sorry, newby question (had an 06, just bought an 08) does this pic indicate the battery is FULLY charged...or am I still a bar short? if its NOT full, is there an easy way to do a forced recal, like disconnect the 12V battery? thanks!
yes, your battery is full - but, never fear, the Hybrid Synergy Drive automatically regulates the battery charge. In other words, you really don't need to worry about the battery level, in normal usage. It will go up and down as part of normal energy patterns. The only time I would worry, is if when you start your car, it consistently has very low bars and is pink - then, you would want to get the battery checked. Otherwise, don't worry about the battery. Enjoy your Prius!
Sorry to contradict you, Rae, but the battery isn't full. The Prius keeps the battery charge between 40% and 80% to maximize battery life. The battery is never fully charged or discharged. When you have full green bars, the batter is around 80% full. During normal operation, the prius will maintain the battery level around the top blue bar.
"Full" battery (all green bars) is a fairly rare occurrence. Since the regenerative brakes need to dump energy into the battery to slow the car down you really don't want to be totally full anyway. The only time I've seen all green bars is coming down a long hill - by that time it's a good idea to be in "B" though..
I asked a similar question about a month ago. And, I've come to a realization...the battery is like a spring. In order to work, you want the spring to be preloaded to about half...that way there's more compressing that can be done, *and* there's a little stored energy in it, anyway. Motion in both directions (compression and decompression) is natural and effortless. The battery is a storage tank. You don't want it totally full, because if it was, there's no room for the energy coming off the regenerative braking. You also don't want it empty, because we use the stored power. So, you want it somewhere in the middle. In my Prius, the ideal seems to be between 1/2 and 2/3 full. Chuck
I have seen mine turn puple after all the green bars were filled. I was going downhill in the Smoky Mountains.
"Full", in the Prius, is relative. I realize that the battery maintains the proper SOC to maximize battery life, but I consider a green battery to be "full"... Also, in the context of the OP, I think that you have just added details to my posting, rather than contradict me.
That pic is not does not depict a full battery, or even a fully green battery. I often see the battery SOC green all the way to the top, including the bar which is white in the OP's picture. We spend the summers in Colorado and often go over mountain passes that are over 10,000 feet, so there is a lot of regen on the way down. As far as leaving "headroom" for the regen brakes to dump excess energy, I thought the Prius was programmed to just use its normal friction brakes once the battery reached a high SOC. Is that not correct? I agree with the others that you needn't worry about the battery SOC - the Prius takes care of that and doesn't need any of our help.
The battery level meter has total 8 bars, and your picture shows 7 bars. As many people wrote it is not 100% SOC at full 8 bars. Prius's target SOC is 60% which means at 6 bar level. Ken@Japan
NO. On my 2007 I see green bars every day on my commute. 10 miles into my commute I see green every single day.Both ways. Air on 68 degree's and radio blasting. It is not by any means a rare occurence.
What's to think about? Depending on different factors, you're going to see green bars more at certain times than at others. It's not a big deal. The car knows what it's doing. Don't overthink it.
Here are two of the factors: 1. If you are traveling down an incline for a few miles, there's more likelihood that you'll see seven or eight green bars. 2. As your traction battery ages it will lose capacity, hence it will charge and discharge faster. Then you will notice that the SOC gauge will spend more time showing one or two red bars, as well as seven or eight green bars.
Yes what Proco said. Thats about it. As many factors affecting mpg's affect SOC. There is no rare occurence occuring in our car's SOC wise that if bad not throw a CEL. Now having said that I would at least get familiar with how it charges so you can track it a little as it age's. My 07 can go from 1 purple bar in stop & go with the AC blasting to green in a matter of 10 miles of cruising. Don't sweat it. The traction batteries are tough. Just keep the AC on and don't cruise around alot with the windows down as the battery pack does not like to get hot. I'm going on 2 1/2 years with my 07 and always have the ac on and have never heard the traction battery fan come on.
Yes, but that mode should not be engaged frequently - because if you have nowhere to store regenerative energy, you are wasting that energy, which results in more fuel consumption. If you're in a situation like you mentioned, going up and down mountains, you will likely run into situations where you have 'filled' the battery and the friction brakes will take over, but that situation is far from 'average' that most owners will ever see. So far, I have about 10,000 miles on my odometer, and I've seen the top green bar maybe three times. For my driving, my car maintains the battery very well at the top blue bar or the first green bar. Rarely does it go below the top blue bar, and I've only seen the top green bar three times.
Stop worrying about the bars, charging etc. The car will take care of all that, and if there is a problem you will know! I wrote another post about this, but I think most people are way to anal about the charging and mileage. I almost NEVER look at the charging screen (I drive with the Nav screen displayed) and only use that screen to check the outside temp! Relax! You are getting great mileage and if the red triangle is not showing on your dash, you are fine!
Put simply, nothing on the energy screen requires any action by you. You can even turn it off and never look at it and just drive, and you will not harm the car.
