1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Heavy Traffic Draining Hybrid Battery

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by ChipotleBlkBean, Apr 14, 2011.

  1. davecook89t

    davecook89t Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2016
    1,063
    796
    0
    Location:
    Washington State, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    "In summer, just roll the windows down." I'm guessing you never spent a summer away from the West Coast. We should all be so lucky. A cool evening on the other side of the Rockies is 80 F with 70% humidity. ;-)
     
  2. srellim234

    srellim234 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2015
    1,200
    1,689
    0
    Location:
    Laughlin, Nevada
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Even the West Coast gets hot. In July and August the Palm Springs average high is over 107* and the average low is over 75*. Over by the Colorado River it's even worse. In Needles, CA the averages are 107+* and 83*, respectively.
     
  3. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    45,024
    16,243
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Once saw a guy in a Gen 4 Camry in Toronto driving with the windows down. It was 31-32°C with the humidex at 40. No idea how he does it.
     
    Data Daedalus and davecook89t like this.
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    56,686
    39,222
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
  5. jjltthomas

    jjltthomas Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2016
    11
    0
    0
    Location:
    Section, Alabama
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Ok so here’s my question. My car used to get great mpg’s now all of a sudden my gas engine is constantly running. I cant even barely touch the throttle and hope for electric pull. This has been going on for about a month. It’s an 09 with 101,000 as of today. Prior to this i was getting approximately 470 miles to a tank. Now I’m not even getting 300. I cleaned my battery fan out and it helped my cars rpms drop. However get this. No check engine lights at all. I’m lost. Just lost. What’s going on?


    iPad ?
     
  6. davecook89t

    davecook89t Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2016
    1,063
    796
    0
    Location:
    Washington State, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    Are you seeing your State of Charge on the Multi Function Display changing rapidly? I would suspect the hybrid battery is weakening with that drastic a change in MPG. Some loss of MPG is normal in extreme heat with the AC running constantly.
     
  7. jjltthomas

    jjltthomas Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2016
    11
    0
    0
    Location:
    Section, Alabama
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    That’s what I was afraid of. No my screen went out two weeks ago and my local Toyota dealer keeps telling me its been ordered when it comes in they will call. So I cant see anything that’s going on.



    iPad ?
     
  8. davecook89t

    davecook89t Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2016
    1,063
    796
    0
    Location:
    Washington State, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    You can't be certain until you actually start seeing trouble lights coming on while you are driving, but if you want to keep the car longer you might want to start inquiring about the Prolong Battery Conditioning system sold by a member here. (I can't post a link, the Search function in PriusChat doesn't seem to be working at the moment).
     
  9. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2009
    5,608
    3,788
    0
    Location:
    So. Texas
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Your HV battery is showing signs of getting weak and unbalanced after a long hot summer. Since you're probably out of warranty, you should look into battery maintenance (grid charger) or eventual replacement options (new or rebuilt).

    GOOD LUCK!