No problemo: http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/md/sports/genrel/auto_secondlead/564515.jpeg Go Terps! What! You say there's another turtle?
With all due respect to Mother Toyota, that from a self-promotional point of view is a truely bizarre way to say, "low battery." I'll bet the GM nay-sayers/ spin doctors had a field day with that one. When/if the HV battery SOC charge shows 8 green bars, does a little oh-so-cute hippity-hopping fuzzy bunny icon appear?
Nope. Exploiting it would have backfired. Look up "Generation 0" reports, models 1998 - 2000, for details. Sightings were incredibly rare. That's why I never had a photo available to share. They're simply were not opportunities to take it. The Classic model Prius (aka: Generation 1) was really just 2001 - 2003. Turtle sightings are one of the major differences. It uses modules in the battery-pack, not "D" cells like the prior. .
I see eight green bars daily since I live at 1,100 ft elevation and commute to sealevel. 2G instrumentation is boring, so no bunny icon appears... I saw the turtle icon only once, when driving the 2001 to Lake Arrowhead near Los Angeles, which requires climbing up to 5,200 ft. elevation.
Strange, I think your dash lights are in a different order than mine. My blue "cold engine" light is in the far upper right of the display. On yours, its the far upper left. Then again, I'm betting your steering wheel is on the right hand side?
That turtle light is hilarious, and so out of place with those other icons! If my car lit that up I'd think it was trying to tell me how much it loves nature and animals, and I'd be happy that my car cares so much.
Well, turtles are green. The car is "green." If the light comes on, it must mean that you are REALLY helping the environment, or at least turtles. Or, maybe it is really a turtle-crossing-the-road alert.
Yep, mine is RHD. Actually, the blue Low coolant temperature indicator light is at the far left middle row. There are all arranged in 3 rows and I think yours are in 2 rows. Another difference is that you have the CRUISE light beside the turtle icon which is not present in mine. I also didn't see any Driver's Seat Belt Reminder Light in the LHD Prius.
My turtle light came on for the first time about 2 weekends ago. The battery was reporting its usual 75% charge. The battery fan in the trunk was going at full tilt, and it was very hot and humid at the moment it happened. I left the car alone until the temperature outside cooled a bit and the next start was fine. It's clear after driving the car in this condition that when Toyota is telling you to drive slowly when you see the light, they are doing this for safety reasons and not because the car needs you to be going slowly so that it can 'recharge' ... the car is going to recharge itself no matter how you drive it. The acceleration ability is cut in half or more when the light is on, if you try to pull into full traffic in this condition you would very likely cause an accident. Toyota is purposely misleading about what the light means for safety reasons. If they said what the light REALLY meant, some clown in the US would surely try to start a lawsuit.
