Heavy Traffic Draining Hybrid Battery

Supposedly there is someone in Japan (iirc) who did 2000km+ on a single tank. That's somewhere around 120mpg. I'm not going to be anywhere near that in my lifetime...

I often sit listening to music and drifting off while in heavy traffic. The ICE kicking in will let me know I have drained the poor HV battery.

 

Make that 3040 km on a single tank, at 118.9 mpg. Lacking the U.S. fuel bladder, the Japanese had a fixed tank. Jacking up the corner of the car allowed them to put in almost 16 gallons.

These posts have pointers to a series of tank distance records:
Fuel tank size | PriusChat
77.7 Miles per Gallon for 13 miles | PriusChat

 

We (Europe) don't have the bladder either afaik, but I have a 45l tank, which equates to just under 12 US gallons. Edit: Will read up on it through your link.

So that's the reason I never get past 600 miles And even that was a one time thing, with clenched buttocks and a reserve canister of fuel special for the occassion.

 

So based on everyone's replies, this is totally normal and nothing to worry about? Even if the hybrid battery gets down to 1 bar of charge? I've been taking the long way to work just to avoid high-traffic areas, because I freaked out last time that happened.

 

Its the heat of summer in Texas and I've heard the battery itself needs to stay cool or I'd just go without the AC (I work in the heat so it really doesn't bother me). I've been taking the long route to work just to avoid high-traffic areas. I can't even make it through a fast-food drive-thru without the charge dropping to one or two bars... And I'm planning a trip to San Antonio in October which means I'll have to drive through Dallas, Austin, AND San Antonio which almost guarantees some traffic along the way. I guess what I'm wondering is what happens if the charge runs out? I've heard talk about an "ICE" but don't see anything in my manual about it. My 2012 Prius (just over 100,000 miles) has an engine brake option, which I've used in traffic before while killing the AC and radio and it seemed to help. It has an EV, Eco, and Power mode (which it says is for mountainous regions). Should I be selecting the Power mode in this instance? Would that save the battery from draining? Or should I just not worry about it when it gets down to one bar and have faith that it will re-charge on it's own?

 

Actually, you might not mind the heat but your HV pack certainly will since it's air cooled and receives its air from inside the car. You're better off using the A/C whenever it's above 80° F inside the car for your sake and the HV pack.

 

I monitored hybrid battery temps (with ScanGauge) for the first 3~4 years of ownership, and saw little or no difference, with/without AC. The battery has an "operating temperature" around 35C, and it'll settle in on that, even on cool evening driving, in conditions where AC use is completely unnecessary.

I use AC more so in winter, to keep the windshield clear. In summer, just roll the windows down.

 

If that's the case, my car sits in a hot parking lot more than I'm actually driving it. Idk, I've had this car for a year now with no problems, but I'm seriously considering trading it in before I end up having to replace that hybrid battery.

 

That's my concern too: we'll sometime come home to an uninsulated garage that's hot from the sun already, and the car just sits. That hot soak seems the worst case. It's too bad Toyota doesn't wangle a way to allow the battery fan to run on for a few minutes, powered directly by the hybrid battery, if possible?

 

Your garage doesn't have ventilation? This is what ours has at the top and bottom (house built in 1992):


I also leave the windows in our Prius open to help "air it out".

As long as the sun isn't beating down on the car, shouldn't have much to worry about .

 

Yeah I think about installing some exhaust fan or louvers, that's about as far as it goes.

There's a couple of good sized windows I open, but they have screens in summer, and don't seem to make much of a dent. I'll even place a fan on one of the window ledges, again, doesn't seem to do much. So far so good anyway.

We had a plant in front passenger footwell the other day, and the plant store had apparently been watering with manure-enhanced water. A little spillage had me resorting to several days of windows rolled down while the car sat, lol. Got it sopped up, and smell gone now, but it took 2~3 days lol.

 

Another thing to consider is insulating the garage door, if not done already. That can make a big difference. Had that done on our previous house in KS and itnhelp in both summer and winter.

 

I don't have any gauges for it but I would imagine the primary benefit to running with the a/c on would be to keep the battery relatively close to what it was when you started the drive. The volume of air the fan is taking to the battery probably is not enough to actually cool the battery down. I read somewhere that fan would take upwards of an hour to actually cool the battery temperature 1 degree.

It can be disconcerting if you get fixated on that screen but that screen doesn't indicate an imminent failure or even a problem. Often the car runs in the purple. It's not a big deal as long as the car "recovers" into the blue range as conditions improve a little.

We run through the Mojave Desert all the time with the a/c on. Temperatures almost always over 100*, often over 110*. The car often runs in the purple. On our cross-country vacation last month the car spent hundreds of miles running in the purple as we drove in 100*+ heat with the a/c on. The car still acts normally here at home. Blue almost all the time when we're running around So Cal with occasional forays into the green zone when headed downhill.

Heat is definitely the enemy of the battery but I don't think there's really a lot you can do about it other than garage the car when possible, park in the shade and use a windshield reflector. A rear glass reflector if possible, too, and keep the cargo curtain pulled as often as possible to keep the sun from directly heating up the cargo floor.

 

Big help with airing the car out:

Yesterday we were driving all over hill-and-dale with a little carpentry project, windows all down in case of carbon monoxide swirling back. Here's the payload:



I put a caribener in the hatch lock, thinking that would shut off the beep. But no... Still thinking about that. Anyway, all the D-rings in the hatch worked great, it didn't shift at all.

Got all the way from North Coquitlam to the Second Narrows Bridge, when I realized I'd forgotten the #@!! screws. So all the way back for those. All the pieces were precut, and virtually all pre-drilled, apart from plywood hold down screws, their holes into the 2x4's. It went up really fast and smooth.



Tall shelves, our son in pic is 6'-7". I'm like pappy Yokum, under 6' and shrinking lol.

Sorry, going completely off-topic.

 

Nice shelves.

I have built Similar ones in the 3 homes we have owned since 2006. They are sturdy and support a lot of weight .

I just helped the wife's cousin build a set that we tied to the ceiling in the garage. Lag bolted them and they're not going anywhere.

Sounds like a fun project.

 

I worked in steel detailing for a number of years, the drawings that go to fabricators. Very interesting mindset, I try to channel that a bit. Still managed to forget the "bolt" bag though...

 

[offtopic]
Just skimming through when I read Coquitlam and thought that must be near Vancouver... (Old-aunt that I visited 4 times lived in Burnaby (1987) and then in Maple Ridge (1990, ~2000 and 2004) until she passed away and last I heard, her daughter+hubby still live in Port Coquitlam.)
[/off topic]

 

"Senior moment"?

It gave you an excuse to run your Prius a little more.

Slowly approaching the 100 k km's mark.

 

More off-topic: Coquitlam is one of the few remaining bastions of full-serve gas, perhaps one other municipality in Metro Vancouver is in the same boat? Anyway, Been here close to 30 years, and to best of my recollection have filled up (in Coquitlam) twice.

When I was a kid we stayed at one my mom's sisters townhouse, at:

Olmenveg Place, Amsterdam

I can type my phonetic interpretation into Google maps, find it, even see street view. It's changed a lot, was bare streets when I was a kid there, now has trees.