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An quick unscientific survey about Gen 2 Priuses and their battery behavior

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by priusrecon, Feb 5, 2016.

  1. priusrecon

    priusrecon Member

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    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Being an old schooler not used to all this computerized electronic stuff, I'm trying
    to understand what my Prius should behave like. I can't tell if mine is being normal.
    I'm getting conflicting opinions from mechanics and the dealership. For the most part,
    it's still getting good milage.


    Question - In your day to day driving, what range of readings do you generally see on
    your State Of Charge meter on your dash?

    For Example Answers -
    - It's generally between 7 green bars and 5 blue bars.... or

    - It's 8 green bars to 3 blue bars..... or

    - Oh, it goes all over, from full green, to blue, and down to purple bars on a daily basis


    And,

    Question - How often have you seen it go outside that range, and under what circumstances?

    For Example Answers -
    - It has Never gone outside that range or
    - Occasionally, while driving or after a long park, it seemed to discharge or overcharge or
    - All the time, it goes all over for any reason


    Finally, what year and general condition is your Prius?
    Is your milage satifactory?
    Thx
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    This is the correct answer

    For Example Answers -
    - It's generally between 7 green bars and 5 blue bars....

    It will go outside those parameters if you are climbing hills or going down extreme declines for long periods.
     
    prius_power likes this.
  3. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    This topic isn’t really going to give you much useful information.

    HV-Battery state of charge mostly depends one where and how you drive. Normal flat highway driving just has constant 6-bars. Or 7-bars if you drive more aggressively. Even on city driving I can sometimes keep it at constant 4, 5, or 6-bars. While getting pretty good fuel economy. And on some other routes efficient driving results in slow fluctuation between 3 and 7 bars. In special cases even 2 to 8 bars. If you do know that downhill will get you to 8-bars before it ends you should use B-mode all the way down.

    To determine the battery condition you can monitor how long it takes to change from (for example) 8 to 2 bars in same condition.
     
  4. prius_power

    prius_power Junior Member

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    I have a very varied commute to work with some nice long hills. In stop and go traffic, my charge will go down to 2 bars and coming out of one long hill, the battery will be overcharged with the electric motor spinning the gas engine to reduce the charge. Normal EV driving still drives fine and discharges at a normal rate. I'm still getting 48 to 54 mpg here in the US, so I'm very pleased with mileage. I have a 2008 Prius with 97k miles. Only 1k are mine. :)
     
  5. priusrecon

    priusrecon Member

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    Thank you all so far. These answers are exactly what I'm looking for....

    I personally found my '04 to Never Leave the 7 to 5 bar range, not under any driving circumstance, and I drove it everywhere. But my '06 is a bit more wild on the meter.

    Again, thanks so far, and Keep 'em coming!
     
  6. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Mine used to spend the majority of time in the 5 to 7 bar range, except for driving in mountains where I'd get wider excursions.

    Now that my battery is somewhat aged, I routinely get excursions from about 3 to 8 in regular driving (got some hills around here but no mountains). I do try to limit the excursions (by driving style and also by *warming the engine a little before driving), but I'll still get variations between 4 and 7 bars on most days.

    I'm currently at 261,000 km and on the original battery. To be honest, if I get another few years out of it I will count myself as lucky.

    *Note: Be aware that many people often see excursions to low SOC when first starting out with a cold engine. This is because the Prius uses the electric motors in preference to the engine until it warms the cats up a bit. You can avoid this by just letting the engine warm for about 40 to 60 seconds before driving.
     
    #6 uart, Feb 6, 2016
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2016
  7. CooCooCaChoo

    CooCooCaChoo Active Member

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    Model:
    LE
    Well, I replaced my battery about a month ago so I can testify to how it should behave when new:

    In your day to day driving, what range of readings do you generally see on your State Of Charge meter on your dash?

    I have never seen the SoC dip below 4 bars. At 5 bars, the ICE kicks on and starts recharging. I have been able to get the battery fully charged to 8 bars with a lot of coasting.

    How often have you seen it go outside that range, and under what circumstances?

    I have yet to see the SoC go below 4 bars while driving normally. ICE always kicks on at 5 bars to recharge.

    Finally, what year and general condition is your Prius?

    2004 with 127k miles. Battery is 1 month old. 6 month old Ecopias. Everything else is original as far as I can tell, minus the regular maintenance items.
     
  8. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    If you just stay parked and engine heat is not needed to heat the interior state of charge will drop to 2-bars before engine starts up to charge. If AC is cooling the interior it discharges a lot faster than without.

    Coasting should not charge battery at all. But coasting in Prius requires you to press a bit off accelerator to keep it off from regenerative breaking.

    If you start with 4-bars and cold engine it should normally drop down to 3-bars since Prius doesn’t want to use cold engine to generate power unless it has to.
     
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    with 3 prius over 12 years, none of which accumulated more than 50,000 miles under my ownership, the battery icon behavior has always been the same. i'm a flatlander, so no muntain experience.

    the battery is usually between 5-6 blue bars, but occasionally drops to 3 or 4, and down to 2 purple in stop and go driving.
    it will climb up to 8 green bars under certain circumstances, usually on the highway, or prolonged downhill.
    i think the colors are different on gen 3.
     
  10. jeff652

    jeff652 Senior Member

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    If the battery drops to two red bars and the car force charges the battery back to full, that is a negative recalibration. That is usually the first sign (along with decreased MPGs) that the battery is failing. If hybrid battery maintenance is started at this point and performed regularly usually a failure can be significantly delayed or eliminated (delayed beyond the service life of the vehicle). The easiest way to maintain the hybrid battery and prolong it's life is with our Prolong Battery Systems.