Car runs great!! Yesterday I experieinced a situation that I have not come accross over the 4 months that I have had my Millenium 04. There was a major traffic accident / jam that basically had traffic at a stand still for 30-45 minutes. I noticed that the battery level continmued to decrease while stopped (A/C and Radio weree on). I turned both items off and battery drain slowed. My question and concern is will the vehicle still be able to run if the battery goes to 0 if it is running and there is plenty of gas to power the gas engine to recharge the battery. Have not ben able to locate in manual this situation or discussion. Thanks
Take a look at this PriusChat thread -- it's fully discussed there. Basically, no worries -- the engine will figure out that the battery is too low, and the ICE will be started and the battery charged. It's a smart engine!
Vic, I've been in that very situation. The car will not allow the battery to die, and will run the engine as necessary to keep it charged, if the SOC drops below the threshold that it deems "safe."
Next time your in that situation, make it a game and see how long you can go without your ICE coming on. Feel good about the fact your not idling away a tank of gas.
Yup, when conditions have allowed it, I'll actually shut off the headlights when I'm sitting in traffic. I don't know how much I'm saving, but I figure, why not.
I do believe though that since I have the HID lights in my '04, I don't think this would save energy since it takes quite a bit (compaired to normal headlights) for the initial turn-on...I could be wrong on this though, not sure. Anyway, would work with regular headlights. -m.
no need to worry, just trust in the technology! :clap: when i first got my car that's one of the first things i tested (other one was steep hill climbing), left it on with aircon and stereo, last 2 purple bars then ICE kicked in. works like a charm! :wink:
No, don't use "B" in stop-and-go traffic. That would reduce the amount of energy recovered. Just leave it "D" and let the car take care of itself (which it does perfectly well).
