Followup to Prius battery woes

[RAMd®d]

Some great points were mentioned in the thread.

Sure, it's a good idea to load test the battery and charging system.

But I go with the battery being bad, given its age, the lack of driving, and the typical ambient temperature.

One key point is driving the car for 20min on the freeway, at freeway speeds.

This keeps the RPM up consistently, unlike in stop and go traffic.

As pointed out, at ~1500RPM, the alternator is charging at ~14.5V, and will bring any typical car/truck battery to full charge.

But depending on its condition, the battery may not hold a charge due to lack of capacity as it ages.

Get a new battery, and get a battery maintainer like a Battery Tender Jr or similar.

A maintainer, unlike a trickle charger that may not perform a maintenance charge, can charge then maintain that charge indefinitely, without having to monitor or disconnect it.

Or, it could be connected once or twice a month for a time as dictated by the LED indicators, then disconnected and stored.

But any way you cut it, seven years is a really good run, particularly for getting only casual care.

Time to get a new one.