Considering Coming Back To A Tacoma! Got some iForce Max Hybrid Questions.

+1 my max gauge has never gone below the last bar or filled completely. i'm assuming they're using the normal 80-20% range like everyone else in the world goes by for battery longevity.

 

if you live/ drive in the mountains it will fill it all the way. mine never fills in iowa either. but soon as i drive to mountains first big down hill it will be full.

 

So I've seen a number of reports of the hybrid's not starting after a few days sitting -- and some reports of them not maintaining full charge of the 12V battery (which could be related). Some have had 12V battery replaced under warranty, others just told by dealer that it's "normal" to have a drained battery after sitting a week.

What are hybrid owners here seeing as their 12V battery state of charge (or voltage) after sitting overnight?

 

How would I know if the state of charge was low after sitting overnight? Mine has sat for 4 days and then started right up with no issues.

 

12V battery has to still have a charge after sitting for a week. Obviously the battery isn't charging or the battery is bad.

 

Zero issues with mine starting and it has sat for weeks at a time without use. Never hesitate to start right up. I also do not use the connected services/app. Which appears to be more of the root cause than the vehicles themselves.

Also,
Some of the answers given about the hybrid system are incorrect. Please watch this 4min video from Toyota on how i-force max actually works.

https://youtu.be/SxXN3gkDcOk

 

Yes, it *should*, but there are a fair number of people reporting otherwise.

In some cases, it is indeed a bad battery. Manufacturers do get bad batches sometimes - which led to a Ford recall recently.

Several owners were told by their dealers that the battery tested fine, it just needed to be charged for three+ hours. Which sounds like BS to me.

Others have reported charging their batteries at home, getting a full charge, and finding the battery run down a good bit after driving.

Now - do we have a bad batch of batteries? Do we have a bad batch of a component in the charging system? Is there's something with the telematics similar to Lexus some Lexus owners solving battery issues by logging out of their app?

I'd love to know. Whatever the root cause may be, there's enough reports to suggest something is going on - at least for those owners.

Measure the voltage. AGM and sealed wet cell are slightly different, but in either case you should see over 12.6V the next day with the vehicle turned off.

With the vehicle running, you should see a system voltage of 13.8V to 14.6V.

 

I also leave mine untouched for a 1 - 1.5 weeks. Fires right up. I have all the connected services enabled. '25 Hybrid Sport.

 

Yes it would be good to know what is going on.

Lexus owners are draining the 12V due to leavening the app on? I guess that could do it if there's a constant signal.

 

I have a '24 TRD OR Hybrid that I have owned since late January. It only has 907 miles on it and sits for weeks at a time. Knock on wood, no issues with the 12v battery.....

 

That's reassuring, thanks.

I frequently use a third party cellular/LTE remote start/unlock in my 3rd gen (2017) with never an issue with battery charge, so I would expect the same on a 4th gen.

When I was initially concerned my 3rd gen might get totaled I did a lot of looking/research and test drove both hybrid and non. Now that it's repaired and working fine, there's much less urgency. Really love the 4th gen powertrain, especially the hybrid one, and like that various other minor annoyances are addressed. Yet I'm not feeling the urgency I had before and at this point I may wait to see what (if any) minor changes are coming with the 2026's before I decide to pull the trigger.