Explaining why the 12V battery in all hybrids and EVs depletes - and how to manage the problem!
(I answered this in video form, but I thought an article would help people find it too!) As part of my research into buying an EV or hybrid, one complaint I heard was that, perhaps especially on the Toyota Yaris models, the 12V battery tended to die if the car wasn’t used for a few weeks, then requiring a jump start from a battery pack or another car. And there’s a lot in this. Not least because the problem is endemic to all cars, though more so with more recent models, as there’s more going on - literally - under the hood. Let’s start with the 12V battery itself, a lot smaller in hybrids and EVs than in traditional pure petrol cars because it doesn’t need to be beefy enough to crank a starter motor. Which is mainly why you don’t hear of 12V depletion in those cars - the larger batteries can withstand much longer periods of inactivity. A 12V battery is used to run the car’s lights, computers, air conditioning (usually), cabin fan, engine pumps and fans and power steering, that sort o...