A suitable replacement Varta / Bosch or Yuasa battery is all that's needed.

The dealer isn't allowed to recommend anything / modifications not approved by Toyota as it could make the dealer liable if anything was to then go wrong / damage was caused if you follow their advice.

 

Note that any connected battery will be drained. Also a battery with 2x the normal capacity. It only takes more time.

 

Only if Toyota would implement some sort of emergency button to allow high capacity battery to start the engine.
Capacity of the large battery is large and that battery is connected to nothing while engine is off. So it won't loose all the juice waiting in airport carpark for a couple of weeks. 12v battery is still in use for alarm, keys etc. In theory and in practice one could create an "emergency" option that would allow the large battery to charge a bit 12v battery enough to start the car or to directly start the car.
Like an one of, emergency option. It's a bit ridiculous to have charge in the car but be unable to start the car because 12v battery runs out of juice. And onboard there is the tech capable of doing that...12v battery is charging even when termal engine is not running.

I don't claim to be the sharpest pen, but I find this as a simple and cost free option. Just that Toyota didn't implement anything like that.

 

Thanks all. I did also check a few places & they seemed to state a 52Ah battery as a replacement for my car (from the reg) when the original was only 45Ah. Battery duly replaced with a Yuasa … I even managed to recover the the spanner I dropped in the process between the battery & the radiator (one downside to an undertray … it doesn’t just fall through onto the floor).

 

Thanks all. I did also check a few places & they seemed to state a 52Ah battery as a replacement for my car (from the reg) when the original was only 45Ah. Battery duly replaced with a Yuasa.

Which Yuasa battery did you get? Their car finder is recommending this one for my 2.0L Exel. I'm just concerned about size since it has a slightly larger capacity as I just want a direct replacement.

YBX5012 (yuasa.co.uk)

 

I agree, battery is an issue.
I left my 6 month old CHR for 2 weeks and after 2 weeks the battery was completely drained.
Roadside assistance said that this is a common issue with hybrids.
Main dealer said the same and recommended a solar powered trickle charger, battery charge pack or disconnecting the battery.
I don’t think that’s good enough.

 

My dealer also suggested a trickle charger. Which i found surprising considering they can't recommend a higher capacity 12v battery.

 

I mentioned this problem to my dealer after having this experience at the end of a two-week holiday when NCP could not start our car in order to return it to us from the of airport car park. When I went with the AA guy to the car the 12v battery measured just 2.14v, he also said this is probably their most common fault, the battery being under constant drain when standing.

As a retired electronics engineer I wanted to know more, so I asked the service rep at Toyota what is it that draws so much current while the car is stationary, he said he did not know but then showed me that all their cars are fitted with an external lead that pokes out of the top of the engine cover - purpose so that they can trickle charge the battery’s to prevent them from not starting! I said that this is outrageous that a company like Toyota has not found a solution to this apparent simple problem, he just said that it happens with all hybrids. I said so because of that you will just tow the line and not register my complaint about this to Toyota - he said that’s about it sir. At this point a number of other customers waiting for their cars to be serviced also chimed in with their stories about being stranded and waiting for the recovery services.

Come on Toyota this is not a difficult problem to remedy - why should we as Toyota customers have to consider to buy either a trickle charger, solar panel trickle charger (which won't work in a covered car park) or a boost battery pack!?

 

Just an update for anyone searching for this problem, like I did, and not sure which battery to buy, I went with the Varta and it's a perfect fit.

Type 012 Varta C30 Silver Dynamic Car Battery 12V 54Ah (Varta DIN: 554 400 053) (tayna.co.uk)

It's a larger capacity than my original (2019 2.0L Exel - battery in the boot) and was a perfect fitment including the fitting for the breather hose as that just pushed straight in. There will be two bungs installed when it arrives to stop the fluid inside from spilling out during shipping. Only remove the one on the negative side of the battery as the other right side one needs to stay in place so it doesn't release any fumes into the car since mine is in the boot. If your battery is under the bonnet, then both bungs need to be removed. Easy to install and my car starts every time now without issue. Before, I always had to jump start it with a booster pack every Monday morning as I don't use the car at all on a Sunday and that is now sorted. There were two faults on my dash after replacing the battery which was that my anti collision wasn't available and another which I can't remember. The modules only need recalibrating before coming back online so I went for a drive and the faults indicators cleared after about 3-4 minutes of driving as they recalibrated themselves. Just sitting with the car on won't clear them, you need to go for a drive.

First time I've bought a battery from Tayna but it came with next day delivery and was well packaged and was the best price by far.