Bob7Z7

Since the life of the battery is so important to this hybrid, where do you monitor the current status of its charge? Is there a screen that depicts this? I see no readout to that effect. Just like engine temperature, it doesn't seem to be displayed digitally or in an analog manner anywhere to me. Can you point me in the right direction?

Thanks

In August of 2005, I bought my wife an RX400h and by the time I bought myself an HS 250h in late December 2009, I figured I was pretty experienced at hybrid cars. So imagine my surprise to discover my car behaves quite a bit differently than my wife's in regards to turn on/off the electric motor and gas engine (hybrid system). My question is, has anyone else noticed strange behavior? How does your car behave.

Here are some of my observations:

1. Any time my car has been turned off, when I turn it back on, the gas engine will always turn on. More than that, the longer the car has sat in "off", the longer the gas engine will run. Here is the best example: in the morning, when I turn on my car to go to work, the gas engine will run for four to five minutes, even if I'm coasting downhill. By comparison, my wife's 400h will coast out of the garage in electric-only mode and won't turn on the gas until she either accelerates or hits a hill.

2. Just to further prove that last point, if I do a lot of short trips, I get terribel mileage. A typical example is to drive from my office 1/2 mile to the post office, stop for 15 minutes, then go to the bank and stop for 30 minutes, then go to lunch and stop for an hour, then go to an appointment and stop for 30 minutes. Each time I restart the car, the gas engine runs for a minute or two, with poor mileage. On a day such as I just described, I will actually average under 20 mpg.

By comparison, if I drive those exact same roads *without* turning off the engine, then the gas engine will only run a few minutes in the beginning and after that it's mostly electric. The result is an average of 39 mpg or so. My best days for mileage are when all my stops are at least 5 miles apart.

3. And just to expand further upon the same point: because the gas engine *always* runs when I first turn on the car, that means I cannot turn on the EV mode when I first turn on the car. Only after the gas engine is "done" will the car let me run EV mode. Pratically speaking, that means that if I spend a few hours inside a mall and come out to the parking lot, I cannot use EV mode to drive around the parking lot, even though I'm going 5 mph.

4. This morning I sat in my car for five minutes in my driveway while making a call. Naturally, the gas engine insisted on running the whole time. What I found strange was that the engine surged for about 15 seconds at one point, for no good reason at all.

5. On the way to my home is a small but steep hill. I have to push the car pretty hard to go up the hill but then I coast down the other side. What I've noticed is that most of the time (but not always), when I coast down the back side of the hill, the gas engine continues to run, giving me lower mileage.

6. Generally speaking, I've noticed a number of times when the gas engine will stay on even though I am coasting. At first I thought this was to recharge the battery, but I checked the battery charge and it was 80% full.

7. Speaking of battery charges, mine rarely goes below 50%. Most of the time it's 50-80%. I've only seen it down to 30% a few times.

In spite of all these complaints, I will say my overall mileage is pretty decent. I get about 35-36 mpg on the freeway and 38-40 mpg in the city. And I know that this is all computer controlled, so the question is, what the heck is that computer doing?

Any comments or observations about your own cars would be greatly appreciated.

I have noticed the same thing on my HS. Can you tell me where you read out the level of battery charge?

THANKS

I notice that I hear a sound start after I open the drivers door upon entering the car. Clearly triggered by opening the door. Have you heard that one?

Since I am spending time learning things inside the car sitting working the nav system menus, I sometimes hear what sounds like a door deep in the dash slamming shut. Maybe part of the AC system although I don't believe it is on at that time. This is only when the car is on accessory or ON put not turned on.

It's hard to know since it's subjective, but I'm guessing the whine you notice is normal. I find it noticeable on my HS, but not particularly unpleasant. It may be that if the HS has more sound insulation than the Toyotas (which one would hope since it's a freakin' Lexus), the whine of the regenerative break system may be more noticeable since it's not competing with other forms of road/engine noise.

I bought a new HS250h Premium with Nav Thursday. I have driven quite a few Priuses and Camry Hybrids, but my car exhibits a louder whine on braking or slowing than any of the other toyota hypbrids I have driven. Is this common, or will the sound level subside with use or do I have a problem?