Open the hood, remove the fuse box’s top, reveal the tiny red cover, and attach jumper wires or a jump box to the hot and ground terminals. Get in and put the car in neutral.
In This Article...
Without a key, how do you put a Prius in neutral?
A However, as my neighbor Emmett learned, putting a Prius into neutral is more difficult than it is with most models. He is a fan of technology and one of those men who enjoys figuring out how things operate.
He drove his 2006 Prius through some residential streets at a slow speed while repeatedly attempting to put the gearshift into neutral. Before eventually succeeding, he first tried four times and failed. Then he sent a letter outlining his issues to Consumer Reports. Why was it so difficult?
In a conventional car, neutral is reached with just one simple motion. You only need to move the shift lever to the “Position N. However, Emmett discovered that with the Prius, you must first push the shift lever to “N, keep it there, and then wait a fraction of a second for the transmission to change into neutral.
A runaway vehicle can also be stopped, but with the Prius and an increasing number of other vehicles, that is not always possible. James Sikes, the San Diego driver whose activities are under investigation, claims he didn’t know how to put his Prius into neutral. It remains to be determined if this was a fraud, but his assertion appears believable.
Q It appears much simpler to turn off the ignition than to dial 911 and wait for a police car to arrive in front of you. There must be something missing here.
A You and a lot of other people are. Toyota and an increasing number of automakers employ a keyless technology that enables users to start and stop their vehicles with the touch of a button. The issue is that some motorists are unaware that in order to turn off their Prius while driving, they must hold the button down for three to four seconds. No luck after one press. No luck after multiple presses of the button. This issue beyond the Prius. 41 models have a push button four years ago. There are currently 155.
Confusion is increased by the fact that different push-button models have different instructions for turning off moving cars. In some models, pressing the button twice or three times in a row will activate it. In some, only one tap is necessary. For information on how to shut off your automobile in an emergency, consult your driver’s manual.
Here’s what safety experts advise if your car accelerates suddenly:
- Put your full weight on the brake and keep applying pressure. Avoid squealing the brakes.
- If the vehicle won’t slow down, try to shift into neutral and keep braking.
- As you slow down, pull to the curb or shoulder, turn on your emergency lights, and turn off your car.
- If your car has an engine start/stop button, turn it off in accordance with the directions in your owner’s manual.
- To turn off the engine in a car with a traditional key ignition, turn the key to the ACC position. Avoid removing the key since doing so can lock the steering wheel.
A Roadshow spin on this tale may be interesting. Take the freeway in your Prius, and when no one is around, try to put the car in neutral. Does it permit you?
How is a hybrid Toyota Prius towed?
We adore questions from readers, and on occasion they inspire entries like this one:
In the Prius owner’s manual, there are numerous, numerous, numerous legally required cautions about what you should and shouldn’t do near your car, and they handed us excerpts from that text. But there was useful information tucked away in the warnings and boxed alerts.
The short answer is no, whether it is an RV or a car, you should never flat-tow a Prius hybrid. (Amusingly, Toyota refers to it as “dinghy-towing,” a term we weren’t familiar with.)
It turns out that the business recommends that you always keep the front wheels off the ground when towing a Toyota Prius in order to protect the transmission. They are the ones that utilize the eCVT technology, an electronic continuously variable gearbox, to combine the torque of the engine and the two motor-generators.
Therefore, if a Prius is being towed from the front, the front wheels must be raised using a wheel lift (Toyota advises against using tow trucks with dolly-style wheels).
The front wheels of a Prius must always be in a rolling cradle or dolly when being towed from the rear. Under no circumstances may the front wheels of a Prius be on the ground.
If flat-towing a Prius on all four wheels is absolutely essential in an emergency, it should only be done over short distances and at speeds of 18 mph or less.
Which suggests that you might need to find another vehicle to pull that RV behind, as we expect.
How can you shift into neutral without starting your car?
Check the area of the console by the shift lever or dial. A small plastic cover should be visible; it is typically square and blends in with its surroundings. It may also include a small slot. Check your owner’s manual to find the location of the manual park release if you can’t find it there. With care, take off this cover with a flathead screwdriver so as not to harm the console. Once turned off, store it securely to prevent loss. Right now, a little tab will be shown in the console. Depending on your vehicle, take a flathead or a key and push it down or over while applying the brakes. Avoid exerting excessive pressure. If you experience too much resistance, check your owner’s manual to make sure which direction you should push. Try to shift into neutral while keeping the tab depressed. To do this, grip the shift lever or dial normally (holding in the button if it’s a lever).
Before attempting to move the automobile anyplace, be careful to reinstall the lid and release the parking brake. Of course, if you are manually moving a car or have it in neutral, make sure someone is inside the vehicle to control the steering or apply the brakes as necessary. Once the car is where you need it, shift it back into park and engage the parking brake once more.
For routine maintenance and repairs, you may rely on one of our 17,000 NAPA AutoCare facilities or browse all the batteries that are offered on NAPAOnline. Visit your neighborhood NAPA Auto Parts store to speak with a trained specialist for more details on a dead car battery.
How can a dead hybrid battery be used to start a Prius?
How to Leap a Prius: The Steps
- Step 1: To locate the jump start terminal, open the hood of your automobile and check under the fuse box cover.
- Step 2: Join your car’s positive terminal to the red positive jumper cord.
- Step 3: Join the second red positive cable to the helping vehicle’s positive battery terminal.
A hybrid can it be towed?
Range is the last consideration. If you attach a bulky or inefficiently aerodynamic weight to the back of your battery-operated vehicle, your electricity usage is likely to increase significantly. Caravan owners in particular face this problem because they frequently desire to travel far in search of camping grounds. A glaring illustration of this was the usage of an E-tron by Audi North America in 2020 to tow an 1800kg trailer 500 miles from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Austin, Texas. Overall, the electric SUV only covered about 100 miles between charges, which is less than half of its untethered range of 241 miles.
While many EVs cannot tow, there are those that can, and more are entering showrooms every day as consumers start to gradually wean themselves off of fossil fuels. Unsurprisingly, Tesla is at the top of the list of electric cars with the ability to tow, and its gull-winged Model X SUV can tow up to 2270kg when utilizing a braked trailer.
The Mercedes-Benz EQC and Audi E-tron SUVs, which can each tow a 750kg unbraked load and an 1800kg braked trailer, are next in the muscle stakes. All versions of the Polestar 2 have a braked limit of 1500kg and 750kg unbraked. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 and closely comparable Kia EV6 can carry braked weight of up to 1,600kg, as can the Tesla Model Y.
The Nissan Ariya, which will debut later in 2022, will offer the same 1,500kg restriction as the forthcoming Ssangyong Korando e-Motion.
VW’s twin-motor ID4 GTX has a 1,200kg weight limit, which is the same as the top-tier Skoda Enyaq iV 80x and Audi Q4 e-tron 55 quattro with the same underpinnings.
The upcoming Renault Megane E-Tech EV60, which can tow a 900-kg braked trailer, is immediately below this.
A wide range of vehicles, including the entry-level Renault Megane E-Tech, the BMW iX3, the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Jaguar i-Pace, the Mercedes EQA, and the Mercedes EQS, are listed at the bottom of the towing tables. This number effectively restricts them to the smallest and middle-sized caravans.
Other electric cars that can tow include the Stellantis electric MPV trio, which consists of the Vauxhall Vivaro e-Life, Citroen e-SpaceTourer, and Peugeot e-Traveller. These cars can all tow up to 1000 kg.
The rear-wheel drive versions of the VW ID4 and the nearly related Skoda Enyaq IV both achieve this figure.
Hybrid vehicles, including the plug-in and self-charging kinds, may be a superior option for towing. These machines are less restricted by range anxiety since you can easily pull in and fill up at any petrol forecourt when you have an internal combustion engine backup. They also don’t have as strong of a regenerative braking effect, which means the motor and electronic control unit aren’t as stressed. Even better, there are more models to pick from.
As mild hybrids are just standard internal-combustion vehicles with an expanded starter-generator unit that doesn’t supply any independent motive force, we’ll ignore them in this discussion. For more conventional hybrids, or those that require self-charging, the Toyota Prius and CH-R can tow up to 725 kg, while the Corolla adds 25 kg to that total, which is the same as that of the Honda CR-V Hybrid and Hyundai Ioniq. The Toyota RAV4 with four-wheel drive can tow 1650 kg, whilst the Kia Niro has a bit more power and can pull a braked trailer up to 1300 kg. This is the same number that the hybrid models of the new Kia Sorento, Hyundai Santa Fe, and the Hyundai Tucson all obtained (in both hybrid and PHEV guises). However, the Lexus RX 450h wins the prize for greatest towing capacity thanks to its amazing 2000kg capabilities.
However, plug-in hybrids are your best option if you want to tow the heaviest loads. Some aren’t much better than their self-charging siblings; for example, the Kia Niro PHEV can tow exactly 1300 kg, just like its hybrid twin, according to the Citroen C5 Aircross PHEV-c. Sadly, the DS 7 Crossback E-Tense 4×4, despite having an identical engine, can only handle 1200kg. The Kia Sorento PHEV, which is mechanically very similar to the Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV, lists a braked maximum of 1500kg, while the Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV claims a maximum of 1350kg. The Volkswagen Golf GTE has a restriction of 1600kg, whilst the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, Toyota RAV4 PHEV, and Suzuki Across all have a braked maximum of 1500kg. While the larger E-Class can tow 2,100kg in both petrol 300e and diesel 300de configurations, the Mercedes C300e saloon and estate can only manage 1,800kg.
Volvo has put a lot of effort into improving its towing capabilities; the V60 T8 Recharged can tow 2000 kg, which is 100 kg less than the similarly powered XC60 T8 Recharge. While the Audi Q7 TFSIe, BMW X45E, and Mercedes GLE300de can all tow a substantial 2,700kg, the larger Volvo XC90 T8 Recharge can tow up to 2,350kg.
The Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid and the next VW Touareg R are at the top of the towing tree. These two huge SUVs, which share a V6 gasoline engine and plug-in electric motor, can tow braked trailers and caravans weighing up to 3500 kg, which is the highest weight allowed by any car. A vehicle must be designated as a large goods vehicle in order to tow more. This tremendous level of pulling is also possible from the V8-powered Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid and the Land Rover Defender P400e. The car would need to be reclassified as a big goods vehicle in order to tow anything beyond 3,500 kg, but oddly the similarly plug-in driven Range Rover Sport can only manage 2,500 kg.
An EV or hybrid vehicle may experience roadside problems, much like a typical internal-combustion vehicle. In pure-electric vehicles, a flat battery is just as likely to be the culprit as a mechanical problem, but in either case, there are going to be times when you need to be pulled to safety from the side of the road. How simple is it to tow a disabled hybrid or an immobile electric vehicle? You’ll need to transport the car to a garage, your house, or a charging station.
The best recommendation is often to call a breakdown recovery service rather than doing a do-it-yourself rescue using a conventional tow line. When towing with all four wheels on the ground, you run the risk of harming the drivetrain and the control systems because many EVs lack a neutral position in the transmission, which keeps the motor (or motors in four-wheel-drive vehicles) permanently active. The majority of manufacturers advise mounting the vehicle on a flatbed truck as a result.
The driven wheels of two-wheel-drive vehicles can be lifted off the ground using a towing dolly, although even in that case, it is advised to avoid using this technique if at all possible because many EVs and hybrids have electronic parking brakes that activate immediately after the ignition is turned off.
However, the AA is testing unique free-wheeling hub attachments, so there might be a simpler alternative in the works. These clever accessories, which resemble space-saving spare wheels, may be rapidly connected to the back wheels of electric or hybrid vehicles that have broken down. These hubs have a big diameter, which enables the wheels of the damaged car to be lifted off the ground and kept still. The automobile may then be rescued without putting any strain on the electrical drivetrain when the front wheels are raised off the ground by a towing dolly. Neat.