I've been monitoring the IMA battery bars a bit more-- it seems that when I've parked in the sun with temperatures around 100, when I return the the car, my battery bars will plummet after driving just a little while. I went from 3/4's full down to 1-2 bars very quickly after doing some normal (easy surface street) driving. Often, the bars start out around 3 or 4 and drop to 0 or 1 until I've done enough regenerative braking. This is very problematic, since the car generally has not recovered by the time I need to get on the freeway-- the car's acceleration is dangerously poor without the IMA assist.

So my question to everyone is-- is this normal for the technology? Or Honda? Does a Prius have this problem? Is it just a few of us who have defective batteries?

thanks,

- Frank

 

Frank, how are you running your A/C, and are you auto-stopping at all on the way to the freeway? I ask because when I've driven in similar conditions, I've found the car uncomfortably willing to auto-stop even as the A/C sucks the battery down much farther than I wish it would. I've never seen 0 bars, but I've seen it go from 5 to 2 under these conditions.

So, I use most of the tricks we see posted around here: get as much hot air out of the car as possible; start with the temp high so the A/C isn't maxed but it's still blowing cool air, and work the temperature down slowly; don't let the car auto-stop until it's cooled down quite a bit. Unless there truly is a problem with the car, these kinds of tactics should keep the battery from flattening, if you're gentle on the throttle.

cheers --
doug

 

Frank, same thing happens to me and I am in Phoenix, AZ. I do what the other suggest and I have about 1-2 miles until the freeway and I am usually ok by the time that I get there. I just drive very gingerly until the freeway and usually am at a couple of bars that can get me on the freeway at a decent speed.

 

ftlum:

Yes, this behavior is by design and very normal.

This is not a problem. As a matter fact, it is an indicator of the measures that today's hybrid vehicle manufacturers must implement to promote long and safe operation or their NiMH battery packs. The Prius exhibits roughly the same behavior and like, the HCH-II, an altered behavior such as this evident in extreme hot or cold conditions.

Now for the hot summer days, there are those of us who have yet to make a connection between the sensible operation of the AC and the behavior/life of the battery pack.

Again, the key is to use our air conditioning wisely. In other words do not set an aggressive temp at first. Set the Climate control on Auto and set the highest temp you can. Then, as the blower fan slows down you dial in the next lower temp value, and you continue to do so until you feel comfortable. You'll notice that the comfort temp is sometimes higher than what you expected and this is the ideal setting for both you and the IPU.


vincep5:
There is no danger or impact on the life and performance of the battery pack if left on 2 bars of charge overnight. Next morning (or whenever) you start the car its charge level will be restored.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

Thanks All.

I've been working on trying to keep the AC down, but it sure gets hot in Sacramento. I'm actually planning on getting my windows tinted in the near future so I don't have to run that AC as much.

It's too bad they don't make a solar panel to recharge the battery while you're parked in the hot sun. I've seen ones that plug into your cigarette lighter to recharge a dead regular battery. Too bad you can't easily route that to the IMA battery.


thanks again,

- Frank

 

My wife experienced the dreaded crash on her way home tonight. She was using the A/C at the time, although all three of my experiences have been without A/C. The battery went down to nothing and then she said the accelleration was dangerously slow until the forced regen brought things back to 4 bars of SoC.

So the word recalibration has been thrown out on this thread which I find a little interesting. That word is also used in reference to the iFCD recalibration samba, which is something I notice daily (usually multiple times daily).

I think it's time to take it in to the dealer and see what they have to say.

 

I've had the problem quite a few times. Usually my charge level will drop to 0 bars, the car will be sluggish, then it will creep back up to normal charge levels. Recently, however, the crash also stalled the car and lit up the dash with indicator lights. It would not restart immediately, although it did restart after a minute.

This is very concerning to me, because a potential stall on a highway would not be a good thing (I was leaving a parking lot at the time, I'd been parked for 5 minutes). I took it to my dealer, who claimed that it was the first that Honda had heard about the problem. They also said that it was probably b/c the interior temp of the car was too high, but this doesn't jive with the facts b/c the car didn't heat up enough in 5 minutes to put it over 90 degrees or so.

The thing that's really bumming me out is that now the battery never charges much beyond the halfway point, even if I 'manually' recharge it in park.

In short, I'd encourage anyone with the problem to take it into their dealer so that Honda becomes more aware of the problem.

 

hm.. that doesn't sound too encouraging..
bit_runner, it may sound like it may be more of a problem than a battery crash if the indicator lights come on.. normally, a battery crash would just lose soc, without stalling the car..
did you try bringing it to another (different) dealer? it really would be concerning if you were on a freeway. how old is the car?

 

Well, the stalling/lights-coming-on only happened once. Usually it just looses all or all-but-one of the bars on the charge indicator like others have mentioned. It's always possible that they are unrelated issues, but it's just a heads up to others with similar symptoms that it could lead to the stalling problem... so having a dealer check it out is a good idea. My HCH is a 1 year old '06.

 

For what it's worth, ours is also an '06 that is almost exactly one year old...