New Prime/plug-in owner question about battery charging

Welcome to the site and to Prime ownership. That is true of the old camera NiCad batteries that you didn't want to develop a memory but it's not true of your Lithium battery Prime.

Lithium batteries don't like being at 0% or 100% for very long but prefer some place in between if they're going to just sit around unused. They like being charged and topped off and used frequently. So as it mentions in the manual, it's best to charge right before you intend to use it and then go out and have fun not burning gas. Many of us use the Charge schedule to be charged "by" a departure time, etc. What they really "don't" want you to do is charge it to full and then let it sit at full for days and days.

I could go into a lot me detail but that give you an idea.

 

Just to add to @Mark57 comment, the Prime's traction battery is programed not to reach zero as long as you have some gasoline left in the tank and keep driving it. So driving until EV range reaching to 0 miles is perfectly fine. You still have some battery capacity reserved for regular hybrid driving (HV).

 

congrats and welcome!

just drive it, toyota has taken care of everything else.

all the best!

 

The most important phrase in your reply!

 

So will this charge while driving like a normal Prius?

 

When driving HV mode, Prime is just like regular Prius. If you never charge PRIME, you basically have the same car minus 5th seat and smaller cargo, as I understood.

 

That's the best darn advice you'll ever get in these forums!

Don't overthink it.... Just drive it.

 

Let’s say you are driving 150 miles, after you use up the pip’s all electric range you are just like a regular Prius, you have a separate supply of electric that constantly charges and depletes, just like a regular Prius, but, if you catch a mile or two miles of steep downhill section and have to ride your brake the larger traction battery will start to charge also, your dash will indicate that you now have a mile or three of pure electric left.

Also, in the first 25 miles of pure electric, if you go down a hill riding the brake your pure electric range increases.

I like to save the pure electric for slow flat parts of the drive so I Push th middle button to let the ice (internal combustion engine) run the vehicle, then push the button for pure electric until I hit a steep hill or a high speed section.

 

I applaud the OP for knowing enough about avoiding the memory effect in some types of batteries to ask the question to begin with. Kudos to you and your husband. The whole "just drive it" comments can sometimes come across to a new owner/new user as "don't ask questions, just shut up and drive it". That is not what this site is about. At least it wasn't when I joined over 9 years ago.

 

Not sure if anyone mentioned this but when you charge your Prime to 100% it's not actually charged to 100%. I'll have to verify the SOC myself but I have heard that the maximum charge is somewhere around 82%. So you're never really fully charged and you never really fully discharge the battery.

 

Exactly, Toyota has thought of this and will not let you overcharge or completely deplete your battery thus optimizing the life of the battery.

So, just charge when you can and enjoy!

 

Oh and I did verify that the SOC after a full charge is ~82%, ~13% when it switches over to HV mode. So it's a pretty good spread.

 

I have been driving in the North Cascades this month, I often get 10-15 miles of battery charge on the way down hill

 

Someday I’m going to go up to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood (about 6,000ft) and see what I get on the guess-o-meter at the bottom

 

That's a fair bit, what does your EV range typically start out at (so I can guess what your SOC actually is)?

Been getting close to 30 miles on a single charge, been getting close to 5 miles/kW.

 

I am visiting Washington state and using both my brother''s and daughter's Prime, so I am not aware of my SOC long term. Stevens Pass was my daughter's Prime, Rainy Pass was my brother's Prime. Both are blue 2018 Advanced with under 4000 miles. Sorry.

 

@JimboPalmer No worries on that. I suppose the % value would be slightly more telling. Makes sense though, it is a guess-o-meter in the sense that it is basing range on past efficiency...which is good if you're on a commute to work, can be pretty close.

So far my EV range is estimated about ~28 miles at 100% and it's pretty much right on. Since I am now able to charge at work, I'm 100% EV which is much more efficient and less expensive than gas. Thankfully I live in an area where a fair amount of the electricity is generated by hydroelectric dams (TVA).

 

I'm glad you mentioned that, Axle. I was going to say the same thing That's why @bisco can say, "just drive it." But it's nice to know WHY you can just drive it. @john1701a has a wealth of info on the Prime and other Prius models at his website. Enjoy your new car. I'm jealous in a nice way.

 

Where is the SOC displayed? I would like to check my numbers.