Stuck in traffic. Took 1 hour to go 13 miles. Battery bar on 2 notches

I think that when the batteries get down to a certain point the ICU starts recharging them. So no need to worry about the battery dying.

 

It would be quite a defect for a car not be able to drive slowly for long periods of time. Engine automatically runs whenever the battery goes below 3 bars to recharge.

 

There's nothing wrong with the battery, it would normally go down to 2 bars or less when you're idling or going really slow. It will recharge when you start driving normal speeds

 

When charge hits 2 bars the engine kicks in to avoid any further drop. It doesn't raise it far, when stuck in traffic like that, maybe just to 3 bars. So then it yoyos around 2~3 bars, engine on mostly. It's not really happy, but no danger.

 

At least once a month I drive from Long Island to New Jersey via the Cross Bronx Expressway. For years now there has been extensive roadwork on the westbound side, so even in the early afternoon traffic is heavy - sometimes it takes thirty minutes or more to travel the five miles of the highway.

In the summer I just leave the A/C running with the windows closed, and between complete stops and slow-speed movement the engine is hardly on at all. As noted above, the traction battery eventually drops to two bars and the engine kicks in for a couple of minutes to push the charge back up, but I find that this extensive stop-and-go driving has very little impact on my mileage - unlike in a non-hybrid where the engine would be running all the time.

 

probably forever. welcome to priuschat.

 

Car will cut on to charge it back up,car won't ever let batteries fully die.good ole 15 fwy

 

Don't worry about it. The battery is not going to die. The computer takes care of that. It will charge back up.