Battery indicator never gets to "full"

Everything is normal. The Prius tends to keep the charge at 6 bars. If it gets to be less than that, the Prius will use less energy from the battery and focus on charging it. If it goes above 6 bars, the Prius will use more energy from the battery and do less charging. You will rarely have 7 or 8 bars and when you do, you won't have them for long.

As far as the distance you can travel on EV-only, well that's normal too. The Prius has a fairly small battery. Its primary purpose is to provide extra power during acceleration to make up for the small engine. While it has an EV-only mode, it won't take you far.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LondonPriusMan @ Aug 16 2006, 12:17 PM) [snapback]304129[/snapback]</div>

The battery charge should (almost) never reach the top. Remember: the car uses the battery to help improve the gas mileage of the car and a fundamental part of that is *using* the power from the battery to turn the wheels. If it makes you feel any better, when the display shows the battery as "full," it's only about 80% charged (and when it's "empty," it's still 40% charged).

As many before me have said, you should not drive the car with the goal of filling up the battery. The charging of the battery is inefficient from an energy standpoint, so it's actually not good to charge the battery all the way. Just drive the car, and the car will manage the energy flow for you in an efficient way.

I don't have an EV switch, but, from what I've read on here, it sounds like the EV-only behavior that you described is compeletely normal.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LondonPriusMan @ Aug 16 2006, 09:17 AM) [snapback]304129[/snapback]</div>

You probably won't get to full "topped-off" green unless you are driving in an area with a lot of hills where you can coast down a hill and use regenerative braking to "top-off" the batteries.

If you live in a relatively flat area, you may never see a "fully charged" battery.

Dave

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Aug 16 2006, 09:27 AM) [snapback]304135[/snapback]</div>

That's exactly what I see with mine. It only gets to 7 bars "green" once in a while and rarely holds that state very long. I worked to get it to EV mode for the entire mile ride over to the coffeeshop this morning, mostly for the entertainment value of gliding along noiselessly with the AC off and the windows down in the quiet morning air. I usually just drive it and let it do whatever it does. It does it well...

Godfrey

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveG @ Aug 16 2006, 09:30 AM) [snapback]304141[/snapback]</div>

Quite true. I see "full" daily, but there's a long hill on my commute that causes that. It drops very quickly after that.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LondonPriusMan @ Aug 16 2006, 09:17 AM) [snapback]304129[/snapback]</div>

It doesn't look like a problem to me.

The only time I've ever had the battery fully charged is after a long downhill on a mountain pass. E.g., this week it became fully charged after traveling more than 5 miles down the west side of the continental divide in Montana. When it gets to that point, the braking energy doesn't go into the battery any more.

That's one of the reasons I'd like to have a stronger battery.

Dave

 

I have seen full once or twice both on long, long down hills on a Rockies mountain pass. The computer will not let you "fill it up" or 'empty it out" and remember what you see is not the high and low but just a middle range for the battery. It is just your car protecting your investment and keeping that battery in the best shape possible to last for 200K or better!

 

Same here, the only time my battery filled all the way to the top green bar was driving through the mountains for an hour mostly downhill. But it was a glorious hour.... those little green bars showed me how happy the car was :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LondonPriusMan @ Aug 16 2006, 11:17 AM) [snapback]304129[/snapback]</div>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We had owned our 2006 #8 Prius for about 6-7 weeks before I saw the battery fully charged. Don't know why, but it seemed like we should celebrate or something!?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Phinney @ Aug 17 2006, 09:53 PM) [snapback]305159[/snapback]</div>

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The NiMH battery is happiest when it runs in the middle range, i.e. two bars at each end. Our 2006 Prius has shown one bar under, and all the way to two bars at the bottom. That's normal. Not to worry!

I finally got 50+ (51.6) mph, on a trip to Pomona and back from Anaheim tonight. That's after 1150 miles of break-in. The tires are at 42/40 lbs, which helps.

-------------
Clarinetist from Anaheim

 

I can get full bars occasinally after braking from motorway speeds. Sometimes, if you've been going downhill a bit on the motorway so you get green bars, you can then get the last bar full by braking to a stop.

LondonPriusMan - this can happen when coming off the M50 onto the M5 at that roundabout, since you have to come to a stop.. also from the A449 onto the M4 near Newport Not that you probably drive that way very often...!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LondonPriusMan @ Aug 18 2006, 05:02 AM) [snapback]305222[/snapback]</div>

You should get over 60mpg (British gallon) in central London traffic, or even 70+ sometimes but it will drop to around 50 or less when you're on an open road, depending on whether you've got a lead foot. Using your EV switch frequently when in slow traffic won't improve your mpg - let the car decide when to go EV.

Incidentally what version is your SatNav software?

 

I'm only on tank two...saw green bars only twice, but I do have LOTS of hills and lots of coasting on the homeswing....but mostly I am about in the middle or little above or below...only saw pink/magenta once and that was a couple of weeks ago after I went to service ...

terri

 

There is one way to guarantee a fully green battery state of charge: move to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Wait for January when it's -40, park the car outside, and do NOT use a winter front to cover the grille. Get stuck in a traffic jam where you must sit for at least 10-15 mins with the heater on Max and the rear defroster and side mirror defrosters on.

Under those conditions the petrol engine will run constantly, and your battery state of charge indicator will be fully green

 

The reason you don't see the battery get full is like all batteries the more full they get the higher the voltage "pushing back" at little ions that you're trying to push one way. Now good batteries don't see much of a difference between fully charged and halfway charged but there is a noticable difference, ie it takes more energy to charge the batteries up when they're more full than less full.

That being said I've seen a full compliment of bars once, when I was coming home from some hilly area, I had nearly 6 bars when I left, very quickly got that 7th... then near the bottom I got the 8th and was shocked to hell as well It actually lasted on some flat areas for a while and I was doing the full bar dance... then the bar went away and I never saw it again

 

My commute home is down a fairly steep hill (Sharp Park Road in Pacfica). By the time I get to the bottom of the hill (and usually well before), I'm at 8 green bars. I'm then able to cruise at 45 to 50 MPH on battery only for about 2 miles (heading south on CA-1). I typically arrive at home with 7 green bars. I also tend to arrive at work with 7 green bars on regular basis (32 mile commute to Sun's Menlo Park campus). My average MPG is 44 to 46...