My Prius's CA carpool lane stickers just expired and i needed to get an NGV car with white stickers so i can keep using 'the lanes.' I got a 2008 Civic CNG car with white stickers. I will mostly be using that car until i retire from my driving-intensive job in 15 months or so and then expect to sell the Civic and return to full time use of the Prius. I would like to find out the minimum amount of driving i need to do while i'm primarily using the Civic, to keep the Prius in good health and not let the battery die. How much driving would that be? once a week?
Driving it for 30 minutes a month should be plenty. I'd turn off the smart key system to prevent parasitic battery drain and/or hook up a battery tender to the 12 volt. For long-term storage, the owner's manual recommends running the engine for 30 minutes every 3 months. We put one of ours in storage for 6 months at a time with no issues but we (a) have a neighbor run it for 5 - 10 minutes per month, and (b) have an Optimate batery tender hooked up to the 12 volt terminals under the hood. We use an Optimate 3+ in CO and an Optimate 4 in AZ.
jaw444, I'm glad you asked this question. After reading some threads on this forum, I being a new Prius owner was concerned about finding my Prius dead from not driving it daily. M8s, your answer helps me feel better about my Prius. I drive a 2000 Honda Insight MT on my daily commute, my Prius won't be used most weekdays. My Lincoln Navigator can sit months without being started and is fine. My Insight can sit weeks without being started and is fine... I was really concerned about the Prius because it does not have the 12 volt starter as the Insight does. jaw444, is using the HOV lanes in California so important to your commute that you have to purchase a new car for it? Here in Atlanta, hybrid vehicles don't qualify for the ALT Fuel license plates thus no HOV lane access but even when I do use the HOV lanes (second person in vehicle) I haven't found that much of a time savings for me.
Of course you could keep using the Prius in the car pool lanes by, you know, car pooling. Then you'd be using the Prius half as much or less but not so infrequently to be an issue.
since when did clean air decals expire??? (I know our NY ones don't) and I know the Cali clean air pass program is gone...but the existing decals?
What government can give, government can also take away. If you are interested in details about the CA clean air sticker program, see this website: Clean Air Stickers High Occupancy Vehicle HOV Lane Usage It should not be a surprise to CA Prius owners that the carpool lane access program was coming to an end. An expiration date was established at the outset of the program. That date was subsequently delayed until July 1 of this year. Regarding the OP's question about Prius storage, if he makes the vehicle READY for 30 minutes each month (not necessary to actually drive the car) that should be enough to keep the traction battery in good shape. However, that may not be sufficient run time to keep the 12V battery charged up, depending upon its current state of charge and whether it is already in marginal condition or not. It would be better to hook up the 12V battery to a battery charger overnight periodically (like 2x per month), or disconnect it when the car is not in use.
