Engine Reving and cycling going uphill.

If you had looked at the traction battery state of charge gauge, my guess is that you would have seen one red bar or maybe a totally white screen. Probably the drivetrain was in distress because you were asking for more power output than was available.

In the "old days", Classic Prius had a turtle icon which when lit, indicated that normal power was not available. This light was discontinued for 2G, but your experience shows that it might be useful on occasion.

BTW I've made the OC to Vegas run on I15 many times in my 2004 and have not noticed a driveability problem as you described. Usually I am driving at or faster than the speed of the prevailing traffic.

 

As Patrick implies, something was wrong, but without more detail it's hard to say what. Parking brake stuck or partly on, perhaps (but then it would have started to smell real bad). Was the transmission in "B" for some time immediately before the incline?

 

Or perhaps simply starting the climb with a low SOC.

Tom

 

I usually just hang out in the right lane with the trucks on these sort of climbs, since I don't want to trash my MPG reading When taking a long uphill at high speed, I believe your best bet is to vary your gas pedal position a bit to find a spot where you are maintaining speed without using power from the battery. If you are in a range where battery is being consumed, once its all used up the car will take power from the engine to recharge the battery (to protect it) leaving you with insufficient power to maintain speed. If you just set the cruise control in these sorts of situations I believe the car does a good job of managing this situation itself. Without cruise, its left guessing what your trying to do and sometimes it guesses wrong. We were in a bit of a hurry on our last trip to Socal from Phoenix (which involves several of the same kind of mountain passes) and just set the cruise on 78 and had no issues. As long as you don't use up the battery you'll even have that reserve for acceleration/passing power on steep grades.

Rob

 

Exactly. I was speculating on how that might have happened.

 

Yes, if you only had one red bar then the traction battery would not be able to contribute much power.

For fun, you might want to check your engine air filter to make sure that it is not too dirty. Remove the air filter housing cover and look at the filter to see how it is installed. Then remove the filter and hold it up to sunlight. If you can't see light coming through the filter then it should be replaced. When reinstalling the old filter make sure the dirty side is face down and closest to the RH (or passenger-side) fender (for 2G.)

If the air filter is very dirty that will restrict engine output and might contribute to the driveability problem that you described in your OP.

 

Is (or was) the battery vent opening to the right of the rear seat obstructed in any way?

 

I commute from San Francisco to Palo Alto on Hwy 280 and while there are inclines, nothing like the Grapevine going to LA. At 78+mph, sometimes it really revs with no additional power on an incline. I have blue bars on the electrical side. Is this normal??? Will take a trip to SoCal end of this month for a wedding and have been told that the Prius has no problems taking the grade at even higher speeds. If I'm revving now, worried about going up the Grapevine. Do you suspect I have a problem with my 06 Prius, 49K.

 

It is normal for the ICE to rev up on a big hill. That's what the Prius does when it needs power.

Tom

 

Exactly. Do not be afraid to floor the pedal and keep it there if necessary to maintain speed. The computers will not allow the engine to damage itself.