i was always curious. does PIP have two different batteries for each mode (EV and Hybrid) or is it the same battery?
It's the same battery, computer controlled and partitioned. Hopefully others will give you more in depth facts.
In the 2010 prototypes, it was multiple batteries. In the 2012 and newer production cars it is one. (There is still a Fob battery, and a 12 volt 'starter' battery)
the computer simply tracks the state of charge and changes the ev estimate icon when it calculates that you have approx. one mile of ev left and then fires up the ice when you reach a lower state of charge showing zero ev. this takes place with a cold ice, or if warm, even lower like the regular hybrid. it is one battery made up of many cells.
If any of them fail, you're dead in the water (unless you have a contingency plan). For a dead fob battery, there's an RFID chip in it, which will activate the start button if you hold the fob up to it. To open the door, one of the fobs has a key in it. check first whether the keyless feature has been disabled in the setup menu. I found this out after replacing the fob battery, to no effect. If the aux battery fails, there's no way to start the car until you boost the battery. I carry a booster-pack for this purpose. If the main hybrid battery fails, you have much bigger problems.
greg, that's nice information. i totally forgot about the key in the fob which the saleperson showed me. i don't quite follow about the first one. so if the fob battery goes dead, i can just hold it close to start button and trigger start button?
Yes, exactly. And when the "smart-key" feature is turned off in the "car" menu of the "setup" screen, it behaves exactly like the fob has a dead battery. I don't know how I managed to do this with mine, except that perhaps somehow I accidentally hit the right sequence of keys to put it into a "valet mode."
Turning off the smart key function was also an update to the PiP owner's manual, for a safety factor when someone with a pacemaker is in the car.
I know I've read this somewhere else, but they differ from post to post. Between the event and HV, when should we turn switch from ev to HV? Speeds greater than 42 or 60? If we left the ev on say going at 65, does the system still drain the battery? I dont think ev has enough juice going over 60 or does it?
that's called ev boost. the system kicks you out of ev around 62 mph, but uses the battery judiciously. it's very smart and efficient.
