jerryray Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 My first week with the 400h the battery display was reading one bar from the top. The last two weeks it is typically two bars from the top. What charge states are the forum members "seeing" ? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RolandB Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 My first week with the 400h the battery display was reading one bar from the top.The last two weeks it is typically two bars from the top. What charge states are the forum members "seeing" ? TIA ← Jerryray, being 'in the green' is a state of the battery being well charged and according to the user's manual will occur infrequently and is seen most frequently when one has a long downhill run. Ordinarily, I see 6 bars (third bar from the top) down. We are in summer and full A/C usage and therefore expect a big battery load since the A/C runs off electricity and not a belt on the gas engine! I have occasionally seen mine go to 'green' but not often or for long! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesaintjim Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 My first week with the 400h the battery display was reading one bar from the top.The last two weeks it is typically two bars from the top. What charge states are the forum members "seeing" ? TIA ← Jerryray, being 'in the green' is a state of the battery being well charged and according to the user's manual will occur infrequently and is seen most frequently when one has a long downhill run. Ordinarily, I see 6 bars (third bar from the top) down. We are in summer and full A/C usage and therefore expect a big battery load since the A/C runs off electricity and not a belt on the gas engine! I have occasionally seen mine go to 'green' but not often or for long! ← Yeah, the only time I EVER see the bars in the green is going down this one big hill leaving work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bainse Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 My first week with the 400h the battery display was reading one bar from the top.The last two weeks it is typically two bars from the top. What charge states are the forum members "seeing" ? TIA ← I'm usually about 3 bars from the top. The bars are usually displayed in blue. Green occasionally. However, I had a scare yesterday, a very hot day here, going through a car wash. The battery display was about as usual before entering the wash. I decided to stay in the car because I didn't want the attendant !Removed! around and cranking the ignition, not knowing how a hybrid works. Of course, I had to put the car in NEUTRAL going through the wash, and of course I had the air conditioning on b/c it was so hot. Well, before I even got halfway through the wash, a warning was displayed that I needed to put the vehicle in "park" immediately because (as I found when I checked the manual) the battery doesn't charge when it's in neutral. And, surprisingly, the couple of minutes in the wash w/ the air conditioning on was enough to get me "in the red" and then to NO bars displayed. I assume the battery didn't really completely discharge, because according to the manual it wouldn't have started. I was certainly concerned, though, given the warnings from the dealer about how much it costs to recharge or replace the traction battery. I also find it strange and disconcerting that the traction battery could empty, or nearly empty, so quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryray Posted August 21, 2005 Author Share Posted August 21, 2005 My first week with the 400h the battery display was reading one bar from the top.The last two weeks it is typically two bars from the top. What charge states are the forum members "seeing" ? TIA ← I'm usually about 3 bars from the top. The bars are usually displayed in blue. Green occasionally. However, I had a scare yesterday, a very hot day here, going through a car wash. The battery display was about as usual before entering the wash. I decided to stay in the car because I didn't want the attendant !Removed! around and cranking the ignition, not knowing how a hybrid works. Of course, I had to put the car in NEUTRAL going through the wash, and of course I had the air conditioning on b/c it was so hot. Well, before I even got halfway through the wash, a warning was displayed that I needed to put the vehicle in "park" immediately because (as I found when I checked the manual) the battery doesn't charge when it's in neutral. And, surprisingly, the couple of minutes in the wash w/ the air conditioning on was enough to get me "in the red" and then to NO bars displayed. I assume the battery didn't really completely discharge, because according to the manual it wouldn't have started. I was certainly concerned, though, given the warnings from the dealer about how much it costs to recharge or replace the traction battery. I also find it strange and disconcerting that the traction battery could empty, or nearly empty, so quickly. ← That is interesting. I have noticed when the charge display gets to one or two bars, the engine starts and charges the battery. So in your case the engine did not start? Was the display on the dash showing ready? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryray Posted August 21, 2005 Author Share Posted August 21, 2005 My first week with the 400h the battery display was reading one bar from the top.The last two weeks it is typically two bars from the top. What charge states are the forum members "seeing" ? TIA ← I'm usually about 3 bars from the top. The bars are usually displayed in blue. Green occasionally. However, I had a scare yesterday, a very hot day here, going through a car wash. The battery display was about as usual before entering the wash. I decided to stay in the car because I didn't want the attendant !Removed! around and cranking the ignition, not knowing how a hybrid works. Of course, I had to put the car in NEUTRAL going through the wash, and of course I had the air conditioning on b/c it was so hot. Well, before I even got halfway through the wash, a warning was displayed that I needed to put the vehicle in "park" immediately because (as I found when I checked the manual) the battery doesn't charge when it's in neutral. And, surprisingly, the couple of minutes in the wash w/ the air conditioning on was enough to get me "in the red" and then to NO bars displayed. I assume the battery didn't really completely discharge, because according to the manual it wouldn't have started. I was certainly concerned, though, given the warnings from the dealer about how much it costs to recharge or replace the traction battery. I also find it strange and disconcerting that the traction battery could empty, or nearly empty, so quickly. ← I have just tried that same scenaro, only sitting in my driveway while in neutral. You are correct, I also got that message. Guess when that happens just turn the ignition switch to off. I can go about 15 minutes if the battery is nearly charged. Guess we have to keep an eye on the charge state before the car wash. Personally I prefer the old hand wash to the machines. Only during the freezing winter months do I use a car wash, and even then it is a hand wash, machine rinse and blow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bainse Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 My first week with the 400h the battery display was reading one bar from the top.The last two weeks it is typically two bars from the top. What charge states are the forum members "seeing" ? TIA ← I'm usually about 3 bars from the top. The bars are usually displayed in blue. Green occasionally. However, I had a scare yesterday, a very hot day here, going through a car wash. The battery display was about as usual before entering the wash. I decided to stay in the car because I didn't want the attendant !Removed! around and cranking the ignition, not knowing how a hybrid works. Of course, I had to put the car in NEUTRAL going through the wash, and of course I had the air conditioning on b/c it was so hot. Well, before I even got halfway through the wash, a warning was displayed that I needed to put the vehicle in "park" immediately because (as I found when I checked the manual) the battery doesn't charge when it's in neutral. And, surprisingly, the couple of minutes in the wash w/ the air conditioning on was enough to get me "in the red" and then to NO bars displayed. I assume the battery didn't really completely discharge, because according to the manual it wouldn't have started. I was certainly concerned, though, given the warnings from the dealer about how much it costs to recharge or replace the traction battery. I also find it strange and disconcerting that the traction battery could empty, or nearly empty, so quickly. ← That is interesting. I have noticed when the charge display gets to one or two bars, the engine starts and charges the battery. So in your case the engine did not start? Was the display on the dash showing ready? ← I had never turned it off and, no, the engine didn't die. I was worried though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jashev Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 My first week with the 400h the battery display was reading one bar from the top.The last two weeks it is typically two bars from the top. What charge states are the forum members "seeing" ? TIA ← I'm usually about 3 bars from the top. The bars are usually displayed in blue. Green occasionally. However, I had a scare yesterday, a very hot day here, going through a car wash. The battery display was about as usual before entering the wash. I decided to stay in the car because I didn't want the attendant !Removed! around and cranking the ignition, not knowing how a hybrid works. Of course, I had to put the car in NEUTRAL going through the wash, and of course I had the air conditioning on b/c it was so hot. Well, before I even got halfway through the wash, a warning was displayed that I needed to put the vehicle in "park" immediately because (as I found when I checked the manual) the battery doesn't charge when it's in neutral. And, surprisingly, the couple of minutes in the wash w/ the air conditioning on was enough to get me "in the red" and then to NO bars displayed. I assume the battery didn't really completely discharge, because according to the manual it wouldn't have started. I was certainly concerned, though, given the warnings from the dealer about how much it costs to recharge or replace the traction battery. I also find it strange and disconcerting that the traction battery could empty, or nearly empty, so quickly. ← That is interesting. I have noticed when the charge display gets to one or two bars, the engine starts and charges the battery. So in your case the engine did not start? Was the display on the dash showing ready? ← I had never turned it off and, no, the engine didn't die. I was worried though. ← The traction battery shouldn't be confused with the starting battery. My understanding is that even if the traction battery were discharged, the 12 volt starting battery would be unaffected. Is this not correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.