Curious about something to all the new '10 owners. Has your battery ever actually gotten a full charge? Mine hasn't as of yet and I have already taken it on more than one extended drive (have almost 500 miles on the car now) since I brought it home. Is this by design or defect? thanks in advance. John
They don't charge to full it helps with the battery having a longer life. There's posts around here explaining why if you want to search for it.
This is how it is designed to work to prolong battery life. The system keeps the charge between 40% to 80% I believe.
In my TCH (similar) if I went down an extreemly long grade the battery charge would increase and eventually the top bar would turn purple I believe. It would be at that time that the system would start to burn off the energy in other ways (see "B" mode thread for technical discussion on that)
The control system tries to save room for regenerative braking. If the battery state of charge (SOC) were kept at the top limit, only friction and engine braking could be used. Think of the Prius HV battery as a flywheel: it provides an extra boost when needed, such as for passing, and stores energy when braking. For this to work, its normal state is somewhere toward the top of middle. Tom
I have had mine go to the top once. I was on the freeway and exited off a long downhill ramp. The battery was at about 80% when I lifted and started regenerative charging. Halfway down the long ramp the battery was full. The only time I have seen this.
This is all good information, because I was a little worried as well. The manual has several pictures showing a full charge.
I'm going to the Sierra's this weekend and will post what happens after extended uphills and downhills. My '07 routinely fully displays green bars by just regular driving. I sure do miss the full color display of this info that the '07 had. Now I've got to lean forward and squint to see the data Lee
