1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Does your battery charge to maximum level?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by carlosfpr, Apr 16, 2013.

  1. carlosfpr

    carlosfpr Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2013
    19
    9
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I have my Prius for about a month now and I noticed that my battery does not fully charge:

    [​IMG]

    Is this normal?

    Thank you!
     
  2. cmezriczky

    cmezriczky Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 19, 2010
    34
    1
    0
    Location:
    Austria
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    This is normal. Loading to full level will decrease the traction batteries durability and will therefore not be done by your Prius. Full level charge happens only if you are regenerating too much...
     
  3. cmezriczky

    cmezriczky Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 19, 2010
    34
    1
    0
    Location:
    Austria
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Standard Load is between the lower two bars and should go up to below the uppermost two bars. Everything more or less will add to the traction batteries memory effect.
     
  4. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2009
    17,035
    10,010
    90
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    For flatlanders, this is normal. Most of us see the battery fill up only with a significant amount of regenerative braking while descending hills. Once we reach flat land, the car burns off the top two bars fairly quickly.

    This pattern keeps some room available to harvest the 'free' energy of downhill slopes, which would otherwise be thrown away as heat in the friction brakes. And this improves battery longevity. Battery life is longest when the average state of charge (SOC) is somewhere in the middle, neither full nor empty.
     
    Merkey and JimboPalmer like this.
  5. walter Lee

    walter Lee Hypermiling Padawan

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2009
    1,126
    376
    5
    Location:
    Maryland
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    The highest SOC that I've achieved while monitoring the HV battery with the SGII is about 78% - after
    stopping or slowing down from a very steep downhill grade...
     
  6. Codyroo

    Codyroo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2007
    1,826
    514
    6
    Location:
    Pleasanton, Ca
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    What you are seeing (6 bars) is normal. The car will try to maintain 6 bars throughout operations.
     
  7. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2004
    14,816
    2,496
    66
    Location:
    Far-North Chicagoland
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    To add a little more details and information.

    The State of Charge displayed on the dash is actually close to between 40% and 60% State of Charge. Toyota established many years ago that allowing a battery to fully charge and fully discharge shortens the lifespan of the battery. So they keep it in the mid-range sweet spot.
    Some manufacturers widen the range to 30-70 or even 20-80. I think someone actually allows a full-range charge/depletion cycle. Those in the know are closely watching to monitor their long-term durability.

    Like everyone said, you will rarely see a full SoC display and when you do, it's neither good nor bad. It just is.
    On the other side of that coin, I hope for your sake that you never see a completely empty SoC display. That's a whole other discussion.
     
    Merkey likes this.
  8. Sfcyclist

    Sfcyclist Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2012
    1,621
    375
    0
    Location:
    SF, CA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Persona
    nope.. never to full.. but I haven tried to use as much as possible.. only got down to half.
     
  9. szgabor

    szgabor Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2009
    993
    175
    0
    Location:
    Oceanside NY
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Very rarely that happened to me with the 2010 and maybe once with 2012 in the last 6 month.
     
  10. Ardentity

    Ardentity Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2013
    15
    9
    0
    Location:
    CA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Saw it happen for the first time yesterday in my 2013 Prius Three (charge to max level). But it quickly dropped by 1 bar again. :)
     
  11. bjdrums

    bjdrums Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 6, 2013
    15
    1
    0
    Location:
    Temecula, California
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I've only had my Prius for 3 weeks and saw the battery attain a "full" charge twice now (not for very long though maybe 5 minutes or so). Should I be concerned?
     
  12. Sfcyclist

    Sfcyclist Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2012
    1,621
    375
    0
    Location:
    SF, CA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Persona
    Take that back... just had to go to complete full yesterday for short time. At the same time, I have noticed it cycles much deeper though. I guess that is a good thing, use more battery = less gas.
     
  13. Muzzman1

    Muzzman1 Member

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2012
    82
    42
    0
    Location:
    So Cal
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    The battery Indicator posted by the OP actually indicates an actual SOC of 40%-80%. So when that gauge reads full the actual battery charge is 80%. Never more. Toyota did this to preserve the life of the NiMH batteries.
    I live at the top of a 3-4mile hill. I regularly see the gauge indicate "full" although in reality I have only once ever actually filled my batteries to exactly 80% coming down from Big Bear. (I have a ScanGauge2 that tells me exact real SOC)
    It is not harmful in any way to send that gauge to full because the car's computer will never let any harm happen to the high voltage battery pack.
     
    Ardentity likes this.
  14. vday

    vday Member

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2010
    312
    21
    0
    Location:
    Israel
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Go down a long steep hill and it will hit the top in no time 3 miles the most - happens to me daily
     
  15. Drafty01

    Drafty01 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2013
    42
    6
    0
    Location:
    Auckland, New Zealand
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    My '06 charges up to about 82.5% pretty much daily, when it starts to actively discharge. I live at the bottom of a 900ft steep hill, so it gets a charge like this every day.
    Is this harmful or beneficial for the battery?
    I have the Torque App, which has a state of charge indicator, so it's easy to monitor on the descent.
     
  16. Clay2013

    Clay2013 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2013
    28
    10
    1
    Location:
    Brandon, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    I have not seen mine full yet either!
     
  17. Jamesb93612

    Jamesb93612 Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2013
    133
    69
    0
    Location:
    Clovis, Ca
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I finally took my 2008 Prius to San Diego from Fresno, Ca. When coming back over the Grapevine, I noticed that my battery filled up for the first time (going downhill). I wasn't sure what to do, if anything. I was surprised that I was able to go for a good distance in the valley before it went back down one bar. I was able to drive in EV mode for a while at 70mph (I assume that I was in EV because I only saw the yellow arrows coming from elec. motor, but I could be wrong)


    iPad ? HD
     
  18. szgabor

    szgabor Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2009
    993
    175
    0
    Location:
    Oceanside NY
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    where did you get this ??? this is a myth .. mostly because what you see is first non-linear second the whole range is is somewhere btw 40%-60% of the REAL SOC of the battery ... it sounds like a waste but this is designed for last.

    The most important for the battery is the number of cycles it takes .. but Toyota figured out that keeping the battery in this range is optimal ... but there is NO memory affect issues.

    Sorry just realized someone already said this..
     
  19. cmezriczky

    cmezriczky Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 19, 2010
    34
    1
    0
    Location:
    Austria
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I get this information from my car: It starts loading via ICE when below the 2 lowest bars and does not load any more via ICE once it reaches the third highest bar...
     
  20. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2009
    12,470
    6,862
    2
    Location:
    Greenwood MS USA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    You may have trouble finding a long steep decline in Florida. Should you vacation in the Great Smokies you may find a downhill long enough to fill the battery. (You may also be able to fill the battery with gradual braking from the top speed of your Prius, but I can't advise this)

    Once you do 'fill' the HV Battery, the Prius will try engine braking to help the friction brakes.