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Battery capacity indicator question

Discussion in 'Prime Plug-in Charging' started by snakeshoes, Dec 21, 2019.

  1. snakeshoes

    snakeshoes Junior Member

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    New Prime owner here. I hope the forum can help me with something I can't seem to find in the manuals or via searching online thus far. When the car indicates that the EV battery is 'fully charged' via all 3 blue lights on the dash on at end of charging or via the instrument display on the dash showing "100%" and 0 time to fully charged, is the battery at true 100% capacity charge or is the Toyota software telling me 100% at a lower actual state of charge to protect battery life?

    I've been told by multiple sources that charging batteries up to full on the regular can degrade their capacity and I'm wondering if a safeguard against that has been built into the car or if I need to make sure I stop charging at 80-90% full myself.

    Thanks.
     
    #1 snakeshoes, Dec 21, 2019
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    it is toyota telling you it's charged as much as they allow. they have always had a buffer at the top and bottom since they started building prius.
     
    #2 bisco, Dec 21, 2019
  3. snakeshoes

    snakeshoes Junior Member

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    Ah, so not true state of charge of the battery but "percentage of Toyota's allowable capacity within the full size of the battery"? That makes sense. I know my Gen2 was like that but haven't been keeping up with the details of new cars since then until now.

    Thanks
     
    #3 snakeshoes, Dec 21, 2019
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  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    the percentages have probably changed a bit, and idk if lithium allows for more or less buffer.
     
    #4 bisco, Dec 21, 2019
  5. Rob43

    Rob43 Senior Member

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    As @bisco said, there's a definite buffer built in. You don't need to worry about anything.

    Also if you have a 240v receptacle near your Prime, you can use your Toyota OE EVSE unit for quicker 2:28 minute charging.



    Rob43
     
    #5 Rob43, Dec 21, 2019
  6. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

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    Note the 100% on the dash is just a representation of usable capacity. The aftermarket gauge on the right shows actual capacity.



    The system is designed to always prevent overcharge and never allow deep discharge.
     
    #6 john1701a, Dec 22, 2019
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  7. Bruce ( Berkeley CA)

    Bruce ( Berkeley CA) New Member

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    The display is fantastic! How do I do it on a Prius Prime 2021? LE
     
    #7 Bruce ( Berkeley CA), May 21, 2021
  8. Ovation

    Ovation Active Member

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    If you mean what is on the right side of the image, that is not part of the Prius Prime's instrument cluster but a display (likely on a smartphone) of an aftermarket app that works with an OBDII dongle (where mechanics plug in to check various diagnostics on any modern car) and displays information we would never otherwise see.
     
    #8 Ovation, May 30, 2021
  9. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    This is the view out the windshield, probably from a dash cam.
    Screen Shot 2021-05-31 at 6.46.30 AM.png


    This is another camera aimed at the car's dash:
    Screen Shot 2021-05-31 at 6.46.42 AM.png


    This is a recording from Hybrid Assistant running on an Android phone connected to the car's OBDII port.
    Screen Shot 2021-05-31 at 6.46.58 AM.png

    John puts them together with a video editor so we can see what's happening with all three simultaneously.
     
    #9 jerrymildred, May 31, 2021
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