Is it possible to completely drain your main battery in stop/go traffic?

[Starbug]

So if you sit long enough, crawling in EV mode in stop/go rush hour traffic, and your battery gets down to the last blue bar..... will the ICE automatically start up when you hit pink to force a recharge of the battery while you're sitting still? Or will you eventually drain it completely and have to rely exclusively on your ICE? Will this damage your car's computer or your battery if it did get drained dry?

I wonder because I did get stuck in rush hour traffic that was so bad that it took me three hours to get out of it, all the while speeds were so slow (when you did finally move a few feet) that I was only able to move in EV mode. By the time the traffic freed up enough to move freely, my battery was down to one blue bar and I was beginning to feel panic over a soon-to-be-dead battery.

[efusco]

Starbug,
It's one thing seeing this from newbies, but come on, you've gotta have seen this asked and answered a dozen times.
No, it is not possible to drain the HV battery.

[Malarkey]

It's also worth noting that the last bar on the display is still something like 40% of the actual battery charge - which gives some peace of mind.

[doubleg2005]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Aug 14 2007, 01:14 PM) [snapback]495462[/snapback]</div>

Starbug,
No, it is not possible to drain the HV battery. [/b]

Unless you run out of gas and try to keep driving on just the battery...

[efusco]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(doubleg2005 @ Aug 14 2007, 02:02 PM) [snapback]495484[/snapback]</div>

Unless you run out of gas and try to keep driving on just the battery...
[/b]

Even then it'll be ok b/c the car will shut itself down before doing any damage or completely draining the battery, unless you keep trying and trying to restart and drive it.



Maybe leaving it in Ready and Neutral for a few hours would do it...haven't tried.

[David Beale]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(doubleg2005 @ Aug 14 2007, 01:02 PM) [snapback]495484[/snapback]</div>

Unless you run out of gas and try to keep driving on just the battery...
[/b]

Still probably not possible. The car will shut down before the battery is completely drained. Of course, if you were VERY stupid and kept trying (restarting the car with no gas time and again), you would -eventually- drain the traction battery.

In that case you would deserve it! You would not be competent to have charge in the battery.

[ZA_Andy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Starbug @ Aug 14 2007, 02:13 PM) [snapback]495459[/snapback]</div>

So if you sit long enough, crawling in EV mode in stop/go rush hour traffic, and your battery gets down to the last blue bar..... will the ICE automatically start up when you hit pink to force a recharge of the battery while you're sitting still? Or will you eventually drain it completely and have to rely exclusively on your ICE? Will this damage your car's computer or your battery if it did get drained dry?

I wonder because I did get stuck in rush hour traffic that was so bad that it took me three hours to get out of it, all the while speeds were so slow (when you did finally move a few feet) that I was only able to move in EV mode. By the time the traffic freed up enough to move freely, my battery was down to one blue bar and I was beginning to feel panic over a soon-to-be-dead battery.
[/b]

In a way you answered your own question. You were in heavy traffic for 3 hours, and by the end of that your battery was only down to 1 blue bar - meaning that with all the load on it from driving and using any accessories like the radio or AC, the battery must have been charging - in part that would have been from the regenerative braking as you came to a standstill each time, but in part from the ICE.

It's also both true and reasonable to assume that since the computer manages battery state of charge pretty well at other times, it does just as well when in heavy traffic.

[Danny Hamilton]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Aug 14 2007, 01:14 PM) [snapback]495462[/snapback]</div>

It's one thing seeing this from newbies, but come on, you've gotta have seen this asked and answered a dozen times.
[/b]

Give her the benefit of the doubt on this one. From her posting history it looks like she purchased her first Prius only a few months ago, so she doesn't have much experience driving it. Most of her time here has been spent in the social forums, so it's possible she hadn't encountered this question before.

[Starbug]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Aug 14 2007, 11:14 AM) [snapback]495462[/snapback]</div>

Starbug,
It's one thing seeing this from newbies, but come on, you've gotta have seen this asked and answered a dozen times.
No, it is not possible to drain the HV battery.
[/b]

Hey, easy there, it was an innocent enough question. I've actually not seen it asked by newbies. I've only had the car about two months now, so this is my first real experiance with one. I did join PC a couple years ago, lurked and posted a bit (mostly in the WA club forums, I think), and then got so busy with work and life that I didn't have a chance to come back til the day I bought my Prius a couple years later. So there's probably tons of newbie posts regarding my question that I never saw.

Thank you for answering, though. I've never run into such horrendous traffic as I did that day, so that minor concern was really out of the blue. It had never occured to me to ever wonder or worry about the main battery running down til that day. I assumed the ICE would force a recharge at some point, but wanted to ask you experts to make sure.

[qbee42]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Aug 14 2007, 03:25 PM) [snapback]495498[/snapback]</div>

Even then it'll be ok b/c the car will shut itself down before doing any damage or completely draining the battery, unless you keep trying and trying to restart and drive it.



Maybe leaving it in Ready and Neutral for a few hours would do it...haven't tried.
[/b]

You could always try placing a large jumper cable across the HV battery terminals. I'd recommend gloves and safety glasses, maybe a bomb disposal suit.

Tom