Yeah, I'm surprised they didn't total the vehicle, and I agree that the vehicle should operate in similar fashion. But have we considered that the battery may be too new for the current state of the 2007 FEH recalibration numbers? The situation may smooth out when the first recal occurs, which may in fact be quite a while...

 

If I were the adjuster I most likely would have totaled it since it was most likely a borderline constructive total, ie, the cost to repair exceeds the cost to replace, especially since it's a hybrid and are pretty complicated to put back together.

Be that as it may, the company authorized the vehicle to be repaired and they are obligated to indemnify it's Insured (put the Insured back to where he was before the loss making him whole). If the vehicle does not perform like it did before the accident then he has not been made whole.

If it were my vehicle I would have fought to have it totaled. I have fought for my Insureds many times to get this done for them. I have seen too many repair shops bid initial estimates low in order to get the business and then have the unseen damages take the total repair over the threshold of constructive total.

 

Is the battery temp less than 48° ? The battery gets alternating charged then discharged until the battery gets warmed.

Trying to diagnose this from the factory in-dash ammeter is difficult. Mine only moves the width of the needle unless I'm getting major regen.

 

The behavior now of the repaired car sounds 100% normal to me.
My 2005 behaves this way and always has.

If your foot is on the gas, the engine RPM is at some elevated speed above idle ( greater than 1000 RPM ). The instant you take your foot off the gas, the engine RPM drops to idle, which is 1000 RPM on a warm engine, and slightly more on a cold one.

When the engine RPM drops, the GENERATOR RPM must INCREASE. The FEH is smart enough to take advantage of this RPM change, and provide charging until the respective speeds level out. This only takes a second or two. The engine with gas is providing torque. Letting off the pedel (which in this car is literally a torque request pedal, and is not connected to the fuel supply in any manner) means the FEH has to go from producing torque, to not... during the transition, that torque goes into the generator instead of the wheels, and you see the charge blip. Or you can look at it as the generator is acting as a "brake" to slow the engine to idle.

100% normal and performing as designed.
-John

 

That matches my experience, except that at 40 MPH, when I let off the pedal, the meter will remain to the left side for quite a while - far to the left at first, then less, but always a bit to the charging until the vehicle comes to a stop. My understanding of the OP is that his FEH has the needle return to the neutral position, but I'm not sure what speeds he was using.

 

"Return to neutral" or return to within a sliver of neutral is difficult to descern and unimportant to the main point, I think. This car almost always either charging or dis-charging... I estimate over 99% of the time. Using a scangauge to measure HV battery amps, you will see it is almost never zero.

When I lift my foot, mine returns to within a sliver of neutral. Minimal charge is occuring.

 

I understand that, but the OP stated that his went all the way to zero position, and he wanted to know what other Gen 1 systems showed on their meter; hence my comments.