I repaired my Gen I traction battery -replaced two "units" - it worked great. (Lots of on line help too - thanks) Now I want to go on 2000 mile trip in northern British Columbia - very rural. Can I assess the probability of traction battery failure in upcoming 2000 miles. If the battery were to fail - is the car driveable on the gas engine alone?
Won't run on gas engine alone. And predicting the future is always a difficult proposition. If this is like "Stranded" and I need to get rescued type of rural? I might rent a car. But definitely tell people where you are going, when you'll be back and carry a cell phone.
A cell phone won't do you much good in most of Northern BC - there's little coverage, especially between towns. Regardless of your vehicle's condition, carrying basic food and water for a few days is a really good idea.
As excellently noted above, you're going to want to use some of your Prius' storage space for emergency supplies. It's not just the batteries. You're driving a 12-year old car with diminutive off-road capabilities into what you describe as a "very rural" area...and it's getting kinda late in the year for that sorta thing. You said "miles" instead of using clicks, so I'm making the usual insensitive assumption that you're not a BC native. What are the roads like where you're going? WHEN are you going? How far "North"? Distress radiobeacon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
You cannot. Who knows whether the next battery module will fail in one week or one year? The only thing to be guaranteed is that eventually more modules will fail - and probably sooner vs. later. If you need a high-reliability vehicle then you will need to do a complete job of replacing all traction battery modules with new modules - or at minimum used 2G modules from a later model year like 2007 or better. The car requires the traction battery to be functional.
We need details: How long ago and miles was the repair done? Do you have a Prius-aware scanner to read out the 19 module pair voltages and four temperatures? What are the minimum and maximum voltage pairs and voltages? Describe the battery stress testing and results? I don't know the area you are planning to visit but there are no guarantees. If there are lots of hills and mountains, it might not be the best place to go as long descents can 'heat pump' the battery by charging to high levels. Heat is the enemy and descending long downgrades risks charge heating the traction battery and leading to an early failure. When descending hill and mountains, use "B" to help mitigate the heat charging. Without a Prius-aware scanner, you are driving blind to the vehicle health but it could be 'exciting.' Bob Wilson
