EV Battery Level

[KurtW]

Hello,

After about 9 months of ownership I have noticed that the battery level for the "EV" battery in the LC250 never rises above 5 (out of 9) bars. I am not sure if that is normal or not - what have others seen about their EV charge level? In addition, I notice that the 12v circuit seems to run low when the car is moving. In an alternator power circuit I would expect around 13.4 volts, which obviously isn't the case with the LC250. However it seems to almost always be below mid-point on the battery indicator scale. I know that may not mean anything and I hope to monitor it on an OBD2 scanner this weekend. But again, I'm curious to see if others have the same observation.

Thanks!

 

[derek]

Hello,

After about 9 months of ownership I have noticed that the battery level for the "EV" battery in the LC250 never rises above 5 (out of 9) bars. I am not sure if that is normal or not - what have others seen about their EV charge level? In addition, I notice that the 12v circuit seems to run low when the car is moving. In an alternator power circuit I would expect around 13.4 volts, which obviously isn't the case with the LC250. However it seems to almost always be below mid-point on the battery indicator scale. I know that may not mean anything and I hope to monitor it on an OBD2 scanner this weekend. But again, I'm curious to see if others have the same observation.

Thanks!

That's normal. If you do a bunch of downhill it'll recharge more fully before settling around 50% again. It's to preserve battery health, I'd reckon

 

[RideWithYanu]

Hello,

After about 9 months of ownership I have noticed that the battery level for the "EV" battery in the LC250 never rises above 5 (out of 9) bars. I am not sure if that is normal or not - what have others seen about their EV charge level? In addition, I notice that the 12v circuit seems to run low when the car is moving. In an alternator power circuit I would expect around 13.4 volts, which obviously isn't the case with the LC250. However it seems to almost always be below mid-point on the battery indicator scale. I know that may not mean anything and I hope to monitor it on an OBD2 scanner this weekend. But again, I'm curious to see if others have the same observation.

Thanks!

This all seems pretty normal. Toyota keeps the traction battery in the middle of the range intentionally. Mine rarely goes above 5 or 6 out of 9 either. It’s designed that way to extend battery life. You’ll only see it fill up on sustained downhill braking, and even then it quickly drops back to mid-level once the system uses the charge.

There’s no traditional alternator. It uses a DC-DC converter from the hybrid battery. Voltage isn’t locked at 13.4 V like an old-school system. You’ll see anywhere from ~12.5 to 13.8 V depending on load, temperature, and battery state. The dashboard battery gauge is pretty crude. It can read low even when things are normal. Your plan to check with an OBD2 scanner is good if you want to get the actual voltage readings instead of relying on that vague dash meter. But nothing you described sounds abnormal for this hybrid setup.

 

[KurtW]

This all seems pretty normal. Toyota keeps the traction battery in the middle of the range intentionally. Mine rarely goes above 5 or 6 out of 9 either. It’s designed that way to extend battery life. You’ll only see it fill up on sustained downhill braking, and even then it quickly drops back to mid-level once the system uses the charge.

There’s no traditional alternator. It uses a DC-DC converter from the hybrid battery. Voltage isn’t locked at 13.4 V like an old-school system. You’ll see anywhere from ~12.5 to 13.8 V depending on load, temperature, and battery state. The dashboard battery gauge is pretty crude. It can read low even when things are normal. Your plan to check with an OBD2 scanner is good if you want to get the actual voltage readings instead of relying on that vague dash meter. But nothing you described sounds abnormal for this hybrid setup.

Thanks about confirming the EV battery range - I just wanted to make sure that is normal from what folks are seeing.

I am aware that there isn't an alternator. I wish they would give us the option to display the actual voltage vs a bar graph (for the 12 volt system). I can plug in my scanner but that's more of a hassle.

 

[KurtW]

That's normal. If you do a bunch of downhill it'll recharge more fully before settling around 50% again. It's to preserve battery health, I'd reckon

Thank you for validating the behavior I see.

-Kurt

 

[PDPete]

I’ve noticed if I run in “Sport mode” the “Max” battery gauge gets up to 7 bars regularly (sometimes 8), likely because it holds higher rpms and thus is charging more frequently…but not sure.

In normal driving mode though, I’m usually in the 3-6 bar range…don’t think I’ve ever noticed mine go below 3 though.

I will add, while sport mode does provide some nice acceleration boost, I mainly use it when on rural, hilly, windy roads near me, as I find the higher RPMs provide more engine braking and make it easier to maintain a desired speed.