In western NC I often max out the battery power indicator bars. I am aware that no bars does not indicate no power, nor does all bars lit necessarily indicate 100% power. But can anyone tell me approximately how many watts each bar represents? Thanks
Your traction battery is normally maintained between 40 and 80% of its capacity (That's why it will "last the life of the car"). This shows on your power indicator as from empty to full. Since the capacity is 200 volts times 6.5 amp hours or 1.3 kwatt-hours, each bar is approximately 50 watt-hours (or one little green car). Note that the bars are not all equal value so this is an approximate calculation. JeffD
The link provided by DireStraits might eventually end up at with this, but to demonstrate this point: It doesn't address Whitey's question directly, but it does show the non-linearity of the bars.
The way that graph shows the nonlinearity is certainly more accurate than the 5% per bar approximation. But I think the maximum for eight bars is understated, and the minimum for one bar.
2004 Prius capacity = 6.5 Ah * 201.6V = 1.3 KWh 1.3 KWh * 40% available (40%-80%) = 520wh available 520wh available / 100 = 5.2 wh per % (or 18,720 joules per %). fyi: a watt is not a unit of energy - It measures a rate of energy use or production.
I really appreciate all the responses, but I think that I'm in over my head! Is a bar really equal to (way approximately) to a leaf? I volts, watts, & Kw mean very little to me. Thanks!
No--they are not even equal to each other. Bars near the bottom represent much less energy than the highest blue or lowest green one do.
green leaf = 50wh each bar can be ~4%-14% "long" 1% = 5.2wh 9.6% = 1 green leaf So yes, it can equal one "Bar" or even two - depending on where on the chart it is. Just remember that each green leaf regenerates 10% and you'll be fine.
Thanks Bob64, and others! I'm even more impressed with the car's regenerative abilities according to the info I've received here, because I often see "Whitey" top off the battery on our little mountain jaunts He has delusions of grandeur when I resort to his Jake Brake - thinking that 18 wheelers are his peers. "Whitey" has quite an imagination.Is there a Prius shrink in the house?
Speaking of Jake Brakes: I've discovered that the battery is not necessarily absolutely maxed out when the MFD glows that highest green bar. It takes feeding the battery thru regenerative braking a bit more before using the jake brake (B mode) engages with valves shut down - where "Whitey" begins to roar and clatter coming down the mountain, like the big guys.
This is true. The MFD provides only a crud view of what's going on under the hood. Keep in mind that the Prius HV battery stores a relatively small amount of energy. It's only equivalent to a few ounces of gasoline, so it doesn't take much regenerative braking to fill it up. Think of it as a flywheel, storing a small amount of energy for quick use. Tom
