How do you charge a battery on a Prius?

Question

I know the Prius recharges itself, but my battery never gets a full charge. Someone said that if you could charge it independently of the car, you can get even more mileage. Since it's a 300v battery, it can't be charged with an ordinary battery charger, so how can I do it? PLEASE, if you don't know, don't answer.

Answer 1

why dont you hook up  another prius to it.

Answer 2

A prius? does it take double or triple AAA's

?

Answer 3

1 it isn't 300V it is 273.6V nominal for the 2001-2003 "classic" NHW11 Prius and 201.6V for the 2004-current NHW20 Prius.

#2 your situation is completely normal and the charge indicator on the MFD only shows the usable range of the charge not the full range.  It only shows from 40%-80% SOC and the car keeps it "between the lines" at 60% most of the time because NiMh out-gasses hydrogen when charged above 80% and out-gasses oxygen when discharged below 40%. Since the car uses brief pulses of high charge and discharge currents during braking and accelerating if the charge were allowed to go outside the 40-80 range the gasses would be produced faster than they could be recombined internally, the pressure would build until the relief vent opened, and the gas and thus some of the electrolyte would be lost forever.  After awhile of this the battery cells would dry up and the battery would be destroyed.

If you value your car's warranties don't mess with the HV battery.  If something ever does go wrong with the car it WILL let you know about it either with greatly reduced mileage or warning lights with a message on the MFD.

Answer 4

If your battery never takes a full charge, there is a problem with the battery pack or the charging system in your Prius.

Your only solution is to bring it to the nearest Toyota dealer for repairs.  Few independent mechanics will work on a hybrid.

You heard wrong.  There is no way to use an external charger to charge the battery pack on a Prius.  If there were a charger that could be plugged into your Prius to charge the batteries using house current, Toyota would be all over this.  A setup like this would beat the Chevy Volt plug in hybrid to the market.

Answer 5

you can't charge Prius' battery, as it gets charged itself from the braking system through the converter.

if it is not charging completely, something is wrong with it (remember it is used also for the A/C and all the other electrical equipment in your Prius).

It would be very rare if it is malfunctioning, but only the guys at the dealer could tell that.

Answer 6

Wondering has it right.

The Hybrid Synergy Drive's computer tries to keep the battery charge in the 60-80% range at all times, because that's the charge state at which the battery will have the longest service life--  15 years or more.

The chemistry of the NiMH battery lasts the longest at those regimens, and the computer is programmed to keep it that way.  That's why HV battery failure in the Prius through normal use is almost unheard-of.

It's only when you abuse the Prius battery by doing things like running out of gasoline (which forces the Prius to completely drain its battery to keep the car moving) that it shortens the battery's life, and such abuse is NOT covered by the Prius's standard 8-year / 100,000 mile battery  warranty.

Of course tampering with the battery or making modifications to the hybrid drive electronics will void the warranty too.  So leave it alone, and make sure you never run out of gas.

Answer 7

The displayed charge on the HYBRID battery (seen on the Energy Monitor) rarely ever reaches "full" or "empty" but prefers to stay at a happy medium.  The display only shows you the useable area of charge on the hybrid battery, displayed "empty" is about 40% and displayed "full" is about 80%. Actual charge levels of a NHW20 Prius  can be seen at:

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

The two bottom pink bars are about 40-47.5% battery charge.

The most common middle four blue bars are about 45-66.5% battery charge.

The two top green bars are about 64-81% battery charge.

Quoting from a June 22, 2004 Toyota press release:

http://pressroom.toyota.com/Releases/Vie...

<quote>

The Prius battery (and the battery-power management system) has been designed to maximize battery life. In part this is done by keeping the battery at an optimum charge level - never fully draining it and never fully recharging it. As a result, the Prius battery leads a pretty easy life. We have lab data showing the equivalent of 180,000 miles with no deterioration and expect it to last the life of the vehicle. ....

</quote>

To quote from Toyota:

http://www.toyota.com/html/hybridsynergy...

Q:  Do they [the hybrid batteries] ever run out of power?

GS: No. A computer makes sure the batteries never discharge completely.  They never fill completely, either. "

So yes, it is normal to not see the battery display on the Energy Screen reach green/full very often. (Even when it does read "full" - like after coasting down a long hill/mountain - the battery still isn't charged to full, to prolong the battery life.) It is also not common to see a low/pink battery icon either - usually a long uphill climb or heavy AC use (since the NHW20's AC is electrically-powered off of the hybrid battery, and is not a conventional belt-driven off the engine AC (like on the Classic Prius)).

There is no reason to be concerned at all to see the battery level at either extreme. The car takes care of itself, and you don't have to do anything special. (Turn off the display, or just stay on the more useful Consumption Monitor.) If the hybrid battery is too low on charge, the Prius will just turn on the gasoline engine to recharge it if necessary.  If the hybrid battery is too high on charge, it'll bleed off as much energy as needed by running on electric only or occasionally by spinning the gasoline engine with the electric motor (similar to B mode).

I'll note that the older Classic NHW11 Prius does not have any color changes on its battery icon on the Energy monitor... Normally just sits on 3/4, occasionally on 1/2, rarely to either 1/4 or "full."

On an aside, there is no 300v battery in the Prius.  The Japanese-only NHW10 was the highest at 288v, the Classic NHW11 was at 273.6v, and the current NHW20 is at 201.6 (stepped up to 500v for the hybrid system).

There is still a traditional 12v accessory battery used to boot the computers and power the usual electronics (like lights, radio, fan, etc.), but it is physically smaller than in a traditional car because it is not needed to turn over the gasoline engine.  Because of the smaller size, it is easier to run down/flatten this battery through the usual means (leave a light on overnight, or don't drive the car for 2 weeks, etc.).  You can jumpstart/boost this 12v battery, or charge it using an ordinary battery charger, to get your Prius going again after such a draining episode.  Just remember that the 12v battery is physically located in the trunk, or if you have a NHW20 Prius use the jump-start point under the hood (in the fuse box), as indicated in your owner's manual.

There are no commercially-available plug-in hybrids on the market so far. (So you cannot plug a hybrid in, other than the same gas station pump that most other regular/conventional cars use.) The hybrid battery is recharged either through regenerative braking (kinetic energy from coasting/slowing down spins a generator to make potential energy in the battery) and/or by taking excess power from the gasoline engine (use the gasoline engine as a generator) to recharge the hybrid battery. There is no plug. No charging off the mains/local electric supply.

Some hobbiests and aftermarket companies have been altering a few hybrids (Prius, Ford Escape Hybrid/Mercury Mariner Hybrid) to make them plug-in capable. Typically this requires adding additional hybrid batteries, besides the ability to charge off the mains.

For more information, check out http://www.calcars.org/vehicles.html and http://www.calcars.org/howtoget.html

For cost reasons, unless you are a fleet owner or other high-mileage driver it probably will not be worth the cost of the PHEV conversion for you. (Conversion pricing is high due to startup costs and low volumes, besides the pricing of the needed additional battery packs.)

To note, converting to a PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) does not reduce the vehicle's range. It gives the owner the option to recharge the (newly added larger) hybrid battery pack at night (cheap electricity and off-peak electric load which would otherwise be lost). The vehicle would run for a certain distance (longer than stock) on the stored electric power alone, and when the battery pack is depleted to a certain point the vehicle reverts back to its original hybrid self and runs on a combination of the gasoline engine (which will also recharge the battery) and the electric motor. A PHEV would add a greater all-electric range to the existing hybrid, besides the ability (but not the requirement!) to plug it into an electric source. (Electric power is cheaper than gasoline, and can be from cleaner sources (hydro, wind, biomass, geothermal, etc.), and is usually domestically-sourced.)

Toyota is working on creating a PHEV Prius, and has some test vehicles on the road. Supposedly for the 2010 US model year, and only for fleet customers at first (so not general retail).

http://pressroom.toyota.com/Releases/Vie...

http://pressroom.toyota.com/Releases/Vie...

http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/07/0725....

video:  http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/tech/environm...

Also, on http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/demos... , check out the Prius FAQs.

"9. Do I need to plug Prius in?

    Never. Prius automatically recharges its batteries using regenerative braking, or by running the onboard generator. The driver never needs to worry about recharging the battery.

11. Can Prius be jump-started?

    Yes. Should you need it, Prius can be jump-started with any standard 12-volt DC power source, and it actually requires less power than a conventional car. Simply connect the cable clamps to access points under the hood (which are connected to the auxiliary battery near the cargo area) and energize the computer. Then press the Start button to turn the car on. Please see your Owner's Manual for further instructions.

16. What is the warranty for Prius?

    ....Hybrid-Related Component Coverage: Hybrid-related components, including the HV battery, battery control module, hybrid control module and inverter with converter, are covered for 8 years/100,000 miles. The HV battery may have longer coverage under emissions warranty. Refer to applicable Owner's Warranty Information booklet for details.

24. Does Toyota support the modification of my Prius to be a plug-in Hybrid and run on electric mode only with a switch?

    Any such alterations, modifications or tampering with the vehicle voids the warranty and is likely to be counterproductive for air quality and Prius' durability and safety.

"