172 Reg Hybrid Yaris battery issue

[Robbiel]

Hi all, Im new here.. I always had Toyota's but first time as a hybrid driver.  I bought a 172 (Ireland) Hybrid Yaris and Ive noticed that the Battery never actually reaches full capacity. I drove for about 50kms on the motorway yesterday and the Battery symbol was just 1 bar short of full. Is this normal?

[CPN]

2 hours ago, Robbiel said:

Hi all, Im new here.. I always had Toyota's but first time as a hybrid driver.  I bought a 172 (Ireland) Hybrid Yaris and Ive noticed that the battery never actually reaches full capacity. I drove for about 50kms on the motorway yesterday and the battery symbol was just 1 bar short of full. Is this normal?

Yes, that is absolutely normal. The Yaris's Hybrid system automatically manages the HV Battery and keeps it between 40% and 80% charged since this is the optimum range that gets the maximum life out of the Battery. The only time you may see that last bar fill up is if you are going down a very long incline and are slowing the car using the brakes and/or regenerative braking. This diagram should help with your understanding... (SoC = State of Charge)

 

[martswain]

Agreed, 2 Prius, 1 Lexus CT200h and 1 Yaris, I have never seen a full Battery and they all passed their Battery checks without any issues.

My only advice is forget about ECO mode (mushy pedal mode, haha) and only use EV to move it short distances such as in and out of your garage from the road or driveway, just to stop the combustion engine starting for a very short period.

Toyota spent billions of Yen on the hybrid system and I found it works best when put into D and not messed with.

[CPN]

Indeed and the only thing I can add to that for Rob's benefit is about the EV mode. Even if you actually use the button marked "EV", don't expect that your push of that button is "locked in" because it isn't. It is possible to coax it to stay in that mode for an extended period but it takes some getting used to and usually involves AC off and anything else that puts a load on the system (but occasionally I've managed to do it on a warm day with everything "on" and with SOC at max). However, if the ECU detects for one moment that the load is too high, it will override the EV mode switch and start the ICE and there's nothing you can do to prevent it other than back off of the throttle. I'm sure you'll get a feel for it soon enough... In the meantime, as Martin has said, just relax and let the computers make all the decisions for you in "D" and I'm sure you'll enjoy the chilled out drive... 😉

[Sampleman]

Actually, this weekend I had it the first time that my Battery display showed "full". It happened when I was driving through a hilly area, and the car had done regenerative braking for quite some time.

Suddenly the engine started to run at quite high RPMs, acting as an engine brake. Usually the Yaris Hybrid uses its generators and the Battery as engine brake, but when the Battery is full, the engine acts as a fallback system.


Best regards from Bavaria
Frank