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Battery Charges while braking but not on highway

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by jfredlaw, Jun 14, 2016.

  1. jfredlaw

    jfredlaw New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
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    Hi! We could use some help on a long driving trip. Trouble free Prius doesn't seem to be acting normally. 2006 model, battery replaced under warranty 20,000 mi ago. No trouble since.

    On our way up to Flagstaff (3,00 ft to 7,000 ft over 60 mi), the battery went from normal 3/4 full to down to two bars. It didn't seem to recharge normally at highway speed, but completely recharged when we pulled into town and started braking. Around town, it only recharged with braking.

    The next day, level highway driving did not seem to recharge the battery as it always has. Only getting off the freeway and braking seemed to bring it back to normal (5/6 bars). Mostly it just stays at 4 bars on the highway now.

    Frustrating because we are a long way from home with a couple weeks of touring through the desert ahead of us. Our experience with the dealer at home is that they've told us in the past (with the old battery) that there is nothing they can do until it fails completely, then they will need to replace it. And we're a long way from even that shop!

    Anyone know anything about this behavior in a 2006 Prius? Thanks in advance!
     
    #1 jfredlaw, Jun 14, 2016
  2. Caleb1122

    Caleb1122 Junior Member

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    Touring
    I’m having this same problem in my 07 with 177k. Battery was replaced with a green bean one about 20k a go as well. Anything above 65 the battery doesn’t seem to charge.
     
    #2 Caleb1122, May 22, 2019
  3. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    Are you also driving at a high elevation?
     
    #3 Skibob, May 23, 2019
  4. srellim234

    srellim234 Senior Member

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    Getting down to two bars on that climb is perfectly normal. It's actually pretty good if you're using the cruise control while you're climbing. You also mention the battery was replaced under warranty, meaning the battery is a minimum of 3-5 years old. How many years ago was it replaced? Time and exposure to heat are much bigger factors on battery wear than mileage is.
     
    #4 srellim234, May 23, 2019
  5. Caleb1122

    Caleb1122 Junior Member

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    Touring
    Was on i65 in Alabama. Was climbing in elevation slowly. Battery just didn’t was the recharge when I thought it would on the downhills or the several spots that were flat. I had either no or one bar left on the battery gauge for like 2 hours straight.
     
    #5 Caleb1122, May 24, 2019
  6. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Did it ever ??
    I suspect that this is mostly "normal", especially with a high mileage engine.

    Greatly simplified, a hybrid only charges the battery when it can be done at low to no cost, energy wise.

    In any situation where the gas engine is operating at a high energy output just to keep the car moving, purposely forcing the battery to charge also wouldn't be energy efficient. The engine charges the battery when it is lightly loaded......in general.
     
    #6 sam spade 2, May 24, 2019
    PAUL SCHULTZ likes this.
  7. Caleb1122

    Caleb1122 Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
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    Touring

    Not sure if it ever did. Only owned it for about 50k miles and do very little interstate driving. Seems that it’s just the way it is. Anything over 70 it doesn’t want to charge very much. Oh well haha. Thanks for the information guys.
     
    #7 Caleb1122, May 27, 2019
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