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What the heck is she talking about?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Spunky, Oct 10, 2005.

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  1. Spunky

    Spunky New Member

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    Vol. 127/No. 10 October 2005, page32

    From the article entitled Drive of the Future?
    ..."I bought my Toyota Prius...One time I arrived home...I pushed the Power button, read the odometer and wrote it down, forgetting to push the Power to turn it off again. With a silent motor, I never noticed...The next morning...the battery was down to the last two clicks (of eight) in the readout...it recovered to the top again. I started breathing again: A new battery is about the cost of the entire car."

    This from The American Society of Mechanical Engineers' (ASME) monthly pub. Sidebar is on the bottom of the page.
    http://www.memagazine.org/contents/current...b/petrbomb.html

    What is the author talking about? Why was she afraid the computer wouldn't keep a proper level of charge in the battery? And would the purchase and installation of a new battery really have cost her about as much as the entire car?
     
    #1 Spunky, Oct 10, 2005
  2. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Another child left behind. There are programs for drug addiction that might help the reporter.
     
    #2 TonyPSchaefer, Oct 10, 2005
  3. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    if she had pushed the power button from an off state once without brake, ya its possible that the battery would be run down. although unlikely as the current drain would be very minimal

    *edit*

    just read the story cited and after reading a very imformative article by Schultz, all the while wondering what the OP was talking about, i finally got to it at the bottom. i dont know whether to admire her for being so tolerant of her neighbors and the suspected racket they were making or to recommend a good audiologist to check her hearing.
     
    #3 DaveinOlyWA, Oct 10, 2005
  4. Marlin

    Marlin New Member

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    And when she closed the door, the car went "beep beep beep", but she apparently ignored that.
     
    #4 Marlin, Oct 10, 2005
  5. endoildependency

    endoildependency New Member

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    Latest report, quoted in these threads, for battery pack replacement: $4,000.
     
    #5 endoildependency, Oct 10, 2005
  6. Bill Merchant

    Bill Merchant absit invidia

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    I think it says it all at the very bottom:
    Too bad this respected journal didn't fact check its freelancer's submission.

    The main article's authors, George P. Shultz and R. James Woolsey, are well known individuals. Too bad Barbara Wolcott confused the major point about how oil dependency leaves us vulnerable.
     
    #6 Bill Merchant, Oct 10, 2005
  7. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    I originally misinterpretted the order of events. In the article she doesn't say that she had turned the car off. So when I read that she punched the (POWER) button, I assumed she had turned it off. You can imagine how annoyed I was knowing that her car would have been off when she took down the ODO reading and all the rest. I get it now.
     
    #7 TonyPSchaefer, Oct 10, 2005
  8. jimofdg

    jimofdg New Member

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    She was just worried that she would have to pay some huge penalty for making some small mistake.

    Then she finished her article and went to the Red Sox game... :eek:
     
    #8 jimofdg, Oct 10, 2005
  9. mikepaul

    mikepaul Senior Member

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    Well, I wonder sometimes if the left-car-in-Ready-until-HV-battery-failed scenario is treated like the ran-out-of-gas-but-kept-driving-on-HV-battery-until-it-failed scenario that (supposedly) requires the owner buy a new battery. Are all drained-beyond-repair situations going to be treated the same?

    Seems like the kind of stuff that would produce a software upgrade that protects the battery better, unless Toyota never loses in court so they never have a reason to reprogram...
     
    #9 mikepaul, Oct 10, 2005
  10. Bill Merchant

    Bill Merchant absit invidia

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    She heard her car cycling the ICE to protect the battery - EXACTLY LIKE IT'S SUPPOSED TO DO. Two BLUE bars is a perfectly normal low battery charge. She just doesn't know how her car operates.
     
    #10 Bill Merchant, Oct 10, 2005
  11. engunneer

    engunneer Member

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    Except for the fact that I think two bars are pink? It's been a while since I've seen two bars, but I imagine I'm right (that usually works)
     
    #11 engunneer, Oct 10, 2005
  12. dannored

    dannored New Member

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    I would call them purple? The only time I've seen two bars is when I picked my car up from its 10 K service. I wonder how that happened? It usually never slips below three green.
     
    #12 dannored, Oct 10, 2005
  13. dannored

    dannored New Member

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    I meant three blue?
     
    #13 dannored, Oct 10, 2005
  14. ross33

    ross33 New Member

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    after trying the neutral coasting for qiuite a few miles i was down to 1 pink bar. yikes!! not trying that any more. strange though the next day my trip to work averaged 62 mpg when usually its only 52.
     
    #14 ross33, Oct 10, 2005
  15. rogerSC

    rogerSC Member

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    Wonder if the author will get any offers to buy her car for the price of a battery replacement? I'd be glad to take it off her hands for that much...

    -Roger
     
    #15 rogerSC, Oct 10, 2005
  16. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    wow, the car and the battery cost the same?

    so that means either I can get a new Prius for $4K or you get a free new car with every battery replacement.

    hmm. either way it sounds appealing.
     
    #16 galaxee, Oct 11, 2005
  17. storm petrol

    storm petrol Member

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    What if she had left the car in neutral and powered up? Wouldn't that prevent the ICE from keeping charge? How would the computer manage that?

    storm petrol
     
    #17 storm petrol, Oct 11, 2005
  18. Bill Merchant

    Bill Merchant absit invidia

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    In N her SOC would be SOL and she'd have to shell out (maybe) for a new HV Battery, if it couldn't be charged. I wonder if she read the manual... Must have, she's a freelance writer!
     
    #18 Bill Merchant, Oct 11, 2005
  19. Spunky

    Spunky New Member

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    :lol:
     
    #19 Spunky, Oct 12, 2005
  20. KTPhil

    KTPhil Active Member

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    In ready mode and park the car will recharge itself, so it can't damage the HV battery.

    In IG-ON mode, the HV battery is not used, only the 12V battery. I don't believe the 12V battery costs $4000...
     
    #20 KTPhil, Oct 13, 2005
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