Hybrid Battery Level Drops to Only 1 Bar...Then What?

do not fret. the car will take care of itself. and even though the display shows 0 bars there is actally 40% left in the battery, sort of like the gas tank

 

I went up the grapevine (Southern California) on my 04 prius' madien voyage and TRIED to get it below 1 (Running it at 90+ MPH). It did it for a second but it was so quick that I almost couldn't be sure. But as soon as it hit that the software (HSD) makes no power come from the battery. The engine immediately charges the battery at almost all costs after that. If one punches it, all ICE power goes to forward momentum and charging ceases but as soon as the burst is done, it is charging up a storm until right inbetween 1 and 2 bars where it acts like it can give KWH power again.

Hey, it's for science right? I guess I was lucky since a) cops patrol the area there, B) it was snowing when I went over it, and c)I had no plates or registration at the time (actually I still don't. )

Of course, on the way down, the battery was overcharged.

 

Don't worry. Be happy.

It's not covered in the owner's manual because it won't happen and there's nothing to worry about. If it does happen it's because there's a serious malfunction, and the owner's manual can't be expected to list every possible malfunction (e.g. "Page 123,993 - Cylinder head exits left side of engine compartment").

What will really happen? Shutting off the lights, A/C, etc. will let you go a tiny bit faster under ICE-only operation. If you hadn't done those things the outcome would have probably been exactly the same, except cooler and better-lit.

 

Driving up steep inclines such as in mountainous terrain will deplete the charge of the battery - at least on the energy monitor. I drove from Denver to Evergreen (west along I-70) in Colorado. When the battery gets low, the last blue bars turn pink and then disappear. I also was a bit worried as I was still climbing up on the freeway. However, no need to worry - what happened was the ICE kicked on to charge the battery. No difference on performance of the Prius that I could tell - I was still going 65 mph. On the return trip going downhill for several miles, the battery completely charged - all green bars including the normally white bar at the top. That trip was a few weeks ago and I don't see anything different about the car. Surprisingly mileage on that trip was ~50 mpg.

Today I am leaving on a trip from Denver to Grand Junction, CO (on the western slope over the continental divide). I'll report back how that goes in a few days. I agree that the manual should have mentioned the various states of charge of the battery as it was worrisome at the time.

 

As an aside, I find it great that this car is able to change your viewpoint (definately mine, anyways), from pushing the car and not worrying about it - driving on bad tires, pushing the engine, oversteering and braking, etc - to where we actually care and worry about the car because of the feedback it gives us.

I've gone from driving a neon and only paying attention to it when it wouldn't start or something broke on it, to being someone who tries to achieve the highest mpg possible, someone who is more aware of his surroundings in order to prepare for stopped traffic, and so on. I think the Prius, and other cars similar in it's design, are able to turn us from a group of car-abusers into a group of car-lovers.

-m.

 

Not quite the same situation but similar. Perhaps someone can explain what happened or didn't happen and why. We were sitting in a restaurant parking lot eating some sandwiches since we couldn't eat in because we had our dogs with us. We had the radio and air on for comfort. (Temp was in the upper 70's, but dogs were panting) The Prius was in Park. As we ate, we watched the screen as the battery charge went from 6 blue down to 2 pink. Expected the ICE to come on to charge the battery. It didn't. We got concerned when it didn't come on for at least 5 minutes while in this pink condition. We decided to drive the car to charge it up even though we weren't really ready to leave just yet. It charged up quickly, back to 6 blue within just a few miles. Why didn't it come on while we were in Park? Would it have come on at 1 pink bar? Should we have worried?

Thanks,

 

Just my opinion: No. You should not have worried. The ICE would have come on when the computer decided it was time to charge the battery.

 

More aggressive use of the battery was one of the major design improvements of the 2004 Prius. In the classic, the ICE would cycle on and off at fairly short intervals if left in park (ignition on, A/C off). I've noticed that the 2004 Prius waits until the useable SOC of the battery is nearly depleted before turning the ICE on to recharge.

A huge practical benefit of this is that we can get long periods of battery-only A/C in the city. When the battery is depleted, the ICE turns on and quickly replenishes the charge.

Don't worry - just drive -er- sit in it!