Todya, I had my first experience driving in snow. I was driving slow partly because the roads were nasty, and partly because I was checking whether I feel the momentary surge during braking (yes, I did). During the 6 miles commute from work to home, my battery charge went from 6 bars to 2. I had my front and rear defrost on while driving and within 3 miles, I saw the charge drop to 2. I then shut-off the defrost, and slightly drove fast (about 25-30 mph) to be in the right half of the ECO zone in the HSI. The charge went upto 4, and again because the raods were nasty, I had to slow down. The charge came down to 2. Please note, I was driving in normal mode. -So, how do I keep the charge up while driving in these conditions? -Will 2 bars give me trouble to start the car again. Alternately, at what charge (number of bars) will the car not start (and force me to a jump)? - FYI, ever since I bought my car the charge has never been full, more like 4-6 bars (once 7 bars). Tips would be appreciated.
You do not need to worry about keeping the charge up. And don't worry when it goes down. The car will automatically do what it needs to keep the battery within tolerances. Here's other threads discussing the hybrid traction battery and how not to worry about seeing it get low or high: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...ussion/72863-2010-gen-iii-hybrid-battery.html http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...231-battery-goes-down-4-bars-in-1-minute.html http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-technical-discussion/70377-battery-not-full.html
1 bar is more than enough. The bars don't come close to the full capacity of the battery at bottom or top. The car will run the ICE when it deems necessary. You need HV charge to start, but not even 1 bar's worth. In low speed driving, the ICE is off more and the bars are allowed to drop. At speed, the ICE runs more and its excess HP goes to the battery.
Thanks. That's consoling to hear. I'm planning to not take the car out tomorrow (let the snow storm finish its bit) but the day after. Hopefully, things would be fine. Yes, I realized only recently that the ICE shuts off (or I do not feel it running) whenever I was coming to a stop sign. I thought this happened only in ECO mode but looks like as you say, the car adjusts accordingly even in normal mode (I have been driving only in normal mode ever since I got delivery).
Even in power mode the ICE will shut off, just not as much (more limiting conditions). Even in ECO mode, the ICE will stay on if conditions not met (try ECO with defrost, e.g.).
Good to know. Will try all these once i use my first tank on normal mode. Then lot of things to play around.
