Battery Charge

[bravery]

I purchased and installed the EV Mode switch from Costaltech. I have noticed before I had the EV mode that the only time my battery has been fully charged is when I was coming down out of the mountains on I-70 into Denver. Also the battery drains quickly, so my EV mode only last for maybe 5 minutes. Is it normal that the battery never gets fully charged and to drain quickly when in use?

[auricchio]

The computer keeps the HV battery at 40-80% state of charge (SOC). You only see this range on the screen; you don't see higher or lower ranges.

EV mode will only provide a mile or two of distance before the ICE starts up to recharge the HV battery.

[edselpdx]

Yep... the EV mod is a relatively minor "toy" that can impress friends and family (and me still), but doesn't add mileage unless you use it very carefully. Now, I like mine very much, but the computer isn't going to allow you to to misuse the battery. All green "fully" charged battery only happens regularly for me coming down a pretty big hill, like you. I went up to Mt. St. Helens last weekend and had an "all green" battery readout on the way down, but as stated above, that actually doesn't indicate a 100% charged battery...more like 80%.

I tend to use by EV when I'm several blocks away from home when I know I'll have to run the ICE in the morning to warm up anyway. I sometimes use it to get a couple of blocks of very slow neighborhood driving in the morning before I can start up to 30 MPH+ to use the ICE to warm up (it uses the same gas to warm up as it will to go 20-30 MPH, so why waste it until I get on the intermediate road (35 MPH speed limit)? You have to "preempt" the ICE by holding in the EV when starting to make this happen.

[hdrygas]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bravery @ May 21 2006, 07:01 PM) [snapback]259026[/snapback]</div>

I purchased and installed the EV Mode switch from Costaltech. I have noticed before I had the EV mode that the only time my battery has been fully charged is when I was coming down out of the mountains on I-70 into Denver. Also the battery drains quickly, so my EV mode only last for maybe 5 minutes. Is it normal that the battery never gets fully charged and to drain quickly when in use?
[/b]

The battery is never fully charged, or discharged! That preserves the battery. To use a EV mode drain the battery to 40-45% at the top of a great hill and then charge it with light pressure on the break. When you get to all green switch to "B" mode if the hill is long enough. In Colorado you may find hills of that size! Search around the site and look at posts. You will find instruction. The computers will protect your battery and you for 300k, despite your self! Become one with the computer. Resistance is Futile, You will be assimilated!

[ken1784]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bravery @ May 22 2006, 11:01 AM) [snapback]259026[/snapback]</div>

Also the battery drains quickly, so my EV mode only last for maybe 5 minutes. [/b]

Then, you'll see a huge rebounds of low mileage number after that, because Prius needs a lot of fuel to charge it back.
The best basic strategy is Pulse&Glide and never use battery power.

Ken@Japan

[EricGo]

How many shrinks does it take to screw in a lightbulb ?

One. But the bulb has too really want it to be so.

Likewise your HV battery

[windstrings]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bravery @ May 21 2006, 07:01 PM) [snapback]259026[/snapback]</div>

I purchased and installed the EV Mode switch from Costaltech. I have noticed before I had the EV mode that the only time my battery has been fully charged is when I was coming down out of the mountains on I-70 into Denver. Also the battery drains quickly, so my EV mode only last for maybe 5 minutes. Is it normal that the battery never gets fully charged and to drain quickly when in use?
[/b]

When coming down a mountain, it will get full.. but for normal driving, not.

I'm guessing that the reason is that if the battery was kept full by the ICE all the time, you would have no storage space for kinetic regen.

They have it rigged so regen will take it up, but the ICE will not.
That would be inefficient, as you really want to charge the battery with kinetic waste rather than using gas.

Using gas is a nonperfect way to create energy for later use... the conversion losses to and fro from the battery would be a waste.

Remember that every ounce of energy the battery gets was actually created with gas.

The trick we really want to do is store energy that would have otherwise been wasted.

Normal driving around town on relatively flat surfaces should never fully charge the battery.