seeing GREEN BARS more often, as the car ages

It's more likely that it is a function of battery aging. As your battery gets older, the capacity is reduced.

Tom

 

The MFD doesn't display battery capacity, only SOC. The SOC rises and falls more quickly with reduced capacity.

I will leave it to others to say whether they have experienced the same thing, but tests run by a national laboratory showed a significant drop in battery capacity with age and use. They got their test batteries down to about half capacity over the life of the test, but with significantly more miles than yours.

Tom

 

i noticed mine falls and fills a little quicker than it used to....

On a decent commute.. i can get my car into the green several times.

It drains a lot faster with the A/C blasting than it used to....

 

I will say that as batteries are exercised, their capacity can grow... is true for EV's.. until you get to the point that they start to wear out, but at 100k, you shouldn't be anywhere near that with a Prius battery pack.

 

I have had my Prius since March, and have put just under 3,000 miles on her. I see this condition everyday. I live in the Foothills of Los Angeles and even though my commute is only 11 miles each way, the TO WORK commutes is approx 70% downhill. I get GREAT 99.9 mileage for that 70% and about 46 mph or so on the remaining 30%.. When I arrive at work the battery is always FULL GREEN.

HOWEVER .. That being said ...

The trip home is 70% uphill, and my uphill milage is around 36 or so ...but when I park at home I am usually down to 2 or 3 blue bars.

If I decide to run uphill to the food zone in my neighborhood I will drop into the 2 purple zone! Of course after I get my dinner I roll downhill, apply some brake and back to 2/3 blue bars!

Time will tell if this charge and discharge cycle is good or bad.

I find when using rechargeable batteries, that a full charge/discharge cycle usually gives a good life to the battery.

HOPE SO!!!

73 de Pat KK6PD

 

My Prius is 2 years old and has 25K +; I've recently noticed green bars more often. I'm nowhere close to the OP's miles, so I don't know whether it's the same phenomenon or not.

 

Could it be you're just driving better?

 

Hi Pat,

I live at 1,100 ft elevation in south OC and commute to sealevel in Irvine, 25 miles one-way. I have owned three Toyota hybrids and two traction batteries have failed (under warranty) so far. The 2001 battery failed at ~61K miles while the 2006 HiHy battery failed at ~25K miles.

Hence my personal experience is that the charge/discharge cycle associated with climbing and descending daily is not healthy for the traction battery.

 

I think you should take some of your own advice and "just drive it". The battery will take care of itself.

 

I like to think so!

 

I have almost 9000 miles on my 08. Today I noticed nearly full green for over 20 minutes (driving 65 mph). Is this normal?

 

Priustoric times! I love it!

Forget about coming up with "stealth" -- you've got it all with "Priustoric," John!:horn:

 

In a word, yes.

Almost daily. I notice it does not visit the purple end of the spectrum as often, but this could be because I (semi-intentionally) adjust my driving to send more voltage to the batt (at the expense of km/l) as it descends towards purple.

 

So, does reduced battery capacity affect gas mileage very negatively?

 

i have to say, i suspect something is amiss if your SOC has really changed that much. sounds like your batteries are on the way out. that is how batteries die... they become unreliable, stop acting predictably, etc.... its kinda like an incandescent...when it get real bright just before it dies...

hope that is not the case for you but...