Engine doesn't start to charge hybrid battery in heavy traffic/parked only.

In heavy traffic the engine fails to start If the engine fails to start, which is what it is doing, the battery will continue to deplete to a point where the battery will be totally exhausted. My car goes to the two bars, then beyond that to where the bar color turns pink. I assume that is a warning for the operator. This issues seems to be peculiar.

 

It is a Toyota battery which is fairly new. The battery was tested and it is at 93%. The 12v battery has also been tested and is good. It must be something in the car (hardware or software) that instructs the engine to start and generate electricity to recharge the hybrid battery.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to research and post this explanation. I now have a better grasp on what is occurring now. In the 6 months I have owned this car, I have never observed the battery display bar turn pink. I have a shop manual for the car but it's extremely elementary in its presentation. As you eluded to in our message, there could be a set of events that is causing the car to act differently. Maybe my best choice of action at this point is to start the car in my driveway with my foot on the brake and simulate a prolonged period of time in traffic. See if the engine starts when the battery power gets low enough. Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Great post! Rick

 

Thanks you very much for taking time to respond to my issue and for your detailed explanation. I appreciate it! This is the first Prius I have ever owned. These are very complex cars and totally different for anything I have worked on. Manuals are great but can be difficult to find correct answers to complaints. I have been in traffic before but the engine started and recharged the battery before it color changed to purple (or it could be I did not notice the change to purple.) I am going to perform a few test on the car tomorrow while I am at home and in my driveway. If something goes wrong, at least I am in my driveway. Thanks so much! Rick