Battery running low in traffic jam

travjack36 · #1 (**permalink**) 12-02-2005, 03:13 AM

I just found this site and decided to give it a try. I got my 2005 Prius at the end of May and love it.

However in October I got stuck in a huge traffic jam on I-5 south of Portland....nearly 3 hours.....big crash....heavy rain.....had just filled the tank....but.....creeping along so slowly couldn't really turn off the car but moved so little the battery couldn't seem to re-charge.

I would watch it go down to the bottom 2 bars on the screen gauge and started getting nervous about whether it was going to be discharged, but couldn't find any way to get it to start running the gas motor to bring up the charge level.

I asked the service dept. at my dealer and they said the computer would take care of the problem automatically if it got too low, but I had never seen it show such a low charge before or since. Is there any reason to be concerned when it shows such a low level of charge?

Are there any techniques I should have tried to get it to charge a little more when I could only creep along the road occasionally?

mustang67408 · #2 (**permalink**) 12-02-2005, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travjack36

I just found this site and decided to give it a try. I got my 2005 Prius at the end of May and love it.

However in October I got stuck in a huge traffic jam on I-5 south of Portland....nearly 3 hours.....big crash....heavy rain.....had just filled the tank....but.....creeping along so slowly couldn't really turn off the car but moved so little the battery couldn't seem to re-charge. When the ECU deems the battery is too LOW, it will start the engine and recharge it at its own pace.

I would watch it go down to the bottom 2 bars on the screen gauge and started getting nervous about whether it was going to be discharged, but couldn't find any way to get it to start running the gas motor to bring up the charge level. It will NEVER get below 1 bar, we have tried just to see what would happen. The computer wont let it.

I asked the service dept. at my dealer and they said the computer would take care of the problem automatically if it got too low, but I had never seen it show such a low charge before or since. Is there any reason to be concerned when it shows such a low level of charge? Nope, there is no reason to worry.

Are there any techniques I should have tried to get it to charge a little more when I could only creep along the road occasionally?

No, the computer unfortunatly controls everything. Turning on the a/c wont even help like the older (02) ones. Your a/c compressor is electronic and doesnt need the engine to run to make it work, so that theory doesnt apply to your newer generation prius.

travjack36 · #3 (**permalink**) 12-03-2005, 03:02 AM

Thanks for the response on my concern. At the time I was in the traffic jam I had turned off my headlights and other things.....wasn't moving anyplace at the time and tried some energy saving techniques. I guess I should have just let it go on as normal and it might have started up the engine sooner.

This is a helpful forum.

tacomatrdsport2591 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-11-2005, 09:15 PM

Welcome! I am sure your Prius ownership will be an enjoyable one! Remember, if you have any questions or concerns, this is the place to come. Who knows, maybe I'll help eventually!

km5er · #5 (**permalink**) 12-26-2005, 01:11 PM

Once the battery gets to the minimum pre-determined low amount the gas engine will start to recharge the battery and operate the car. You should be happy as you were being very efficient running on batteries while the others were sucking on gas and going nowhere. The low on the Prius batteries is not where they are almost out of juice but it is the point where the batteries go so that it does not impact the life (100,000+ miles) of the battery. If you had allowed it to drain down further it would have resulted in the gas engine starting to recharge the batteries and operate the car. This is the way it is supposed to work.