Not ALL Battery Bars Turning Green ????

Nothing to worry about. Rarely, if ever, will you see all the bars (or none of them). It will stay in the blue, mid-range most of the time.

 

The way the battery is displayed is to try to represent the fact that the state of charge is allowed to only range from 40% up to 80%.

 

I've gotten all greens twice -- once here in Arlington (coasting down Walter Reed Dr. approaching the intersection with Four Mile Run Dr., for those who know the area) and once on the Merritt Pkwy in Connecticut. I do get all-but-one-bar green pretty often.

 

Find yourself a nice long down hill on the interstate, put the CC at 55 MPH (hopefully not getting killed by all the 75+ MPHers talking on their cell phones). You'll get a lot of green. In general, I get more green in the winter because the engine runs more and the computers use the battery less.

 

I SOMETIMES get all green at the bottom of a 2.5km 12% grade at 80km/h slowing to 70km/h near the bottom but not always. Sometimes I can get all green after crossing a gully but only twice in over 6 months. It all depends on state of charge at the top of the hill and throttle position on the way back up the other side.
I try to roll into the gully just under the 60km/h speed limit them it will coast up to 78km/h by the bottom of the hill, fortunately the speed limit goes up in the middle, I then power up the other side at 70km/h backing off to allow the car to slow to 50km/h as I crest the second hill because just as I crest the speed limit drops to 50km/h then light brakes down a steep hill for 300 metres to a stop sign. Now, a couple of times I have had full green at the stop sign.

Enjoy the great mileage and don't worry too much about how it happens.

 

what would happen if all the bars are gone?? i still have gas like what a full tank and the bars are gone?? wut would happen?? this only happens when i go to the mountains...please respond i need to know before i go to big bear fri

 

If you run the traction battery down to a point it will cause it harm to keep powering the vehicle it wont supply any power but all power will come from the ICE. This isn't likely.

 

wut do u mean?? will i be fine going to the mountains this weekend not worrying about the car getting ruined??

 

The HSD controls the battery charge.
You don't have to worry about it.
Just drive the car. Try looking at the Consumption screen, instead.
You can even turn the screen off.

 

When the car is new, such as yours, it has to learn the actual battery state of charge and capacity. This takes longer than you would think, in my case it was probably two months or so, perhaps several thousand miles, but it's hard to tell for sure. At any rate, I didn't see -any- green for two months. The car tries to maintain the battery at about 60% charge - blue bars.
The display shows about 80% battery charge at full green and about 30-40% battery charge at no bars. I don't think you can get no bars, but I'm sure someone will have done it. The car will stop using the battery if it determines it may be over-discharged. You will notice the engine really reving up and you may loose some power (torque). It's nothing to worry about. The car will protect itself. Mine did just fine when it was new in the mountains, even on 18% grades! In fact, when descending, I had full green for about 20 min./30 km.

 

Yes, you will be fine. When the traction battery needs more charge, the Prius runs the ICE and charges it. The more power being used to charge the battery, the less that is available for moving the car, so you will notice reduced power when the traction battery gets very low. Most drivers report no problems going up mountain roads if they keep their speed at a reasonable level. If it's a long steep uphill, get over in the truck lane and aim for around 55 mph. If you zoom uphill like a madman, you'll go great guns for the first part, then crawl the rest of the way. It's better to shoot for a sustainable speed.

Quick edit: Don't be alarmed when the engine sounds like it's coming out of the car. Hill climbing can make the Prius engine sound like it's racing, but it's completely okay. The computer won't let you hurt it, so mash down that accelerator and keep going.

Tom

 

As the others say, just drive it. The computer will prevent any damage to the battery. If the battery gets low, it uses the gas engine more, that's all. You won't be stranded or damage anything.

 

You live near Mount Diablo. Drive up to the top, then come down (North Gate) at or below the speed limit. Guaranteed you will see all green bars. My wife and I did it on Sunday. Shifting the car into "B" on the way down does an amazing job at keeping you at or near the speed limits on the steep parts.

P.S. The low average MPGs is due to my wife having the car all week and doing nothing but very short trips.

 

Oops, you're right - I get bored seeing the battery bars all go green . . it's easy to do in the hills. But, if you do the Mt. Diablo thing, it will happen in the first five minutes of your drive downhill and you will get the bars for 30 minutes of 100+ MPG too.