Traction Battery Strange Charge/Discharge

I have a 2009 Touring that has just turned one year old. It has 7,500 miles on it. My driving patterns are rather consistent - mostly short trip and one long trip per month to the same place. I would say they I know they battery recharge pattern of this car very well.

During the past month, the charge indicator has shown the pink/purple area several times. I did not even know it had a pink area. The first time was after I drove the car and had it valet parked for 6 hours. When I left the garage, I saw the pink, and the engine was racing. It got in the blue rather quickly and then went all the way to green within a few miles. The pink happenned again during the month once or twice. It always recovered.

This weekend I want on the long trip, which has some steep road climbs, followed by a long period of down-grade. For the first time in a year, the indicator went pink on the up-grade. It also went green on the down (just like before). When I got home, the average mileage was about 10% less.

My question is: What is going on? Is there a defect or is this some "settling" of the battery to its normal state? I called the dealer the first time the pink came on, and they said that as long as the battery recharges, everything is fine. Now after a month of this, I am going to call again. I live in LA, so the weather is normal this time of year (not hot or cold).

Thank you.

 

Richard

That was my exact first thought. I did that once myself early on. My only concern is that I am seeing the pink this past month a few times, when I never saw it before. The return trip yesterday also was troubling becasue of the pink. I have made the same trip 12 times in the last month, and although the bars gat low (2 I think), never the pink. I think I am going to the dealer this week. Thank you again.