel tonight to find out what it is for.
Good information especially the graphic.