Battery Status Display; Never full? Here's why.

Battery Status

Mine were all green when I took delivery but soon drioped to 2 white segments. Has stayed there.

 

I have had all green several times. Very easy to do when going down a really long hill/grade. In fact, I have been concerned that staying all green for several miles may cause harm to the battery.

04 Salsa Red

 

My battery display is normally only half-full. The highest I've seen in its 660-mile life is half plus one -- i.e. still around 3 short of full. Should I be concerned?

In case it matters, I do trips of about 5 miles, avg 45 mph, with about 6 red lights. My mileage for tank 1 was 45.9, tank 2 is 49.3 so far.

(My first post -- I love the car, and this site!)

 

Gordan,
No need for concern. If you take your Prius in the mountains for a drive, you will likely see all green bars on the downhill. When going up mountain I've had the last two bars turn pink and then very depleted (no pink bars). I did this on a trip from Denver to Evergreen on I-70 and back.

 

I rented a Prius instead of just going for a test drive. Most of the time there were two or three white bars, but several times I had all of them green. I was wondering if the Prius "learns" the driver's habit and changes the use of the battery. It would make sense to try to use as much of the battery energy as possible, without letting it get too depleted. At the very least, I'd hope that the car starts using more of the battery's energy when the battery is nearly full.

As for the statement that there will always be one white bar at the top, this makes no sense at all. It's like the amplifier in Spinal Tap that was louder than everyone elses because it went to 11 instead of just 10. Maybe with normal driving it is typical for there to be one white bar at the top, because when the battery is full, there's no room left for energy recovery.

 

Yup, I've been all green, too. I never got there until I decided to make an effort on a long downhill after a highway run, and I've repeated that "all green" event.

Up until that point I began to suspect it would never happen, so I think it's perfectly normal to never observe it unless you're looking and/or trying.

 

OK guys, how do you do this. I've had my classic over Raton pass, which is around 12 miles long downhill on the north side of that pass. Weather in the area on that trip precluded me really pushing the car on the uphill grade. At the bottom, I still wasn't showing a "full" battery.

 

even though i hit all green everyday on my way to work (downhill a couple miles), that's not to say the "calibration theory" isn't correct. that would still explain the differences per driver.
-r

 

Wolfman,
I don't know what to tell you - I don't DO anything special. It seems that my battery level changes fairly easily (up and down). Also full green doesn't last that long - only a couple of minutes usually. You could easily miss it if you didn't catch a glance at the right time. Have there been any changes to the battery from the Classic to 2004?

 

Great thread. Thanks.

 

i get all green. it's the hills in the bay area. i've also seen pink ...that's the damn traffic w/out HOV.

 

I hit all green every morning going to work. I live In Colorado and drive NE on 285 to I470. I go from about 8600 ft to about 7000 ft. See only one bar most of the way coming back up.

 

at 2500 miles so far i'm usually mid way in the blue. a couple of times i've seen green, but never all green, always one white at the top.

 

Me too, I've hit green bars but never all green. Been as low as 2 pink bars.

 

Pink bars, blue bars, green bars...I'm thinking that this system is like the terror alert system...

So, I have noticed (today), that I have like two white spaces above blue bars. This, I take it, is normal...right?
Or at least not a Bad Thingâ„¢?

 

When I picked up mine, it had 3 bars, which when up on the drive from the dealer. I've had it go full green a couple of times, but it dropped down quickly.