Do battery bars ever reach the top?

I have gotten the battery full going down some long hills but that is pretty rare.

 

Yes, quite normal. It's rare that you'd see the state of charge gauge at the full mark. But that depends on where you live also.

In Louisiana, it's almost impossible that you would ever see it at the full mark because your state is flat and it never gets very cold there in the winter.

You could get the full mark if you descended a long hill as Jon S just mentioned or lived in a cold area like me when the full mark is occasionally reached when the gasoline engine does not turn off when stopped at a traffic signal when the temps are way below freezing.

 

For flatlanders, yes. Especially in Florida.

For Coloradoans traveling up and down the Front Range, no.

 

That is just fine. Staying away from the top, and the mountain and severe cold conditions were it does fill up, will actually reduce overall battery stress.

But your higher summer temperatures will take back some of that benefit.

 

I'm supposing somewhere in Louisiana there's a moderately big hill you could drive down?
If you want to see your battery icon topped out, drive down that hill.

Otherwise, yes, The Prius HV battery and software is designed to try to maintain the middle way. So most of the time it won't be "full" or "empty".

 

I would think with a hill that small you're safe doing either.
Really, the bottom line is yes, you're OK especially if driving on most flat surfaces.
The battery gauge icon isn't like a gas gauge. There's no problem if it's not "full".

There is ONE big hill I occasionally have reason to drive down. On those occasions I've seen my battery icon reach the top. ( I usually do put The Prius in "B" when going down that hill )....it's big but NOT a mountain...maybe a minute or so of downhill driving at most.

Otherwise, nearly all the time, my Prius remains anywhere from 1/3rd (or a little less) to 2/3rd (or a little more) full or empty.
I consider that normal, and have never worried about it as a problem.

 

Mine generally stays two bars short, but it will fill up to the top with a lot down hill driving. I agree with "The Electric Me". For the most part, it stays two bars short or half full.

 

I'm seeing a listed highest elevation in Louisiana as Driskill Mountain, 535 feet.

D is just fine for that, B will just waste some regeneration.

 

For gods sake man....step back from the gauge and take a deep breath.
It's just a gauge.
I've never had mine show "empty".

I've been told the gauge is NOT an 100% accurate representation of state of charge. It's not meant to be.
That is..when it's showing "Fully Charged" it's not really at some maximum. And conversely when it's lower, it's not really as low as it is showing.

We as drivers can influence state of charge to varying extent...if we wish, but basically the whole thing is primarily controlled by Hybrid Synergy Drive and the software.
So basically....no codes...and you're good to go.

 

Here in mountainous British Columbia, Canada I've frequently seen the battery icon go to 100% full during a long descent with lots of regenerative braking. If your aim is to fill up the battery icon then it's better to drive downhill in "D" mode and brake with the foot pedal because driving in "B" mode keeps the engine engaged to help reduce speed through the use of compression braking - that means you're "wasting" some of your potential energy instead of putting as much as possible back into the battery.

I've never seen the battery icon at less than 2 bars. I have no idea how you'd get it to less than 2 bars - the only way to would be to somehow convince the car to keep driving on battery power without turning on the engine. Perhaps if you ran out of gas...? But that seems pretty extreme - best not to worry about it.

 

One way to run lower than 2 bars is to park, make sure then ICE is not spinning, move the shifter to Neutral, turn on the AC, and wait.

Automatic car washes, of the type where the car is pulled along a track through a washer tunnel, fit this profile. Many folks have received low battery warnings while being pulled through the tunnel where they are required to stay in Neutral.

 

Many?
I've only read one or two incidents where someone claimed to of had a low battery warning while going through a car wash.
Basically if you enter with your battery anywhere near a decent state of charge/normal health and you are going to be fine.

I think many, many people simply use automatic car washes with no incident and so never mention it.

 

I've seen many more than that here in PriusChat. The common link is hot weather the necessitates keeping the AC turned on while still in Neutral within the tunnel, and usually associated with having a low battery level upon entry. The AC drains the battery fairly rapidly.

 

Ah, interesting! Thanks for pointing that out, now I'll know to avoid it in the future.

 

If you really want to have a more precise SoC, get a ScanGauge and program a SoC function. For the top green bar on a Gen II Prius, SoC is 75% to 86%. I rarely get over 75%. From what I've read, over 85% is unhealthy for the batteries.

 

One of my routes home from work has a long low grade hill. Usually I can get all the green segments to light up.