Battery never full?! A bar or two short

Pretty much normal....Many conditions affect the indicated level...I would not concern myself it at this point...

 

No it just means the computer plans well.

If your battery was 'full' then you could not recapture more braking energy. By making the normal state only partially full, you can normally use regen braking, conserving energy. (this annoys PIP owners who charge all the way to 'full' then drive downhill)

If you travel down a long enough hill or slow from a fast enough speed, you will fill the battery. (This is also easier in winter when you are running the engine for cabin heat,it charges the battery past normal) Here in Mississippi all those situations are rare.

If the battery does 'fill up', the computer will aggressively try to burn off electric power to get back to normal.

('Full' on the screen is not actually full, as Toyota is trying to make the battery last as long as possible)

 

Since Aug 2011 I have seen the battery go all the way to the top, recently, only one time.

I didn't believe it, when I saw it.
It's funny, I almost thought there could be something wrong.

 

The battery charge meter isn't showing you the truth in any case. The Prius is designed to operate in a range. The Battery never fully discharged, never fully charged.

So even if you get a full display, it really isn't full. My Prius is less than a year old, brand new 2013 and very rarely has the battery meter shown all bars. I can get it to show all bars, but only for a short period after I go down a big incline or hill.

I would say most of the time it reads like yours, that is 1 or 2 bars short. I consider this the norm.

I would also speculate that if you HV battery was failing, the symptom would be suddenly disappearing charge, not failure to show a full charge.

My guess is you are fine. If I'm wrong? More symptoms will manifest in time.

 

if your battery used to go to full often enough for you to notice, and it doesn't anymore under the same conditions, i would say you're heading for trouble.

 

Go down a very long hill with the brakes on. My battery indicator shows full under such conditions. Flatlanders will probably never see a full battery indicator.

 

Per JimboPalmer, see if it will max out, light all the bars, on a LONG downhill run. Head up a local mountain?

Ours normally peaks with one or two bars unlit, only a sustained downhill drive will light them all.

 

The car's computer is designed to always keep the battery at 40 to 80%. This extends the life of the battery.

 

Here is an illustration of the above It is all OK with your car.