ICE please define the what is means?

Thank you so much- I sometimes do have trouble tracking the specifics, even though I get the gist of it ! (and , yes, I did read the manual, but some of that was a little techy as well)

 

I didn't know there were two batteries! Now I've learned something too! I assumed the traction battery performed all battery duties

 

One of the many other technical forums I haunt has a poster who has this signature

I try to fill in and give background, but if I am too terse, let me know!

 

There are at least two good reasons:
For safety, the 12 Volt battery powers all the computers at start up in doing self tests, only then is the HV battery relays engaged and the READY light turned on.

Millions of car parts are designed for 12 Volts, so they are cheaper than parts freshly designed for High Voltage.

 

So, again forgive the (maybe too simple question) but regenerative BRAKES are shunting energy to which of the two batteries? HV(Hybrid) or 12 volt? If not 12 volt, then how does 12 volt stay charged without an alternator (an essential I remember from my distant pre-hybrid days 2 1/2 months ago)? Feel free to direct me to a previous thread if there is an explanation I have missed...thank you again for the discussion!

 

It goes into the HV battery. The inverter/PCU under the hood has a DC to DC converter to charge the 12 volt and provide power to the 12 volt bus.

 

The brakes feed the HV Battery, via the Motor/Generator2 when it is acting as a generator, just cruising down the road it is much more likely to be Motor/Generator1 charging the HV Battery. (M/G1 also acts as the starter motor) The Inverter manages all the different voltage levels, M/Gs, the HV Battery, the A/C Compressor, and the 12 Volt battery.

The HV battery charges the 12 volt battery via a piece of electronics known as the inverter (big silver dome to the right side of the engine) at a very constant voltage (13.8 on my Gen 2, 14.4 on my v) unlike alternator systems where the headlights often get dim at idle due to varying voltage. Incorrectly hooking up the jumper cables can fry this $3500 part, so try to never routinely use jumper cables, a new 12 battery is much cheaper.

I swear I used to see a simple block diagram of the inverter, now all I can find is this (which lacks simple)

 

PriusChat Glossary | PriusChat

 

Thank you SO much- the key words for me were "The Inverter manages all the different voltage levels, M/Gs, the HV Battery, the A/C Compressor, and the 12 Volt battery." because I just needed to understand what brilliant advance replaces an alternator!

The rest is frosting, although my engineer SO ("significant other") liked the illustration. The advice about jumper cables is priceless- I used to carry them in my 2000 RAV all the time (and knew how to use them!) but I will claim innocence and just call Triple-A from here on out!

Exactly what I was hoping for!!!!!!

 

Are you referring to propane or natural gas? Or did you mean gasoline?

 

Never use them to jump start other cars, your 12 volt battery is much smaller than most cars. (it never starts the ICE) You can use them to jump start your car in an emergency, but then go buy a new 12 Volt battery.

(For the truly paranoid they make auto polarity jumper cables, you CAN'T hook them up wrong)


Buy.com - Michelin 5100 Smart Jumper Cables w/ Surge Protection

 

For what it's worth... countries that use UK English never use the terms gas or gasoline... we might call it a petrol engine, but ICE is simple and universal. If someone refers to using gas down here, they most likely mean LPG but they may also mean Compressed Natural Gas. Many of our transit operators very proudly promote their growing fleets of "gas powered buses" replacing diesel engined vehicles, which I guess must be slightly confusing to North Americans.

 

You've probably figured out by now that the regenerative brakes aren't brakes at all, right? The Prius does have ordinary disc brakes, which automatically engage when needed -- in a panic stop or whenever the brake pedal is depressed far enough.

In ordinary cars, the engine and transmission slow the car. If you drive an ordinary car and put it in Neutral while driving, the car will go faster than if you keep it in Drive and take your foot off the gas, because in Drive, the transmission spins, and it spins the engine. With a Prius, letting go of the gas while moving spins the transmission, which in turn puts load on one of the motor/generators, which generates electricity. As you press the pedal further, load is increased, which increases the resistance of the generator, thus slowing the car even more. When you release the brake pedal, the generator load is reduced, and when you tap the gas pedal even a little, all generator load is released and in an instant, electricity can flow back from the battery into the motor/generator, which now acts as a motor and drives the car forward.

Beautiful, isn't it?