Excel Hybrid 12V Battery Prone To Discharge

[Guest]

Hi Kevin,

I have had a few Diesel Avensis, and a petrol Corolla and 08 Auris the write ups on the new diesels seem better than the new petrol

the diesel I drove was lovely and the wife prefers a manual gear change,

the Hybrid is a tad noisy on our local terrain, lovely on the flat but annoying on gradients reminds me of clutch slip, also fogs up easily in the wet when in EV mode below 40 mph, got to admit I have no faith in those batteries now,

[inspiredron]

My experience precisely! See my posts in

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/130644-prius-series-3-12v-battery/

Interestingly timberwolf posted there:

"The has been a weakness in all the Prius models. With a conventional car, the 12V
Battery has to be large enough to crank over an engine, so the standby current
needed to run the electronics for the alarm and remote locking is only a
tiny fraction of that needed to crank the engine. On a Prius, the 12V
Battery is small because it only has to power up the various computers,
energise 3 relays and run a few pumps, so the standby current to keep
the alarm and remote locking is much more significant drain than if a
larger Battery had been used.

It is also claimed by some owners that the charging system used in the Prius, does not really do a good
job of keeping the battery fully charged. Interestingly, Toyota USA have
a Technical Service Bulletin that detailed how the dealer was meant to
charge the 12V battery before the car was delivered to the customer. In the UK, I got blank
looks from the both sales and service when I asked my local dealer if
they were going to my car before delivery."

I also started a thread pointing out my concerns that the charging system has the potential to fry the 12V battery - see

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/141460-excessive-charging-voltage-kills-12v-battery-on-prius-3/

I have found that the first sign of the battery dropping is that I try
to put the car in drive before it is ready. When the battery is charged
enough it is very difficult to get into Drive before the car is Ready!
I have a Lidl Ctek type charger (£13.99) which I use when necessary to
top up the battery. When I need to replace (which may well be next year!) I will try to get one that
can be topped up and will look for higher capacity as well.

I do short journeys mainly but have noticed that when the battery is reasonably charged the charging voltage (as measured by Scangauge) does drop after a couple of miles PROVIDED that there is no load such as lights or aircon. I have also noticed that the Scangauge voltage is about 0.3V higher than that shown on the hidden diagnostic screen.

I hope this helps you - at least to see what is happening.

[geo13647]

Mr T forgot to mention, that as a Beta tester for their Auris Excel Hybrid, you will, as well as the significant cost of the car,

Have to cough up for a proper 12v Battery (upwards of £70) an intelligent charger (upwards of £40) etc...