Quote:
Originally Posted by Acyducy
Hi there, tonight coming home from work in my 3 week old 08 TCH I was stuck in a 4 mile back up. As I creped along my the Consumption Display show continuous 60 miles per hour for minute after minute, running on the battery. The ICE rarely came on...this was over a period of time 12-15 minutes. When I switch to the Energy Monitor screen, it show the battery nearly depleted and showing one purple bar. By the time I noted this I motivated past the accident and got up to highway speed. The battery stared charging.
Anyway getting to my point. If I had continue to run at such slow speed this would the ICE have started to recharge the battery? This draining of the battery is a bit worrisome. Is this normal? I'd hate to got dead on the road.
Thanks
Don
|
As far as "is this normal?" -- Given the scenario you presented, the answer is "yes". It is completely normal.
You said that that you noticed that the ICE cycled on and off several times while you were in the traffic jam. The cycling was probably either because it needed to warm the coolant/engine back up or, more likely, recharge the traction battery -- you just weren't looking at the ENERGY screen to see the power level.
That being said, I agree that it is a bit disconcerting to see a one line purple battery icon. Even though I KNOW that everything is OK, it still gets my heart racing and increases the pucker factor when it happens.
Now one item mention, in the case of traffic like this where you are stopped, DO NOT put the car in Neutral! The TCH (or Prius) will not charge while in Neutral.
Oh, yes, I HOPE the indication you were getting while in stop-and-go traffic was 60 miles per GALLON not miles per HOUR.
And, BTW, welcome to GreenHybrid and the TCH family. Enjoy the ride.