[walkingtall]

I had the unpleasant experience of spending 45 minutes going 3 miles on I95 in Pa. this weekend - all but one lane blocked by an accident. At the crawling pace I was running on battery and I went down to 2 bars before I managed to get through the jam and move again.

My question - what the heck can you do if in that situation. There's nowhere to turn off and the battery just keeps draining. I couldn't make the gasoline engine start - I wasn't going fast enough. If the tie-up had lasted another 15 minutes I might have depleted the battery.

Has anyone drained the battery sitting in traffic?
kathy

 

[JPeterman]

Just stop looking at the screen and you'll be fine. The computer wont let the batteries deplete beyond a safe level. The ICE will kick in if needed, even if you are not moving. The situation you are describing is exactly what the Prius does best!

 

[Guest]

Hi Walkingtall:

___Enjoy the strength of your Prius as there isnt much on the road that can compete in the fuel economy department in a bumper to bumper, stop and go, rubber banding nightmare that you recently had to drive through.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:162qhv4j][email protected][/email:162qhv4j]

 

[mrv]

if the battery gets "drained" low
enough the gasoline engine will be
turned on just to recharge the
battery.

yes, it's aggrivating when the ICE
kicks in the moment you touch the
accelerator pedal just to move a
few feet, or stays on just to charge
or to provide you with heat (say in
the winter months), but at least it
is running far less often, and usually
far cleaner, than all of the other
traditional cars and trucks around
you that are also stuck in traffic
idling! You start to feel smug in
your clean car, and then you get
depressed looking at all the other
cars/trucks around you...

 

[frenchie]

The engine will turn on automatically if the battery gets depleted, unless you are in the "N" position. So, use D (with you foot firmly pressed on the brake pedal at stop) or even P if you don't move for a long time. But going down to 2 bars (even no bar) is OK, the computer knows what to do. 8)

 

[Daniel]

Walkingtall: you're lucky! You were in a Prius. All those other folks were burning gas by the bucketfull, and your great little Prius just sipped away at its battery. And as the above posters said, sooner or later the ICE would have run for a few minutes to recharge the battery.

 

[kmbell]

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and a few months ago there was a car fire on one of the major bridges. I was on the bridge at the time and all traffic came to a grinding halt. We were stopped dead for about 1.5 hours. I was mid span and about 4 miles away from the fire. I had plenty of gas and I just kept everything on. People from all around me came to my car because I had a radio and could get traffic reports. Just like everyone said already, the ICE kicks in when it is needed. I don't think I spent that much fuel, and everyone else basically turned off their engines for the duration. There were a lot of potential Prius sales made that night...

 

[BIF]

...There were a lot of potential Prius sales made that night...

You should receive a stipend from Toyota every time you get stuck in an interstate parking lot like that...


Incidentally, my car often goes to two bars in standing traffic. But then the ICE kicks in a minute or two later. It tries to wait as long as it can, so that it doesn't run while you stand there...but sometimes, it just can't wait any longer, and will turn on.