[retiredmegaman]

:nerd How many bars, charging on the Hybrid rear battery? My screen shows only 5 to 6 green bars when driving the Rav4 Hybrid. When is the battery completely full?
My dealer told me the Hybrid need not be plugged in, like the all-electric one.
:nerd Is there a way to maybe "trickle" charge the rear battery? Is it ok to do so?

 

[rdgrimes]

There's only one "traction battery". The indicator with 8 bars available is actually not an actual measurement of the battery's true state of charge.

Because NiMH batteries have poor tolerance for being 100% charged or fully discharged, Toyota has built in some protections. Essentially you are using that battery in a range from 40% to 80% state of charge, and this is what that "battery gauge" is showing you. 8 bars equals about 80% SOC, and 2 bars is about 40%. The system will never let it go below 2 bars, it will start the engine to charge.
Toyota is managing this battery perfectly, you don't need to worry about it. (Although continually being low or high SOC might eventually take its tole on the battery.)

In normal driving you should see that battery gauge between 4 and 6 bars. This corresponds to roughly a 50-60% SOC operating range. (each bar is approx 7% SOC) It won't go above 6 bars except on long downhill slopes or lots of regenerative braking. Its a good thing to be using that battery instead of burning gas, but its not a good thing to use it so much that the SOC drops too far. 3 bars is about as low as you want to see it in normal driving if your driving technique is maximizing its use. Once it hits 2 bars the ICE will run.

The traction battery is a 440 volt high-current battery. I recommend you don't try to mess with that. :mrgreen:

 

[Boldlygo]

Everything in the RAV4's hybrid system is automatic - all the charging is done by the system, whether by the engine or braking. The system decides when and what to do. All we have to do is drive it and enjoy the power and great gas mileage!

:nerd How many bars, charging on the Hybrid rear battery? My screen shows only 5 to 6 green bars when driving the Rav4 Hybrid. When is the battery completely full?
My dealer told me the Hybrid need not be plugged in, like the all-electric one.
:nerd Is there a way to maybe "trickle" charge the rear battery? Is it ok to do so?

 

[ST-Bob]

Rav4 hybrid battery is 244 volts, not 440 as posted above. Same battery as the Avalon and Camry hybrid (same engine too). The Camry hybrid has been with us for several years. Toyota transplanted its powertrain and added the rear drive system from the Highlander. It's a "hybrid-ized" regular vehicle - not a purpose-built hybrid car like the Prius family.

 

[sonicboom]

Rav4 hybrid battery is 244 volts, not 440 as posted above. Same battery as the Avalon and Camry hybrid (same engine too). The Camry hybrid has been with us for several years. Toyota transplanted its powertrain and added the rear drive system from the Highlander. It's a "hybrid-ized" regular vehicle - not a purpose-built hybrid car like the Prius family.

there are more "hybrid-ized" that are not designed well, i think this rav4 is well designed compared to other brand names.

 

[rdgrimes]

Rav4 hybrid battery is 244 volts, not 440 .

Yeah, OK then. Probably alright to go ahead and grab hold of those terminals.

:surprise

 

[ST-Bob]

Nobody except a qualified hybrid-trained technician should touch anything on the Hybrid that's got an orange cable going to it - period. 244 volts DC will kill you deader than dead. Don't mess with it.

 

[Boldlygo]

We all hope you were only kidding!

Rav4 hybrid battery is 244 volts, not 440 .

Yeah, OK then. Probably alright to go ahead and grab hold of those terminals.

 

[powrful1]

244 volts are deadly...it is the amp that will do it.

Sent from my MotoX

 

[randers123]

Thanks for the info... Still under 700 miles in my 2017 Hybrid and come up with a new question just about every day. Been wondering about the bars and I feel there were some very good answers on this thread. I am assuming that the information for the 2016 Hybrid is very similar to my 2017 Hybrid. Thanks again for the info.

 

[Torque]

Has anyone tried charging the battery yet? It would be nice to always start with as many bars as possible, if your goal is not to burn fuel atleast.

Btw changing lightbulbs in your home is also dangerous if you touch stuff


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[rdgrimes]

Has anyone tried charging the battery yet? It would be nice to always start with as many bars as possible, if your goal is not to burn fuel atleast.

It can't be done. Go buy a plug-in Prius Prime if that's what you want. Besides which, you want to charge that battery with regen braking, not with A/C.

 

[Torque]

A Prius doesn't suit my practical needs, I need ground clearance, awd and cargo. I bought the best car for my needs just trying to make it better.

Fuel is 4x more expensive than in US so checking options here

I have seen aftermarket conversions for prius and camry to full plug-in. You toss the spare and put a huge lithium battery in!

The thing that seems to mostly affect fuel consumption is if the fluids, catalyst and other things are up to full operating temp when you drive off. I got almost half the consumption the first 7 miles after firing up my car when it just had been sitting at home 10 minutes after a previous ride


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[newbeecolo]

:nerd How many bars, charging on the Hybrid rear battery? My screen shows only 5 to 6 green bars when driving the Rav4 Hybrid. When is the battery completely full?
My dealer told me the Hybrid need not be plugged in, like the all-electric one.
:nerd Is there a way to maybe "trickle" charge the rear battery? Is it ok to do so?

The hybrid batter never goes below 2 bars for me.
The ICE always starts up and starts charging it at 2 bars.
I've only seen more than 6 bars when I coasted downhill for about 5 miles straight.
That is the only time I've seen the hybrid batter fully charged with all 8 bars.

 

[amudgarden]

The hybrid batter never goes below 2 bars for me.
The ICE always starts up and starts charging it at 2 bars.
I've only seen more than 6 bars when I coasted downhill for about 5 miles straight.
That is the only time I've seen the hybrid batter fully charged with all 8 bars.

You can get the Hybrid battery below two bars by keeping the car in Neutral while stopped. In Neutral, the engine is disengaged from the traction motor so the battery cannot recharge.

The battery will go down to one bar, then flash a warning that the Hybrid battery is low, and to put the transmission into Park or Drive. If you continue to keep the transmission in Neutral, eventually the Hybrid System will "shut down", requiring you to put the car in Park and restart the car.

I've done this one time before just out of curiosity...but I don't recommend making a habit of it.

 

[newbeecolo]

You can get the Hybrid battery below two bars by keeping the car in Neutral while stopped. In Neutral, the engine is disengaged from the traction motor so the battery cannot recharge.

The battery will go down to one bar, then flash a warning that the Hybrid battery is low, and to put the transmission into Park or Drive. If you continue to keep the transmission in Neutral, eventually the Hybrid System will "shut down", requiring you to put the car in Park and restart the car.

I've done this one time before just out of curiosity...but I don't recommend making a habit of it.

Yeah I won't try to drain the hybrid battery.
I read somewhere that it's not good to completely discharge a rechargeable.
It apparently lessens the life of the battery.

 

[Asymptope]

For What it's Worth, why is it called a Traction Battery? When I hear the word 'traction' I think of tires, front wheel drive, AWD, etc. I don't think of a battery.

 

[jaynone]

For What it's Worth, why is it called a Traction Battery? When I hear the word 'traction' I think of tires, front wheel drive, AWD, etc. I don't think of a battery.

Because it's a battery used for traction. Not to be confused with a battery used for starting an engine, or one used to power the on board electronics like the 12v in our hybrid cars.

It's a weird term for sure. I was familiar with it from electric forklifts before owning a hybrid car!

 

[Thandal]

Two points:

1. The computer won't let the traction battery (the one that provides power to the electric motors that drive the wheels) drain completely. The ICE (internal combustion engine) will be started to recharge it before then.

2. The SOC (state of charge) indicator bars on the display do not show the entire range of the battery's capacity. Years ago Toyota deliberately changed the programming to display only 80% (removing the top and bottom 10% bars) because they got tired of explaining why, "My car never fully charges the traction battery."

OVERcharging can be as damaging as a complete drain so again, the computer does not allow it. Now, the display can and does "fill up the bars", but the battery still has some headroom.