Jump Starting with a Hybrid.

[Hadrian]

I was watching a video  which said you shouldn't jump start a non-hybrid car with a hybrid car.

I can understand the reasoning, as the 12v Battery in a hybrid and the car's electrics aren't designed to take a heavy load.

It is ok i understand ok to jump start another hybrid ?  Is this correct ??

[Herbie]

Yes, that's ok.

When thinking of conventional cars the donor car should have its engine running so that the alternator does most of the work, which is fine because alternators can squirt out up to 300A.

Hybrids don't have an alternator but use a DC/DC converter instead, and that can't supply anywhere near as much current as an alternator can and it could be damaged if the recipient car tries to draw too much from it.

A conventional starter motor will draw upwards of 300A as it cranks the engine but a hybrid only needs about 20A because all it's doing is booting the computers to get the hybrid system up and running into READY mode.

If you did need to jump start a conventional car with a hybrid, either take the Battery off the hybrid and take it over to the other car, or at least disconnect both cables so that the hybrid is completely isolated from the 12V Battery.