This app was mentioned in 12 comments, with an average of 1.75 upvotes
Just wanted to offer some info on the Prius battery. I recently purchased a 2011 with 86k miles. I'd like to keep it another decade, so I did some research into how much the battery packs cost.
For my model, a replacement battery pack is $1800 plus shipping. The labor isn't too involved, just a lot of little steps. Here's a very in-depth (and VERY enthusiastic) video: https://youtu.be/Q3RCdrh666w
I also came across this app for Android. It connects to a specific OBDII scanner over Bluetooth, and generates health reports for the battery pack. There is a companion app for reading the reports. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=priusfan.info.bthsd10
Altogether, I decided I'm not worried about the eventual cost of replacing the battery pack. The fuel economy and reliability makes up for it.
It doesn't hurt that it's also the most comfortable interior I've been in for a long time. I regularly have to make a trip 3 hours each way, in one day. This is the only car I've taken where my ass didn't start getting sore until halfway through the return trip, after 4.5hrs on the road.
It's in the Google play store. I'm guessing Apple has it too. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=priusfan.info.bthsd10
I hated how little the dashboard told me too, that's why I love the app so much. Plus, you can control the battery fan and the reverse beep with the app.
I'm going to reply to your addendum separately because I just saw it.
Both of my Prii are not home, so I can't really look at the Dr Prius app to see what it has for the fan. Are you saying your battery fan is going at full blast?
When I was playing with my fan, I used the HybridAssistant app. Not only will it show you when the fan is operating, but you can use it to manually turn the fan on and off and you may be able to reset the temperature the fan is initialized when the app is active. If you want to play with your fan, I'd give that free app a try.
Also, my Carista reader speaks Toyota, so it would tell me when there's an error from the ECU which controls the fan. I don't know that the OBD2 component of Dr Prius is that sophisticated. Because HybridAssistant can be used to control the fan, it may or may not be more able to show fan errors. Though, the fan isn't supposed to be running continuously, the fact that your car seems to be showing an error with a single blade, the only way I can think the two might be connected is that the cell is getting super-hot.
Of course, I really don't know enough about it as just a shadetree guy who works on his own cars with info from the online forums, but I would have to wonder if there might be a miscommunication from the computer or something, ID
FWIW: HybridAssistant may also be worth sampling. They sought input from the PriusChat community when the app was being developed.
I'll add that if you have or purchase a Bluetooth reader and an Android phone, the Hybrid Assistant app can give you the temperature the sensors are getting and info specific to the fan. It's a bit much for a casual user -- I use it along with Dr Prius and the app that came with my reader (Carista) only rarely and mostly just for info.
Of course, simply cleaning the fan may be all it takes and it is definitely the place to start, but since the subject was the fan and people were suggesting apps, I thought I'd add the one I know of with temperature and fan info into the mix.
Good luck!
Trim 3 has the lithium ion pack. I'd recommend hooking a bluetooth OBD2 reader into it.
Hybrid Assistant would allow you to see what the voltage and state of charge are when driving.
Are you inside the factory warranty still?
Here's the app that i use to check for battery life: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=priusfan.info.bthsd10
Fire up the app and select battery check by clicking on the spanner tool (bottom left)
And here's my car's report from last month: http://imgur.com/a/du283K3
Things to look out for are:
I prefer this app's battery health check procedure since it has less steps than dr prius and produces a detailed report.
Glad you are taking care in doing the research work before making a conscious purchase decision.
IMHO for TPMS, it's better with a dedicated display and alert and works immediately when you get into the car before you move off or even while driving instead of not being alerted in a timely manner because the head unit is still powering up or is not showing on the screen. For OBD2 TPMS, they are passive aka indirect and not as accurate as active aka direct TPMS. Google to find out more on the differences.
I hold the same view a dedicated display is better if it's really important or useful to monitor other parameters via OBD2. That's why for those who feel it is, they would get gauges, digital display or use an app on the phone. I personally use Hybrid Assistant on the phone because it's really useful for hybrid vehicles and so deserves a separate screen. The fact that it's not supported in AA don't matter because AA is equally important to share the screen.
Hybrid Assistant gives you all sorts of feedback on what the engine, MG1, MG2, and other systems are doing. Essentially, if you grew up driving a car with a dash full of gauges then this brings them back to a car that's otherwise lacking. It has a variety of options for how the information is represented, including one that shows how the power flows between engine, motors, and battery in a more detailed way than the looping arrows on the HUD. Instead it shows the actual amount of power flowing between each link in a way that demonstrates what that means by how it draws a graph. There's also a braking guide along with a pulse-and-glide guide along with battery testing and HV battery cooling management.
Don't let it distract you from the road. Get used to it in simple controlled situations and then only use it with corner of the eye glances the same as you would a dashboard.
Carista lets you program the various settings that you would normally have to go to the dealer for, things like turning the reverse beeping into just a single beep when you go to reverse, how the AC power output is managed, and how the door locks respond to various situations (more so than what I could access through the menus on the infotainment system on my third gen). I don't like it's pricing structure (you never own the controls outright, you have to pay for weekly or yearly access), but once you have a configuration you like you don't have to pay again. If anyone knows an app with the same control with either a reasonable single payment or free access please let me know.
I'm not sure why I never used more than 5.8 kWh when I charged. Again, maybe the Juicebox takes into account the 8% charger loss, and my 5.8 is into the battery which is about 6.3 from the plug? Range-wise, I could get anywhere from 20 miles to 32 miles, depending on weather/traffic/speed traveled. 24 is good!
They Hybrid Assistant app gives you quite a bit of info on things like temperatures (motors, engine, battery), power usage, MPG, etc. You can export the data (Hybrid Reporter app) into a report that shows you EVERYTHING you would ever want to know about the recorded trip. Plus they have an app to read the info from you tire sensors (Tire Assistant). ALL FOR FREE! (But, ONLY on Android, there may be a similar iOS app, but not from this developer)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=priusfan.info.bthsd10
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=priusfan.info.reportviewer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hybridassistant.tire
You do need an ODB2 reader. The website for the app gives some recommendations, some are better than others. The one I use I got off Amazon = "ScanTool OBDLink LX Bluetooth". It is a little pricey ($50), but works very well and relays the data FAST.
Hyvrid assistant https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=priusfan.info.bthsd10
Bluetooth ELM327, and this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=priusfan.info.bthsd10