Purple Bars - In Traffic

My wife ran out of gas today in our 06 and didn't stop until there were no bars and the car wouldn't go anymore. She called me on her cell phone to ask what all the flashing lights were and why the car stopped. Fortunately when AAA put in some gas it started right up and took a charge. I'm hoping the computer is smart enough to stop the car from totally depleting the battery even when the engine can't run.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FJRCRAZED @ Jun 23 2006, 07:43 PM) [snapback]276061[/snapback]</div>

No, by all means use it... the engine will cycle on and off to provide a minimal charge when necessary.

However, the one thing to be aware of, is if traffic suddenly starts moving, or you turn onto another street, acceleration will be pathetic as the electric engine isn't able to give it's boost.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(usbseawolf2000 @ Jun 23 2006, 10:10 PM) [snapback]276116[/snapback]</div>

:lol: :lol:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(David @ Jun 23 2006, 10:10 PM) [snapback]276117[/snapback]</div>

Oh, please don't do that EVER again~! Running out of gas is not good for any car. For the Prius, you might damage the hybrid battery by running it too low, not to mention that the fuel pump is not being cool and lubricated when no gas is present in the tank.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kosmikchic @ Jun 23 2006, 11:28 AM) [snapback]275913[/snapback]</div>

Uh oh...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kosmikchic @ Jun 23 2006, 11:28 AM) [snapback]275913[/snapback]</div>

Uh oh...



edit: and obviously having twins....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mr. Clean @ Jun 23 2006, 10:31 AM) [snapback]275882[/snapback]</div>

It will charge to 80% (maybe 78%) and that will show 8 green bars. It will discharge to 40% (or 43%) and that shows 1 "pink" bar. I have never seen "no bars" I didn't think it would do that, but I haven't run it out of gas yet. I have been down to one bar several times while climbing long steep hills and it just runs the engine and won't take anything else out of the battery. If you shut it off with only one pink bar showing it will still take what ever it needs out of the battery to get going again. I did notice when down to one bar the engine runs when you are in reverse and it starts as soon as you push the power button. I seems to know how to take care of it's self.

 

I'm more of a cat person than a dog person, but I have to say that Rufaro and Tumbleweed have the CUTEST pictures of their dogs!!!!

 

On my 2006, the bars were purple when I went down to two bars. It quickly recovered.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NuShrike @ Jun 23 2006, 02:40 PM) [snapback]275921[/snapback]</div>

I agree with the statement about setting the temperature higher. When you first said that you set your temperature for 68, I thought I might have been crazy, because I always set mine for between 76 and 80 and it seems comfortable to me (even a couple days ago when it said the outside temp was 98).

In fact, many times when I first turn it on after it's been sitting in the sun, I'll disable automatic A/C so as to avoid having it blast warm air and use battery; rather, I just let it cool down more gradually and then re-enable auto A/C when it gets nearer to the desired temperature.

 

For my 06, the bars are green when full and I have only been down to two purple bars about 3 times. Haven't experienced one bar just yet. The battery does recover very quickly the minute traffic lets up!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jun 23 2006, 12:47 PM) [snapback]275958[/snapback]</div>

I stand corrected. It's been a while since I changed the background colors, and my memory failed me.

The SOC color bars look green, blue and purple to me, and lately I'm seeing the purple quite often. Its been over 100 degrees here the past few days. In the morning I crack the windows and use a window shade, then keep the AC set around 80 for the ride home, but the battery still drains pretty quickly from sitting so long in the heat. It usually doesn't get back to normal until about 15 minutes later, when I hit the freeway. (The first 15 minutes from work is stop and go).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NoVaSnow @ Jun 23 2006, 07:51 PM) [snapback]275894[/snapback]</div>

Purple is the new pink dear. :lol:

 

Happened to me today for the first time! I knew I'd find the explanation on priuschat

 

Sorry to dig up such an old thread, but this exact kind of thing happened to me today for the first time. Before today, my battery level has never been below 4 bars, but I had the air conditioning going as I was waiting at a drive through, and when I pulled out, I saw with panic that the battery was down to 2 bars! I had the same reaction as the original poster - I quickly turned off the AC and kept my foot on the gas pedal harder than normal in hopes that it would charge back up. And it did charge up to 4 bars in the stretch to get back to work, and then up to the normal 6 bars on the way home. But seeing those 2 bars for the first time really freaked me out! I'm glad to know it's normal behavior for the car and doesn't mean a problem.

 

The same thing happened to me today, I bought the car about 4 months ago and I am very happy with it (2007 prius, 153k miles) usually I have 4 to 6 blue bars and almost never go down to 2 bars, today driving my daughter to school I was caught in a 30 minutes traffic jam bumper to bumper and I saw after a few minutes that the battery was dieing fast, quickly turned off the heater but it kept running low when I saw the bars turned to pink or purple (wherever color) I freaked out I turned off the headlights and started to worry the car could die at any moment, during this time I don't hear or feel the ICE turning on to charge the battery, after the traffic improve the battery charged very quickly even to green state but why did that happened? is it something bad with my car? thanks for the help.!

 

The car was reacting normally. At some point in time when the meter gets down to the purple range the ICE will kick in and keep it operating. Yours most likely just didn't get low enough for that to happen. At that point it will only run the ICE enough to keep at a safe operational level but it will not charge it into the higher blue bars. Just enough to keep the batteries from discharging too far.

Without the heater, a/c, lights, etc. on and taxing the system, if you notice wild swings happening very quickly with the meter it's a sign the battery is weakening. You can try conditioning the battery; that has helped some of us. Otherwise, prepare to be replacing the battery in the near future.

 

Yep, perfectly normal. Happened to me last Friday. Took an hour to go like 5 miles. Motor started in the 2 bar range, went up to around 3 bars and shut off. It was funny to watch the gas mileage screen. Up to 40 down to 15 in 5 minute intervals, for the entire range. 30 minutes?