Running DrPrius for longer battery life

I'm just going with the car's programming. The battery fan may be running more than you think. Do you have anything monitoring the fan speed and battery temp?

I found with ScanGauge II, with an X-Gauge programmed in to monitor fan speed and another for battery temp: car fully warmed up, doing about 80 kmh on a coastal highway on a cool summer evening, something like 20c outside temp, the hybrid battery was around 35C, and the fan speed was 2 (out of maybe 5 speeds?).

Then, in stop-and-go traffic, using AC, hot day, IIRC I'd see battery temps around 40C and and fan speed 4. Something like that. Nicely synced with Celsius temps?

FWIW, I've never "heard" the fan.

 

If you are using the a/c, then you have cool air blowing over the battery.
You don't need to have the fan running full on the whole time.

 

If you are using an Android phone there is an app called Hybrid Assistant, and from my understanding it allows for manual control of the fan. I have not used it personally, but it could possibly be something to look into.

I'm new to the Prius, but from my understanding as long as you have A/C blowing, you should be able to keep cool air flowing over the battery as long as air path is unobstructed, and the fan is clean.

 

yes, others do this. at 115f i think it's a good idea, can't hurt.

it would be interesting to see battery temps with normal operation vs high speed all the time.

 

As long as you run your ac in very hot weather you don't need to run the battery fan faster. Here is 102f ambient with over an hour of driving and the battery intake is 88f. You will notice the motor generators run much hotter as does the engine but they are all designed for those temperatures. But the battery "could" get much hotter without ac.

 

Anytime you are in Ready the hv fan will also run if the hv battery needs it. The ac will cool it better than using 95-100f ambient.

When you have a ten year old hybrid battery, replacement or major maintenance is in your future. There is no magic preventative strategy other than avoiding months long periods of non use. I would concentrate on the engine health more. A blown head gasket or engine is more expensive than replacing the battery cells.

 

I'd be interested in that as well. Not sure it's possible to have a good control in a natural setting though. I like to ride with windows down in the summer and my battery gets pretty darn hot (120-140F is not uncommon). The fan, which I'll often run full speed, seems to have a very minimal effect if any. I've cleaned out the fan but never cleaned the battery area or anything (if there's anything to clean there, I've heard the air flow path can get dusty).

 

Despite the energy it consumes directly, running the air conditioner enough to keep the interior under 80°F or so is likely to cost less in the long term than trying to cool the battery with hot, dusty outside air.

The highest battery temperatures I've seen were around 48°C (118°F), always during traffic jams on Interstates.

 

i've read others who say a/c doesn't make much difference either.

i think the whole design is geared to get as many batteries beyond warranty, with the least amount of cost

 

AC does make a difference. Not using it at 120f is very bad for the hv battery.

 

i could accept that with evidence

 

I've had our car heat-soaked in direct sun after an extended drive, parked for about 30 minutes. Ambient temp around 90F. Started up, and drove without AC for about 10 minutes, monitoring battery temp sensor #2. Battery temp sat stable, somewhere around 40C. Then turned AC on, set it cold. After about another 10 minutes battery temp had dropped, about 1C...

 

there's your evidence

 

I do use AC when it's really hot and it makes a difference but 120F is still not uncommon. I have a black interior, always parked in the sun and take constant short trips where I often attempt to hyper-mile, it's also a 2011. I'll take the trade off (enjoying driving more).

 

window tint and shades?

 

I use Dr. Prius to run my battery intake fan at full blast and have the AC on 98% of the time. Battery temp is usually around 102-107F.

Dr. Prius only works for this if it’s the active app on the screen, app goes inactive if you get a phone call or play a podcast. Serious flaw IMO. So when I drive Uber I bring an iPad with me to just run Dr. Prius and that has been working well.