Road Trips and Monitoring the HV Battery

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by DenToyPri05, Feb 11, 2015.

  1. DenToyPri05

    DenToyPri05 Junior Member

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    If you're driving from Colorado to California, how often does the traction battery hover in the low blues, or sometimes even purples?
     
    #1 DenToyPri05, Feb 11, 2015
  2. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    It should stay a 6 blue bars unless you're climbing mountains and hills. Or going 95 mph ;)
     
    #2 Aaron Vitolins, Feb 11, 2015
  3. DenToyPri05

    DenToyPri05 Junior Member

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    I remain in the double digits. :)

    Thanks! I am seeing this behavior currently on my short weekend excursions.

    I bought the care used, so I didn't have a "healthy" baseline. The HV battery was just deep cycled, and so, I was wondering if I was seeing good stuff or not. I'm glad the engineers used purple instead of red on the lower two bars. The psychological impact of purple is less, but always makes me pay closer attention.
     
    #3 DenToyPri05, Feb 11, 2015
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2015
  4. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    I agree! People have a tendency to freak out if they see red. lol! How many miles on your car? Is the mpg good? Btw congratulations on the car!
     
    #4 Aaron Vitolins, Feb 11, 2015
  5. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    something I'd lIke to add, since I just saw you live in Colorado, when you are coming down a mountain pass or doing a lot of breaking (thus filling the hybrid battery) it's good to keep the cabin cool. mainly in the summer though. excessive heat is bad for the hybrid battery and the hybrid battery gets its air from the cabin. Keep that cabin cool! :) in the summer when i occasionally drive a mountain pass I put on max ac at full blast all the way up and down
     
    #5 Aaron Vitolins, Feb 11, 2015
  6. DenToyPri05

    DenToyPri05 Junior Member

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    Thanks! I wanted a commuter car. All I do during the week is drive to and from work and other regularly scheduled errands. I wanted something simple and reliable. I got it with 115,950. Even though almost 10 years old, I had done enough research and the price was good. Of all the Gen IIs, the 2005 had a reported 50 hwy/60 city. Even though there were newer ones available, I didn't care for the nav screen placement.

    In retrospect, the mpg had slowly dwindled down to around 36-39 mgp...I thought it was just my first winter with the car, but it turned out to be a series/collection of issues. After the deep cycle, I'm back up to 55-58 city and 48-50 hwy.
     
    #6 DenToyPri05, Feb 11, 2015
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  7. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    That's great to hear! welcome to Priuschat. Lots of knowledge to gain about all things Prius here
     
    #7 Aaron Vitolins, Feb 11, 2015
  8. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    I just hope you didn't miss that those numbers are Old EPA scale (~1985-2007 definition). On the New EPA scale (2008+ definition), it is rated 45 highway, 48 city, 46 combined.

    While many used car buyers should catch this, not everyone will.
     
    #8 fuzzy1, Feb 12, 2015
  9. Danny Gonzales

    Danny Gonzales New Member

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    This is exactly what I'm getting: 46-47 combined. Thanks for the clarification. Now I won't push myself to achieve 50.
     
    #9 Danny Gonzales, Feb 13, 2015
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  10. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    That's about what I get as well. Although I still push my self to avg 50 or higher sometimes. At times I have to remind me when I'm depressed about my "low" mpg (say, 44 or something) that my 2004 volvo s80 only got 25. Haha! Oh and silly premium fuel with that tank as well. :)
     
    #10 Aaron Vitolins, Feb 13, 2015
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