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My battery is almost always green!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Roscherb, Feb 19, 2010.

  1. Roscherb

    Roscherb New Member

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    I have lots of experience driving a Prius as this Prius is my 2nd one. I owned a 2006 and now I own a 2009. While driving, I rarely saw the battery charge to green. Maybe if I was going down a mountain I would see it green. Over the past week or so, my battery is almost always green and my gas mileage is lower (about 42.5 mpg rather than 46 mpg).

    I brought it into the dealer and they checked it out and they say everything is fine with my car. I told the guy that I have been driving a Prius for 4 years and that in my experience I rarely saw green on the display for the battery charge. He then told me that his mechanic is a trained expert and that I was nothing compared to him. I think asked him if anyone of the mechanics drives a Prius or if he knew anyone who drives a Prius. He told me none of the mechanics drive one and that his neighbor has one. I told him to ask his neighbor that if the battery was to always be green on his Prius, would he think something is wrong. They did not want to hear anything from me. I am very frustrated. What can I do?

    Yes, it is winter, I have driven this Prius throughout the winter here in NJ's cold weather. I have driven a Prius in many winters. The temperature over the past week has been between the 20's and 40's. It's cold but I don't think it has been that cold to cause this issue. I have never seen this happen before even because of the cold. What is going on with my car?
     
    #1 Roscherb, Feb 19, 2010
  2. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Cold weather and driving conditions. I see it frequently in cold weather when the ICE is required to run for heat.

    Tom
     
    #2 qbee42, Feb 19, 2010
  3. MJFrog

    MJFrog Active Member

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    Not to be a Johnny one-note (or maybe I am), but have you checked your 12V battery?

    A low or dying 12V battery would cause the ICE to run longer (lowering mpg) in a vain attempt to recharge it. A side-effect of this could be the frequent 7-8 green bars you see.

    However, as qbee42 stated, running your heater too high could give a similar result too.
     
    #3 MJFrog, Feb 19, 2010
  4. paprius4030

    paprius4030 My first Prius

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    I too have become concerned like you. I've had 3 different Prius, 04,05,08. It truely is the damn cold weather. Our weather this year is the wost. My Prius this last week got the worst mileage ever (42), battery always green. This week we are in Daytona Beach, mileage back up to 51 and battery back to blue. I haven't done anything to the car between the time we left Pocono's to now in Florida. I know it's hard to believe but the weather has everything to do with how the car acts.
     
    #4 paprius4030, Feb 19, 2010
  5. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Also, not to point out the obvious, but you do know that the Prius is a *green* car. :p

    Tom
     
    #5 qbee42, Feb 19, 2010
  6. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    This is my first Prius an 07 and has always reached green at the end of my 20 mile commute each way. Not solid green but 7 bars green of course. Everyday. I'm averaging 46 mpg's as its never ever been this cold down here in Florida ( High 30's-40's and 50's) and there's not a thing wrong with my car. It runs perfect.
    So chill out. It charges better than your older Prius. There's not a thing wrong with your car. Its cold as hell. And you probably have winter E10 gas going on too.
    And you know how if you log a bad mpg run one day you run around to store after store and it gets in its crappy gas mpg mode. It will take forever to get back to great mpg's in the kind of cold your seeing.
    If your that frustrated I can prove it. Block off your intake grill and go for a nice long ride.
     
    #6 edthefox5, Feb 20, 2010
  7. blueumbrella

    blueumbrella Member of Prius Regeneration

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    My 2009 is frequently in the green. In fact I have noticed 8 bars several times lately. I did not feel like it was something to be concerned about since it is directly related to my speed and the terrain I am driving on.
     
    #7 blueumbrella, Feb 20, 2010
  8. spinkao

    spinkao New Member

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    Does it show seven or eight bars? If it's seven, it's pretty normal in cold weather in my experience (as others also noted before me). I wouldn't be too concerned.

    As MJFrog stated, you might want to check your 12V battery, as it might be related to it's possible demise, but, as I said, I definitely won't freak out too much.
     
    #8 spinkao, Feb 20, 2010
  9. wavydavy

    wavydavy New Member

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    Mine's green most of the time with MPG in the mid 40's. I live in Alabama and it has been colder winter this year.
     
    #9 wavydavy, Feb 20, 2010
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