The Hybrid Vehicle

Batteries are included !

I think we have all spent a Christmas morning, or just bought a new gadget and it said we had to add the batteries. Imagine my surprise when I picked up our local weekly newspaper and found information on the new hybrid cars.

Let's share some basic information so that we might be ahead of the curve when we finally start having incidents with these vehicles.

The two that I know of currently are the Honda Insight, and the Toyota Prius.

The basics of the vehicles are that they run on gasoline and are in fact supplemented by large battery storage generally located in the trunk.

I have more information on the Prius from a Toyota pamphlet I was able to obtain.

Let's take a look at the things that could affect emergency services responders:

The batteries are Nickel Metal Hydride Type.

In the Prius all high voltage wires are colored orange.

Total voltage is about 275 volts !

The electrolyte in the batteries is Potassium Hydroxide. Batteries are sealed and should not leak unless punctured. Potassium Hydroxide is highly alkaline and hazardous to humans in many forms as well as it's corrosive nature.

Vehicle Fire: They recommend (Toyota) Class D extinguishers or large volumes of water. Application of small amounts of water can be dangerous.

Flammable metal precautions may be in order.

Remember in all cases that water is also a great conductor! After knockdown be cautious touching the wet vehicle.

Prius brochure actually indicates a shut down and disconnect procedure. It is too complicated to discuss in detail here.

Batteries are located in the trunk area. This tends to offset the gas tank in some cases. The Gas tank of the Honda Insight is in the right rear and is 10.6 gallons.

I certainly do not have all the answers on this one, and I would suggest that if you have a local dealer in your area you ask for a demo. The websites are OK but I did not find as much info as I wanted. There are not many of these vehicles out there yet but I am sure we will discover them soon enough.

I am truly in favor of this new technology and I think responders just need to be on their toes!

Any info you might have on these let's share it and pass it on.