hybrid storage

What does the owners manual say ?> ? ? Z.

Starting would not recharge the costly Hybrid storage battery - isn't that just charged thru regenerative braking? I'd have someone drive 30 miles every couple of weeks. I'd also top up gas (since most winterblends have ethanol in them) and perhaps add gas stabilizer. Good idea to have oil changed just before you park it too - to remove acids/contaminates in oil. I'd be happy to keep it charged up and washed for you.

Braking alone would never keep the battery pack charged. The engine charges it when it can spare the power. I'd top off the tank with mid-grade gas (extra detergents), and run it until hot (not just by idling it!) once a month.

I've owned a Camry Hybrid since August '06.

While these newsgroups are good for "standard" or "normal"" cars, sometimes due to the unique (and misunderstood) functions such as hybrid operations lead to a lot of incorrect conclusions.

For items relating to the Prius and TCH (Toyota Camry Hybrid), I'd recommend to go to the forums in PriusChat.com and GreenHybrid.com. Those forums contain the most knowledgeable information concerning the Toyota Hybrids.(GreenHybrid also has links for other manufacturers (Honda, etc).)

There, you can find more definitive answers to your questions. Some of the posters have owned Prius' since the "early days", and a few even are certified Toyota Hybrid techs working in Toyota Service Departments.

There are threads that can answer most of your questions. Most of the posters even back up their statements with references and links to tech and repair manuals.

For your particular question:

Before you store your car, make sure that your traction battery is fully charged, then before you leave, disconnect the Negative cable for the 12 V battery. (I believe this is to prevent parasitic discharging.) About once a month or every other month, have someone reconnect the battery and restart the car. If you don't want them to drive the car, just have the car sit in park until the traction battery is charged back up. DO NOT put it in NEUTRAL!. The car does not charge while in neutral.

Again, more definitive data is available from the forums.

John

wouldn't battery tenders be a help.

mike..........

'll have to be a member of the camryhybrid yahoogroup to view thefile) US TSB PD020-06 March 31, 2006. 2007 Camry HV. MAINTENANCE FOR HV BATTERY & AUXILLIARY BATTERY.

Basically, if you have someone come by about every 2 weeks to drive your car around for about a half hour, you should be fine. (When the car is in READY, the gasoline engine comes on as needed to warm itself up and to recharge the hybrid battery. The hybrid battery recharges the 12v battery via a step-down converter circuit.)

Otherwise, you'll want to look into either disconnecting the 12v battery, or hooking up a smart trickle-charger/battery-minder (one that won't overcharge or undercharge your 12v battery).

Everything else is just like a regular car. Get an oil change before leaving it if it'll be going past by time while you're gone. Watch that the windshield wipers won't get stuck to your windshield (put some paper under them). If gone long enough, get some fuel stabilizer (but make sure that it is compatible with your AT-PZEV fuel tank system).

Those hybrids seem like more bother than they're worth, unless you're one of the tree-huggers who wear this sort of thing on their sleeve.

Yeah. Buy a Humvee at GSA auction. With all the money you save on the purchase you can buy lots of gas and maintenance, roll over all sorts of objects - animate and inanimate, and make the body and tranny shops happy. It will be great for the economy and a good use of your social security checks. They'll also love you in Motown. Don't forget to mount dual flags on the rain gutters and install an "ooogah" horn. .............................. This will shut down Windows, do you want to play another game ?