I have had my 2005 Prius since the end of November and love it. I have two questions about the battery. Last night when driving the bar indicators were green (which they normally were) and then changed to blue while I was driving and the bar range did not drop or change. I parked the car for several hours and driving home the bars were blue and then right before I got home they changed back to green. I was driving with lights on both times. Has anyone else had this happen? Do you know why this happened? Also when at a stop light the electric engine attempted to kick in. I let my foot off the brake and inched forward then applied the brakes again until the light finally changed. Have had this happen twice. Any ideas? I am planning on calling Toyota to see what they have to say. Thanks
This is normal behavior. Green is toward the top of the charge, blue is the middle range, and if you go up a long grade, you may see the bars turn pink. No problem. The internal combustion engine (ICE) will occasionally run when the car is stopped. Mine will do this frequently right after I start the car. Its warming up. As long as you don't see warning lights, just drive it, and have fun!
Having the number of bars, or the color of the bars, change is completely normal and not a cause for any concern at all. When the traction battery is nearly fully charged there will be more bars and they will be green. In the middle of it's range of charge states the bars will be blue and there will be fewer of them. In some cases, especially if you go up a very long steep hill, the battery SOC (State Of Charge) will drop closer to the low end of the normal range and there will be few, pink colored bars. This is still not a cause for concern because the many onboard computer systems will never let the battery get too low or overcharged, as long as you do not run out of gas. Don't run your Prius out of gas, just don't. It's really not good. The car will sometimes start the engine either to warm it up more, or to charge the traction battery, when you are stopped at a light. This is normal too. Just drive the car, and don't run out of gas. Opinions may differ in some jurisdictions. Your mileage will vary. Enjoy! Steve
Also when at a stop light the electric engine attempted to kick in. I let my foot off the brake and inched forward then applied the brakes again until the light finally changed. Have had this happen twice. Any ideas? I understood this to mean that you saw the energy flow from the battery to the electric motor to the front wheels, even when you were stopped at a traffic light, foot on the brake. I have seen this happen a couple of times. When I have seen it, I push harder on the brake pedal and it goes away. I don't know if I have a problem with the sensitivity of my brake pedal or if I tend to be light on the pedal at a dead stop. Traditional brakes allow you to pump pressure in the line by lightening up, then pressing hard on the pedal again. In my case it might be habit of letting up some pressure on the brake pedal once fully stopped. There obviously is a cross over between the point where the brakes are engaged, and the "forward creep" behavior of the car is initiated.
If Jim's understanding is correct, yes you can have your foot lightly on the brake and kill the creep, a bit more pressure is needed to stop the energy flow.. You will definately have times when the ICE will run at a stop. The car attempts to always produce minimal pollution levels so it keeps itself warm. Try this. While stopped, if the ICE doesn't stop, or kicks on, turn of the heat entirely. Most of the time the engine will stop since it doesn't think you are trying to rob its precious heat.
