If I'm at an intersection or drive-thru and the engine shuts off will the headlights and accessories be a direct drain on the 12 volt battery? or are these powered from the traction battery? A side question: When its dark out, you cant see or read some of the instrument lights (example: the park button) so i need to turn the headlights on to see/read the instrument buttons... and thus draining the 12volt battery? I've never own a hybrid before and I'm used to keeping all electrical items off when the enging is off. I've had bad luck with dead batteries.
Yes and no. The headlights are 12volt so technically they run off the 12volt battery but the battery is kept charged via the DC-DC converter so technically the traction battery ultimately supplies the power for the12volt devices.
just keep the car 'ready' whenever you have something on, and it will take care of itself. acc is okay for occasional few minutes use, but not advised, because the hybrid battery is not keeping the 12v charged. also, fyi, when you plug the car in, the 12v gets some charge while the hybrid battery is charging
