Okay, only day two with the Prius for me so be gentle. I've noticed the battery condition never goes fully charged (full blue bars), it stays with the two top blue bars missing, is this normal? I drive it enough that the display does not show the battery charging and the Prius sometimes runs on only electric during certain parts of my commute.
Hey, you got a normal Prius! Yes, that MFD battery is not really representing the true SOC (state of charge). 40% to 80% is the range of the real battery. The MFD will show "full" with all green bars (80% true charge). It wil show 1 to 2 pink (some say purple) bars when "empty" (40% true charge). Enjoy the car!
Agreed, normal behavior. The car actually considers a 60% charge (6 blue bars) to be optimal. This gives you plenty of charge for bursts of battery power when you need it (e.g., rapid acceleration), but leaves a little headroom for upcoming regeneration. The only time you will typically see all 8 bars is after an extended period of regeneration (e.g., after coming down a long hill).
Okay thanks all, I appreciate the response. Just wanted to make sure if something *wasn't* right to get it fixed ASAP. Love this board!:rockon:
Oh it will. Probably haven't taken it for a nice long commute/cruise. Or your driving everywhere so slow your EV'ing everywhere. Which is great because thats the first thing you needed to know how to do. Everyday after a 15 mile fly down the highway and pull into town its all green. Around here its hard to P & G on the highway and if your not doing 70+ you'll get rear ended and thats in the slow lane. It kills the mpg's. But around town and everywhere else I try to drive slower. But at the end of the highway it goes all green except the top bar is never displayed. I hardly ever look at the MFD that much anymore. I look in the rear view more and try to drive slower and smarter with getting out of other peoples way. I just drive it like a normal car and it has settled into a 46-48 mpg. 2 most important things for mileage is oil level & tire pressure. Keep the oil exactly at the fill line maybe slightly lower never over the line. And inflate the tires to 44 front & 40 rear. Those 2 simple things can net you almost a 5 mpg increase. Good luck!
Another way to see all green bars is to drive at -40, which is so cold the motor will never shut off, unless you run a winter front on the grille.
Every once in a while, my battery meter will show all the bars. It seems to happen to me when I'm not trying. I'll be driving normally, using both gas and electric and while braking it'll go to full, but often times, long stints downhill won't bring it to full, at least for me. I caught one once while at a stop light:
