Unfortunatelyonly a plug-in hybrid or full EV will have a large enough battery to support heat for the traction battery. Camry is not available as a plug-in hybrid. HopefullyToyota will realize they need to sell cars people want to drive that are dependable in all weather.
WellI really don't see much difference in this regard between a hybrid Camry compared to a non hybrid Camryor any straight gas vehicle for that matter. Both vehicles should have an engine block heater as well as an electric thermal battery blanket for the 12v battery under those extreme conditions. No change there. But a big nod actually goes to the hybrid being better suited to starting under these extreme conditions due to the fact that it uses a direct drive 54 hp motor applying power directly to the crank shaft to start the carinstead of a small gear reduction starter motor that produces maybe 2 hp of power. Add that to the fact that the starter motor on a straight gas engine only cranks the engine at 200 to 300 rpm compared to the 54 hp MG1 spinning the motor at 1200 to 1500 rpm to start it. Quite a difference. I don't know if you noticed how quickly that RAV4 in @rl1910's post started as well as the Prius in
@ukrkoz's video did. It was right now.
So the big thing in question is how well the Li-Ion traction battery will hold up and operate in these extreme conditions. Toyota says the battery will function down to -22f. But what will happen to it if left unattended in -40f temperature for a period of time. I don't know the answer to that. We need someone to chime in that's actually experienced it with their Li-Ion battery equipped hybrid. Some say it will brick the battery and forever be toast. Other's say Li-Ion batteries can survive if left to thaw out on their own without trying to artificially accelerate the process. And then there's those that say you can actually restore the life to a Li-Ion battery by putting it in the freezer for 24 hours. Who is right? I don't know. But I do know that it wouldn't prevent me from owning a hybrid if I had the unfortunate reality of living in a place where it got that cold. I would just approach it the same way people did when I lived in Sidney MT for the Winter.
In Sidney there were two ways of handling it. You either plugged your car in (everybody had engine heaters and electric wraps around their batteries) or you simply left it running if you couldn't plug it in. If you didn'tyou could forget about using that car until next Spring when it finally thawed out. I worked for a trucking company and we had a truck that sat idling for at least 6 weeks because we didn't have a driver for it. We just had to keep fueling it up because if it ever died and sat for more than an hourit was done for the season because we'd never be able to get it started again until after the thaw.
One of you suggested putting a space heater on the floor behind the front seatbut hadn’t actually done that (becauseI thinkthey hadn’t experienced that much cold).
Yup. That was me. But I haven't had to try it because I don't live where it get's that cold anymorenot because I hadn't experienced it. In factI got the idea from living in Sidney where some people would actually put a small heater in their cars just to keep the seats from cracking when they got into the car. A small heater on low is perfectly fine if placed properly. This is what I was referring to.
This is a little ceramic heater that I have and the passenger seat is slid all the way forward. The shell of the heater is pretty much cool to the touch and when on low I can hold my hand about 18" in front of it without much discomfort. I have it aimed at the battery air intake on the right corner of the seat. The nice thing about Toyota's latest hybrids is that the battery is under the rear seat within the passenger compartmentso it benefit's from the climate within the car. Keep in mind that you only have to keep it above -22f to be sure the system will turn on. Once on you're home free.
If I ever had to move back to a place like Sidney MT (God forbid!) I wouldn't hesitate to do this. It's no different than what other people living there are doing already if they want their cars to survive. And if you don't have access to a power outlet and you have to resort to leaving your car runningour hybrids are the perfect vehicle for that too. Far better than a straight gas car. Because the hybrid system can be left on indefinitely and it will start and stop the engine on a "as needed" basisinstead of just leaving it running all the time. You can just set the hvac on LO and that would be sufficient to keep the battery and interior at a reasonable temperature. People who are into "van life" like buying Sienna's because they can just leave them on all night to keep warm in the Winter and cool in the Summer. The van uses very little gas while maintaining their comfort level. This put's our hybrids on another level when it comes to keeping it ready for use under extreme conditions. Just keep gas in the tank with a fuel additive to keep moisture from freezing in the bottom of the tank. And you can even lock the car and leave it running if you need to leave it. Simply start the systemlock all the doorsopen the drivers door only from the interior handleand once outside with the door closeduse the mechanical key from your fob to lock the door. Voila'! Car's locked and the system is on. Then you just have to unlock the car with the mechanical key when you return.
These are really superior vehicles under extreme conditions if just understood and used properly. I hope this helps anyone concerned about this.
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