Yaris hybrid battery

[robc123]

My 2019 Yaris Hybrid Icon Tech power Battery indicator never shows all the bands green, the best it's reached is two less than the max. Long or short journeys make no difference. Is that normal? 

[Gerg]

Yes, that is absolutely normal.  The last two bars are for somewhere to store energy if you are regenerating power through braking, going downhill etc.

[robc123]

Cheers.

[Gerg]

This isn't quite what you were asking, but this chart (for a Prius Gen2 actually, but it is still relevant) shows how the shown charge relates to real Battery charge.  The Battery only cycles from 40% to 80% roughly, to extend the Battery life.

[exim]

Mine showed as full today - the first time I'd seen it like that in the 2 years I've owned the car, but I don't like having it on that screen all the time so I'm sure it was not the first time ever.

[Catlover]

Simon, under what circumstances did the hybrid Battery max out. There is usually circumstances that lead to maximgvout.

[Mick F]

We always have all eight bars green when we get home.

We live in a long steep valley, and regen does it all the way down.  Full Battery every time.  All eight bars.

Mick.

 

[Bomber209]

Mick F hi, What number of bars do you have before you set off next day?? Do they settle back to the norm??

[PeteB]

I'd covered over 70,000 miles in 4 years in my first Prius Gen 1s before I experienced my first HV Battery "max out", but a holiday in Scotland made it a daily occurrence.  When reaching the bottom of a 5-6 mile 20% (1 in 5) hill, you got a good idea what an EV would feel like as the Hybrid System tried like mad to use up some of the excess electricity so there'd be room for more free energy when braking or going down the next hill.  The Gen 1 had no EV button, but while maxed out modest pressure on the accelerator would see electric only driving up to at least 60 mph!

"Maxed out" doesn't just mean all the bars are lit - it takes quite a lot of extra regeneration after the eighth bar lights up before the system truly maxes out (like the fuel gauge, each bar covered a range of quantities).  The car's behaviour changes when this happens, and you're likely to be very aware of it because the sound changes, but mostly the braking changes.  It's still well power assisted, so won't be onerous, but B mode certainly seems to make it a bit less of a chore.

[Mick F]

29 minutes ago, Bomber209 said:

Mick F hi, What number of bars do you have before you set off next day?? Do they settle back to the norm??

Not looked.  I expect the Battery to be still at eight bars.  Mrs Mick F is away for a day or so and she has the car, so I can't check right now, but I'll try to remember for next time.

General driving, the Battery settles - or at least tends to settle - with the top two cells empty.

Mick.

[PeteB]

8 minutes ago, Mick F said:

...General driving, the battery settles - or at least tends to settle - with the top two cells empty.

You'll tend to find as it gets closer to full, the car will try increasingly harder to use up electric power to try to ensure there's always room for 'free' regenerated energy.  Conversely, it tries increasingly harder to top up the Battery the lower it gets (from two bars - I've almost never seen just one bar) so there's power available when you need an extra boost from the Motor/Generators.  You'll notice more revs for a given accelerator pressure when the Battery is low, especially if accelerating up an incline (even quite a gentle one).

[exim]

16 hours ago, Catlover said:

Simon, under what circumstances did the hybrid battery max out. There is usually circumstances that lead to maximgvout.

I'm not entirely sure, nothing really different to my usual work commute. I might monitor some of the journeys to see if any common pattern arrises.

[davekench]

17 hours ago, Catlover said:

Simon, under what circumstances did the hybrid battery max out. There is usually circumstances that lead to maximgvout.

I have maxed out once late last year while descending a very long steep hil on the Yorkshire Moors. I have never noticed this since and never before, but hasen to add I do not keep the Battery stae sceen on.

 

Dave

[Catlover]

3 hours ago, exim said:

I'm not entirely sure, nothing really different to my usual work commute. I might monitor some of the journeys to see if any common pattern arrises.

Ok, whats your usual work commute. Any hills for instance, cause thats when it can take place as Dave above indicated, and also PeteB a few posts above when he was in Scotland. I can recall it happening once, and again, a hill was involved (going down not up)