[gamatt]

Hi
I haven't had my Prius 2 days yet, but wonder about the battery bars staying, it looks like, down 2. The display doesn't seem to go back up to all the bars filled. Is this normal, or should I use the brakes more? [never used to use them much in previous cars]. Thanks
Greg

04 Prius White Package 6

 

[mrv]

Hi
I haven't had my Prius 2 days yet, but wonder about the battery bars staying, it looks like, down 2. The display doesn't seem to go back up to all the bars filled. Is this normal, or should I use the brakes more? [never used to use them much in previous cars]. Thanks
Greg

04 Prius White Package 6

Don't worry about it. If the hybrid battery needs more charge, the Prius will just run the gasoline engine more and siphon off power to the battery if needed.

 

[moocatdog]

Hi, I haven't had my Prius 2 days yet, but wonder about the battery bars staying, it looks like, down 2. The display doesn't seem to go back up to all the bars filled. Is this normal, or should I use the brakes more? [never used to use them much in previous cars]. Thanks
Greg

Don't worry about it. If the hybrid battery needs more charge, the Prius will just run the gasoline engine more and siphon off power to the battery if needed.

Agreed. My '04 stays in the minus 1 -2 bar range almost all the time. The technology is cool and the display is incredibly captivating at first, but you really don't have to drive the car any differently than a "normal" car. IMO, that's the truly amazing engineering feat Toyota has accomplished.
Drive happy,
Moo

 

[gamatt]

Thanks to all that answered!

It's really great to have this resource -- the salesperson isn't much help. I especially like hearing I can drive it like a normal car, but all replies were helpful
Thanks
Greg

 

[stancy]

RE

gamatt, what color are your bars? Mine change from the color green to blue and vice-versa. The number of bars constantly change depending on what type of driving I'm doing. The lowest I've seen them is two bars and that was when I first picked the car up from the dealer. Since then, it is most common to have between five and seven bars. I drive mine much as a regular car but have varied my driving habits enough to see that I believe you can drastically improve your mileage by use of the car's momentum, etc.

Stan
2004 Millennium Silver #7

 

[moocatdog]

Re: RE

gamatt, what color are your bars? Mine change from the color green to blue and vice-versa. The number of bars constantly change depending on what type of driving I'm doing. The lowest I've seen them is two bars and that was when I first picked the car up from the dealer. Since then, it is most common to have between five and seven bars. I drive mine much as a regular car but have varied my driving habits enough to see that I believe you can drastically improve your mileage by use of the car's momentum, etc.

Stan
2004 Millennium Silver #7

Stan,
I've been driving my '04 since October and the color bars switch back and forth between green and blue all the time. I've not found any documentation describing exactly why this happens, but it seems to me that it represents a change in the flow or source of electricity. (Perhaps some certain relationship between the two electric motors?) Hopefully one of our resident experts such as Frenchie or john1701a or MRV will check in soon with a definitive explanation.
Your suggestion to vary driving technique in order to maximize mpg is excellent advice, which I consider part of "normal" driving, regardless of the type of vehicle one is operating. Several months ago I read an interesting article wherein the author described the experience of driving a car with an mpg readout and how this display helped them change their outlook toward driving. The author suggested that if all cars indicated mpg as prominently (or more so) than mph, most drivers would be much more attuned to energy conservation. Wouldn't that be nice?
Drive happy,
Moo

 

[john1701a]

> I've not found any documentation describing exactly why this happens

You haven't read my logs, eh?

Color was added to make charge-level easier to see, so you don't have to count bar. GREEN is for the 2 highest, PINK for the 2 lowest, and BLUE for the middle 4.

There are photos of each on the Info-Sheet, here... http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-infosheet.htm

BLUE is most common. GREEN will appear from time to time. PINK is quite rare.
.

 

[moocatdog]

> I've not found any documentation describing exactly why this happens

You haven't read my logs, eh?

Color was added to make charge-level easier to see, so you don't have to count bar. GREEN is for the 2 highest, PINK for the 2 lowest, and BLUE for the middle 4.

There are photos of each on the Info-Sheet, here... http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-infosheet.htm

BLUE is most common. GREEN will appear from time to time. PINK is quite rare.
.

Actually I did take a quick look at both your site and Graham's because you guys are amazing The only images I found at that time were from a classic Prius, so I guess I missed the relevant info. Like the original poster, my car switches back and forth between green and blue all the time, which made me think it was not simply displaying upper- and mid-level charge zones, but might be depicting some other techno-wizardry.
I'm curious about one thing, though. The one time I've had my battery run down fairly low I never saw any pink bars. I thought I was down below three bars, but maybe not.
Drive happy,
Moo

 

[stancy]

RE

Moo, I had my batteries down to two bars today and they remained blue. I have never seen any colors other than blue and green. I've also had as many as 7 bars. It was green at this time. There seems to be no determining factor as to the color of the bars as far as I can tell. Oh well, green, blue..... no matter as long as the car continues to operate.

Stan
2004 Millennium Silver #7

 

[moocatdog]

Re: RE

Moo, I had my batteries down to two bars today and they remained blue. I have never seen any colors other than blue and green. I've also had as many as 7 bars. It was green at this time. There seems to be no determining factor as to the color of the bars as far as I can tell. Oh well, green, blue..... no matter as long as the car continues to operate.

Stan
2004 Millennium Silver #7

Stan,
As described in my previous posts to this thread, my car rarely shows much battery level change at all. Perhaps this is due to the fact that I live in a hilly area; I'm not sure. You are right that green or blue is irrelevant as long as the car is operating properly. I would like to know the circumstances today when your battery display dropped to two bars. I'm just curious because, as I said, my battery charge really doesn't seem to fluctuate very much.
Drive happy,
Moo

P.S. Do you bold the text in your posts for any particular reason?

 

[stancy]

RE

I'll answer your last question first. Moo, I have glaucoma. As I type this, I'm having trouble proof reading it. I wish that everyone used bold but know that is not possible.

Now, for the circumstances that "caused my drop to two bars". I was at our business (a storage facility) waiting on a customer (who was very late) and had the air conditioning and radio going for quite some time and had pressed the start button without my foot being on the brake to initiate the accessories. That is the only reason that I can think of to cause the drop. However, the bars went back up to six when I started the Prius and drove it a while. My battery bars seem to hold steady when I'm driving it doing my regular routine.

This forum is wonderful. I've learned a LOT about the Prius by interacting with the participants. I also credit this forum as being the reason I even have a Prius. I couldn't find one until a person "advised me" of a distant dealership who had one. I called, put a deposit on it and committed to the purchase over the phone.

I am amazed at the knowledge some of the people exhibit in this forum. I am especially impressed with MRV. There seems to be nothing she doesn't know about the technical aspects of the Prius (a lot more than most technicians who perform service).

Regards,

Stan

 

[RSnyder]

Re: RE

I am amazed at the knowledge some of the people exhibit in this forum. I am especially impressed with MRV. There seems to be nothing she doesn't know about the technical aspects of the Prius (a lot more than most technicians who perform service).

Yes, Michelle is an invaluable asset to the Prius community. She's been following ALL the Prius forums/groups since the beginning. She willingly took on the job of Prius knowledge accumulator/librarian and has done a fantastic job of it. Her organizational skills are truely impressive. She comes up with all requested answers, references, and documents usually within one day, and never seems to tire of answering the same questions.

I know we don't say it often enough, so: THANK-YOU MICHELLE!!!!!

 

[moocatdog]

Re: RE

I am amazed at the knowledge some of the people exhibit in this forum. I am especially impressed with MRV. There seems to be nothing she doesn't know about the technical aspects of the Prius (a lot more than most technicians who perform service).

Yes, Michelle is an invaluable asset to the Prius community. She's been following ALL the Prius forums/groups since the beginning. She willingly took on the job of Prius knowledge accumulator/librarian and has done a fantastic job of it. Her organizational skills are truely impressive. She comes up with all requested answers, references, and documents usually within one day, and never seems to tire of answering the same questions.

I know we don't say it often enough, so: THANK-YOU MICHELLE!!!!!

Agreed. MRV rocks my world in a hard and heavy fashion.
Drive happy,
Moo

 

[stancy]

RE

Moo, I finally had my battery bars actually turn PINK! I was taking my neighbors on a demo drive and we sat in front of their house for a long period of time with the air conditioner running and the bars went down to two and turned pink. Just thought you would like to know that I now feel "normal"...LOL

Stan

 

[moocatdog]

Re: RE

Moo, I finally had my battery bars actually turn PINK! I was taking my neighbors on a demo drive and we sat in front of their house for a long period of time with the air conditioner running and the bars went down to two and turned pink. Just thought you would like to know that I now feel "normal"...LOL

Stan

Stan,
I took your test and found the same result--pink bars. You are indeed just as normal as someone named Moo.
Drive happy