Traction Battery dead. Possible glitch in software?

Your display does not show the actual battery charge minimum and maximum. You can run the battery down to the last bar so that the engine stays on (to recharge the hybrid battery) and it will not hurt anything. Toyota designed the car so that you can drive it safely without ever looking at the battery display. Stop worrying and just drive.

Those people being towed by your buddy probably ran out of gas because they assumed they had more fuel than they did AND did not read the owner's manual that states you must put 3ga or more in the tank before the system will reboot (GenII).

 

Yea there is nothing wrong, even if it showed 0 bars left you still have about 40% charge left. It will start and stop the ICE to keep some charge in the batt.

 

I was caught in a traffic accident on the way home from work last week. 90 degrees outside and we were stopped completely for 15 to 20 minutes and then stop and go for the next 10 minutes. The battery SOC dropped to two bars and the ICE would come on and charge back up to three but no more. I kept having to stop and the ICE would stop. I tried turning off the AC but it was just too hot and humid so I had to turn it back on. I was beginning to worry as this is the first time I have been in this situation.

Once I was past the accident and moving steady at a speed where the ICE could run, the SOC quickly jumped back up to the top again and all was fine. I now believe, like others on here have said, that the Prius battery management system will take care of the battery. We need to just drive and not worry.

 

If you want something to worry about, worry about the nut behind the wheel in the car behind you. The HSD will take care of the battery. You don't have to even monitor it. Yes, the bars displayed will go down. So what? I suspect the car won't charge the traction battery very high when not moving because it's not efficient. When moving both the engine and the kinetic energy of motion will charge the battery (kinetic energy from regen).

The car WILL NOT allow the traction battery to fully discharge! Period! If you try hard enough you -can- get it down to below 30% charge (put the car in neutral for example, or run out of gasoline). Even then, the car will shut off before fully discharging the traction battery. To get it lower you have to keep resetting it and trying to start the engine with no fuel. Or move in EV. But even that is not allowed by the HSD.

As far as your friend having to help Prius owners whose battery died, I suspect that's the 12V battery. Towing them when that goes dead is the act of an ignorant operator. A simple boost will suffice. Perhaps he needed the extra revenue?

 

I have yet to see a Prius's HV down to last bar and the engine still wont kick on to charge the battery. All the ones I've see at the dealer will start charging when there are 2 bars, never down to 1 bar. The ICE will not kick on and charge the battery if you shift to neutral. It It will only charge in Park or in Drive.

 

Normal Prius behaviour. The only time I've ever seen all green bars - full that is - is stuck in traffic at -30 F and colder. The motor runs all the time at those temps, unless you use a winter front over the grille

 

I've never seen a full charge. Always at least one bar down. I live in Florida. Is that something to be concerned about? Just wondering if this is common for others.

 

Nothing to worry about. The only time I see full charge is going down a long, steep hill. At the bottom I can run EV up as much as 36 mph when it is full.

 

Everything you have described is absolutely normal. Just drive, and don't worry about it. The Prius knows how to manage battery charging, etc.