[georgia]

Hey all. My wife posted a question earlier regarding adding stereo equipment. Our Prius does not have the JBL system and I'm interested in adding one or two external amplifiers via high level speaker inputs from the stock stereo, convertering to low level to the external aftermarket amps.

After talking w/ the sales guy, it sounds like I should be treating this situation like any other car. The hybrid parts only interact w/ the powertrain of the vehicle, assisting the gas engine. Therefore, I should only consider the extra load of amplifiers going against the alternator (I assume it has one).

My real question arises here. The "normal" 12 volt battery itself lies in the rear passenger part of the car. I have yet to look closely at it, but can I connect my amps there just as I would if the battery were in the front engine compartment with an "average" car? Sales guy said jumpstarting must occur at the jumpstart post under the hood, not in the rear of the car. The salesguy said to contact one of his mechanices on Monday regarding my Prius questions, but I thought I'd start here. Any comments? Thanks!

 

[HIVOLTAGE]

Sorry, No alternators. Only Inverter/converter technology. Be mindful of how much amperage your amplifiers will draw. With lights, stereo, extra amplifiers, wipers, fog lamps etc running all at the same time say if you were driving in rain, you "may or may not" overload the system.

 

[DanMan32]

Electrically, there's no difference having the battery in the back as in the front. There's only one reason why the front jumper terminals would be preferred over jumping from the battery itself: access. If the battery is dead, it is really difficult to open the hatch, then to remove the battery access panel.

I thought also of fuse protection, but I think the battery terminals would provide better fused protection.
The DC/DC converter, which is integrated into the inverter, subs for an alternator. It converts 206V from the traction battery to 12V at about 80A, typical of an average car alternator.

The problem though of adding an amp is the MFD beeps. For the non JBL, it is said that the beeps come out of the front speaker outputs, so if you amplify that, you amplify the beeps as well.