Judging from my trip down to zero bars----The amount of fuel in the bladder whent the low Fuel warning comes on is approximatley 50% of the quantity when you only had 1 bar. So it's at the "1/2 bar stage"

 

I think you meant:

"Note that the intimidating "WARNING BATTERY DISCHARGE" light will come on." I'll add it to the FAQ with a caution to monitor the battery charge and avoid fully draining the battery, which will require a tow to the dealer.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

I've heard that the Japanese version of the Prius has a rotary switch in which the user can toggle between "normal" [hybrid] and "Electric Only". Do you figure that the American version was "dumbed down" because Toyota thinks that Americans would run the batteries down too low too often?

I've got a HCH. I've always wondered if the IMA could pull the car for a while if I ran out of gas while the car was in motion. I know that it couldn't launch the vehicle, of course, since it's a mild hybrid. But... If the car was still rolling, could the IMA pull me to a gas station? Fortunately, I've never had to find out!

 

It turns out to be a pin on the hybrid vehicle ECU, the main control unit that also drives the inverters. There is a kit you can buy from Coastal Electronics that gives you the "EV" mode switch.

The European Prius also get rear wheel disk brakes.

As for why, I don't have a clue.

I hope you don't have to find out but it is a nice feature. I haven't had to test it with my NHW11 and with my conservative driving, not likly. But if I had to, I'd probably just put my 03 Prius in reverse and drive backwards. That appears to be a built-in but not commonly used EV mode in the NHW11, Prius I.

In the morning, I put my Prius in reverse and once I get up to 3-4 mph, it shuts down the ICE. My 50 yard driveway lets me cruise backwards on to the street, totally EV mode. This morning, when I came to a stop and put it back in drive, I had to hit the accellerator before the car restarted the ICE. Weird but true.

Bob Wilson

 

You are correct in translating my hastily typed proclamation. How embarrassing for me, but thanks for double checking what I was trying to say.

 

You made 3 miles at 55 MPH on electric only? Was it a steep enough hill that you could glide a lot? On a flat at 25 MPH I can get over 1 mile without getting down to 2 bars (from 6) but I don't think I could get close to 3 miles and there is a lot less energy needed to go 25 than 55.

 

Does anyone know what the various color codes mean for the Prius hybrid battery. I believe yellow might be a fully charged battery, and purple with 2 bars is possibily the lowest charge, but there is also blue and green with up to 6 bars ( I think??).
Also what is the best method to restore your hybrid battery to a full charge after it has discharged down to "purple with 2 bars remaining"?
The dealer told me to drive it for a week with the transaxle in "B" instead of "D" ...But, so far this has not helped.
(I have a 06 Prius with apx. 1300 miles) My MPG so far has been an average of 42.5 MPG.) Thank You, don

 

I'm struggling here with why anyone would

1. Want to run any vehicle out of gas especially a hybrid when your told it can cause problems to the main battery.
2. Risk injury on the highway, to yourself and others, if you couldn't get off the road
3. etc. etc..

All to say I got XXX miles out of that tank of gas...

One word does come to mind, but I'll keep it to myself...

 

Excellent explanation of the battery cartoon for 2004 and later Prius:

http://www.privatenrg.com/#Full_SOC

Prius battery management is under computer control unless you run out of fuel. There is no need to 'restore' the battery, though for reasons of curiousity it can be force-charged by pressing both the accelerator and brake pedal, and not moving while in 'D'. As a general rule using B instead of D will have no effect on battery SOC. B is for driving down long hills, after regenerative braking has already filled the battery.

DAS

 

Don't worry about the hybrid battery being fully charged or not. The car tries to manage it to keep it in the blue (usually around 5 or 6 bars). The colors are just an indication of it's basic state of charge. When it's pink/purple, the Prius will start recharging it to get it back to around 5 bars. When it's green, it won't charge much and will discharge quicker to get back into the blue.

Here's a thread on PriusChat that gives more info on the battery charge & how the Prius handles it: http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=23390

I wouldn't keep the transaxle in "B", either. More knowledgeable people than me have written about it here: http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=23097