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New Owner - Battery Display Question

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by burns777, Oct 10, 2018.

  1. burns777

    burns777 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2018
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    Location:
    virginia
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Just bought a 2008 Prius with 111,000. After the first 150 miles, I averaged 44mpg.

    My question is about the hybrid battery display. I'd say 85% of the time it is blue and at 6 bars. If I'm running the A/C, it may drop down to 3 or 4 bars at some point during the ride. I have only ever had green bars like 4-5 times and those were for very brief amounts of time (2-3 minutes maybe).

    My driving is like 85% sidestreets and 15% highway.

    Is that normal? I just want to know if that is a good baseline, or if I should be in green more often.

    IMG_1087.jpg IMG_1088.jpg
     
    #1 burns777, Oct 10, 2018
  2. Kevin_Denver

    Kevin_Denver Active Member

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    Location:
    Denver, CO
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
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    Totally normal to cycle all the way from 1 bar up to 8 bars, depending on driving. It targets 5-6 bars, but will drop when climbing hills or using AC for example, and will climb up into the green with a lot of regenerative braking. 1 bar is actually about 40% state of charge of the battery and 8 bars is actually about 80%. The ECU (computer) only uses 40% of the true battery capacity as this lets the battery go through thousands upon thousands of cycles without losing much capacity.
     
    #2 Kevin_Denver, Oct 11, 2018
    srellim234, James1964, bisco and 1 other person like this.
  3. burns777

    burns777 Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    virginia
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
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    N/A
    Thanks, Kevin! I appreciate the help.
     
    #3 burns777, Oct 11, 2018
    srellim234 likes this.
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
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    Plug-in Base
    normal

    congrats and welcome! my daughter has same car, same mileage. you got a good one. all the best!(y)

    baseline isn't really helpful. the only time the display will tell you the battery is getting weak is when it starts going up and down quickly.
     
    #4 bisco, Oct 11, 2018
    srellim234 and James1964 like this.
  5. ILuvMyPriusToo

    ILuvMyPriusToo Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    II
    That behavior is totally consistent with that I have experienced on my 2009 for the past 120K miles. I do remember distinctly the first time ever it went purple (it did freak me out)! I still prefer it to be in the blue. (y)
     
    #5 ILuvMyPriusToo, Oct 14, 2018
    srellim234 likes this.
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