Toyota Prius: Just had to replace the Main Battery in my 2001 Prius

"Allen" <com> wrote in message
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I haven't replaced mine. The new battery pack will last until it fails.

I'd like to hear from the Prius Techs as to whether or not one should pull
over under these circumstances or keep driving to a more convenient stopping
point such as a gas station with a towing service.

Bill wrote: 

In my case there was no option of driving to a more convenient place.
The IC engine sounded like it was running 8,000 RPM and was producing
very little power. I was just able to move accross the three lanes on
I75 to the shoulder before it lost all power.

"Allen" <com> wrote in message
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Sounds pretty grim. Eventually, every battery will fail, just like every
hard disk drive. I was hoping it would fall back to an ICE only condition.
I suppose the main battery is running stuff necessary to ICE operation. I
realize Toyota expects the battery to "last the life of the car" but
practically speaking about half of all cars are going to last longer than
the average of all cars.

Bill wrote: 

I have read many accounts of people running out of gas and the electric
motor allowing them to limp to a gas station. But evidently the ICE is
not very functional as a standalone power plant.

It would have been nice if the Prius had provided a little more warning
when the battery condition was nearing its end of life since the
battery failure will immobilize the car.

"Allen" <com> wrote in message
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I would appreciate your taking your case to Toyota and asking them to
engineer a fall-back to the ICE for future models. I'd do it myself, but
having evidence of a failed battery and having endured the consequence of
it's failure to fall-back gives you more credibility.

Bill wrote: 

I really doubt they would do anything for the 2001 version of the
Prius, they may of already addressed the problem in the new model.

The reason that the ICE just revs up with no power being delivered when
the main battery fails, is because the delivery of power to the ring gear of
the Power-Split-Device (and to the wheels) is dependent on there being power
delivered to MG-1 to counter the torque of the ICE. Otherwise the Sun gear
just spins and no torque is delivered to drive the car.

Dick

"Allen" <com> wrote in message
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Dick Byrd wrote: 

Thanks for that explanation, I have been trying all day to figure out
why the ICE behaved the way it did when the battery failed.

Will the newer Prius fail in the same manner if the main battery is
lost?

Allen