Almost battery death in traffic

Is this post for real?

 

You don't have to worry about the battery, it will take care of itself. You don't have to turn your A/C off. As long as you have gas in the car, everything will be fine. I'm sure others will chime in with the more technical details, but you can drive the Prius without ever looking at how much the battery is charged. The important thing is having gas in the car.

 

It's not a problem. You are trying to out-think the Prius - don't do that. Just drive it and it will take care of itself. When the battery gets low, the Prius will turn on the ICE and charge. Turning off the air isn't necessary either, and in fact is hard on the battery since the cabin air conditioning also cools the battery. The only way you can induce a battery SOC problem is by shifting into neutral, in which case the ICE can't charge the battery. The Prius will complain about it if you do.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Jun 14 2007, 08:20 AM) [snapback]461552[/snapback]</div>

I have my doubts...

 

Ok,

Not sure this is a serious question or not. If it is you are missing some basic understanding of how a hybrid system works.

What is the main way the battery gets charged? A: By the engine. So once the Battery is drained the Prius will force the (gasoline) engine to start so that it can charge th battery. The prius will wait as long as it can before starting the engine when standing still as it's "hoping" that you will have to drive soon and need the engine anyway. But if the battery falls to low it will start the engine.

There is nothing to worry about when driving your prius. You cannot hurt it if all you do is but the gear in drive, set the climiate to auto and simply drive. Sure it might not always sound like a normal car but you will get used to it's noises/quirks.

So simply drive it and enjoy the view!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Jun 14 2007, 10:20 AM) [snapback]461552[/snapback]</div>

Just in case it is...

The car won't fully discharge the battery. Nor will it fully charge it. The scale on the MFD screen from full to empty is actually showing you about 80% full (top) and 20% full (bottom) (NOTE: that's off the top of my head from other posts. Corrections welcome). Never fully emptying or filling the battery increases the lifespan of the battery.

The ICE (internal combustion engine) will come on and run when you can't run off battery power. The car will not let you empty the battery. The only real way you can willfully do that is to run out of gas and keep driving, something you should never do. There's no need to turn off the A/C unless you want to save gas.

 

Sounds like normal behavior. First, your AC runs on the battery, so if you're in stop and go traffic with no opportunity for the battery to be recharged, it will pull your battery down ... to a point. Which leads to the second point: Your battery is fine. The car has a very sophisticated battery management system to prevent over-charging and over-discharging. What you see on the display as "full" (all green bars) to "empty" (no bars) is actually from 80% charge to 40%. While sitting still the battery can discharge down to 2 pink bars, but then the engine kicks on to keep it from going much further. It's still anywhere from about 43 to 48% charged with two pink bars.

 

It's cool,

Sorry if we came off "defensive". You can learn a lot about the car by reading posts here (and ask questions). But the first rule to remember is that you can't hurt the Prius just driving it.

Turning the AC off might actually be worse (for the car) then leaving it on as the Battery is cooled by the same air you are (and like the same temperature range). Letting the air around the battery heat to >100F could (maybe) damage it. That said the Prius has "intelligence" for that as well and will limit battery use when it's to hot.

Have fun driving and enjoy the car!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(peachee @ Jun 14 2007, 11:41 AM) [snapback]461581[/snapback]</div>

Not a problem. We do get posts from "trolls" that are just trying to stir up trouble or make the Prius look bad. That's why some people will question a post like yours.

There is a wealth of information on this site if you read some of the old threads. You can find a lot about the battery and how it is used. One of the things you will find is that the battery is charged and drained over a very narrow portion of its capacity. Even at zero bars, the battery is not fully discharged.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(peachee @ Jun 14 2007, 11:41 AM) [snapback]461581[/snapback]</div>

You can also charge your battery anytime you want when stopped. Just put the car is "D" hold the brake so the car doesn't move and press on the Go-Pedal. The engine will come on and the battery will charge.

 

Here in Winnipeg it was 85 on Monday and 90 on Tuesday, with very high humidity levels. I ran the A/C nice and cold, and naturally my battery went down to 1-2 pink bars while stuck in that nasty snarl on Dakota near St Vital Centre mall. They're rebuilding the road and everything is down to one lane each direction.

Naturally, I happened to go through around 4:30, I must like heavy traffic.

Don't worry about the battery the Prius will take care of itself. Running in hot weather with A/C off and windows down will actually be much more harmful to the battery than windows up and A/C cranked.

 

hi peachee!!!!!!!!!

i'm more noob than you!!!!! tee hee! you need to read these forums... there's a TON and a half of info in here!!!! i was fortunate to find it shortly before buying my prius... thank goodness... so i kinda had a head start!

 

"...the battery quickly charged back up when I was finally able to drive normal."

Yeah, so what's the problem? It is supposed to work that way. The ICE will cycle as needed to keep the battery within operational levels. Leave the ac on and enjoy the ride. Don't worry so much.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(peachee @ Jun 14 2007, 02:24 PM) [snapback]461796[/snapback]</div>

Small brains and probably other body parts.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Jun 14 2007, 09:01 PM) [snapback]462015[/snapback]</div>

Yea, they have to compensate somehow. :lol:

Tom

 

Second that A/C advice. The battery system needs the A/C to stay cool in hot weather. If you are uncomfortably warm, then the battery system is also uncomfortably warm. You can stop-and-go in a Prius with the A/C running full blast all day (or at least until you run out of gas) without harm.

 

Sounds good. Too bad the dealers don't tell you about this when you buy the car. Traffic jams are are like death, taxes and highway construction.