Part-charging the battery and "charge-alert"?

What I have read it should not be any problem.
You can dismiss the message by pressing the Disp-button on the steering wheel pad.

 

It will be fine.
The warning persists just incase there really WAS a problem that you
did not notice......like a tripped circuit breaker for instance.

 

I partial charge all the time. When I get home and the charge is down to just a mile or two left or zero miles ev left I will charge it back up to 80%. I stop at 80% soc unless I am going to be using the car shortly. The manual says it it better for the battery since it does not want to be fully charged. If i have a short trip need arise that I had not planned on then the car is ready to go. If on the other hand I have a longer trip planned the next day say, i will then top off the battery to 100% soc just before time to leave.

 

welcome to priuschat! i partially charge the battery with an L2 charger, so that if i have to leave with short notice, i only need 30-45 minutes to top it up. the manual recommends not leaving it fully charged for long periods of time, but does not state specifics. also, in summer, you should let the battery cool after driving, before recharging. i also do a lot of ev without heat, and there are many discussions here about finding ways to provide heat without running the ice, especially for windshield defrost. that's one smart daughter you have there. all the best with your pip!

 

Your 100% "soc" (the full indicator icon) is actually 85% of a true full charge.

 

so you are saying for battery life i can ???? charge to???when i am not going to drive it for a while and still keep the battery happy.

 

Given the battery display on the HSD is full, it's actually 85% of the battery capacity. When you switch to HV when the EV miles run out, the battery is about 24% of capacity. Without a scangauge or torque app, you won't see this.

 

The design of the car keeps the battery happy. That's why the SOC range maintained by the software is 25% to 85%. Of course if you are not going to drive it for several weeks there are 12 volt battery concerns.

 

i think when the owners manual says 'not to leave it fully charged for long periods of time', they are talking about the ev indicator or the charge display when charging. not what you see on a scangauge. owners manuals do not usually assume diagnostic tools. so when the say 'full' they are talking around 85% on scan gauge.

 

Reading the manual again I believe you are correct. Page 93 of the manual says
----
Leave a low level of charge in the hybrid battery (traction battery) when
leaving the vehicle undriven for a long period of time.
After confirming that EV mode has switched to HV mode, turn the
“POWER” switch off.
----
I wonder why switching it to the HV mode before powering off is recommended. If the coolant isn't hot that will cause the ICE to start briefly before switching the power off. Is that a good/bad thing?

On Page 93 it also says
----
Use the charging timer function as much as possible in order to fully
charge the hybrid battery (traction battery) immediately before starting
off.
----
I generally do that on weekdays when the morning rate is higher than the night rate. But on the weekends after returning from my EV run to/from the gym I often just plug-in even if I have no definite plans for an additional trip. It sounds like that is not a good idea.

 

How do you do that? A link please.

 

when they say 'ev mode has switched to hv mode, they mean automatically, as in you drive in ev mode until ev is gone and it switches to hv mode and the ice comes on. then it's safe to store long term. the 64 dollar question, as bill clinton so eloquently put it is, "how long is long"?

 

how do you do what?

 

Exactly. bisco, how long do you think the engine should run in HV mode after the switch? I've been wondering about this, concerned that running the engine for a minute or two before garaging the car doesn't adequately warm the engine and catalytic converter, or get the exhaust system good and hot so condensation isn't left in it. My driving routines seem to often get me almost home in all EV but one or two minutes are spent in HV before I arrive home.

 

i like to wait for the ice to stop when that happens, simply to prevent the 'cold start knock' that some have experienced. i'll come in the house and let it run, it's usually only a few more minutes depending on outside temp and how long it's already been running. others shut it righ down tho, it's just a matter of opinion.

 

I thought I had it quoted "there are many discussions here about finding ways to provide heat without running the ice, especially for windshield defrost. that's one smart daughter you have there."

 

you want me to privide links to the discussions? sorry, i don't know how to do links. they are easy to find tho, michael33 has a thread in which he puts a couple 200w a/c heaters near the driver running off a marine battery and an inverter. usbseawolf purchased a dehumidifier to defrost the windshield. others have tried 12v dc heaters plugged into the power outlet. many have requested toyota add some type of electric heater in the next gen.

 

Oh... I though there was a way to fool the car into doing it. I appreciate the response but ancillary methods aren't worth the effort with our type of weather.