nehal51086

First of all i would like to say ive had my 450h for almost a year now and i love it...dont regret getting it at all..

my question is, if the hybrid battery has a very low charge (assuming it never runs out comepletly) upon accelerating will the car produce enough electricity to still run the electric motors?

reason im asking is because on my commute i gennerally use the electric motors for the most part till i get to the high way in stop and go traffic...once i get to the highway onramp generally no one is ahead of me and i like to floor it...but my hybrid battery is usually pretty low (to the point the engine turns on to charge it) once i get to the on ramp....

rominl

iTrader: (4)

when charge is low, the gasoline engine will be started automatically to run the car. so in the worst case, you will be running on the 3.5L engine

nehal51086

So in that worst case...when I floor the car am I only using the gas engine....or will the car produce enough power to allow the electric motors to run while accelerating

rominl

iTrader: (4)

you can't get extra power from nothing. if the battery is already dried up, then it has no juice to power the electric. the gas engine will have to work 100%. either 100% to the wheels, or say 80% to wheels and 20% to charge the battery, which in turns power the electric motor. either way i don't see you getting more power than the gas engine

LexFather

The car will tell you what is being used. You can hit the display button on the steering wheel and you will see what is being used to power the car (keep toggling until the battery shows).

Or you can go to info and go to energy consumption and it will show you what is being used to power the car and that will tell you.

Toyota will not let the battery drain past 15-20% and power past 80-85% (someone please check my accuracy) to keep the battery from totally draining or being topped off.

When the battery is very low I noticed the engine will power the car and the engine is recharging the batteries.

nehal51086

Thank you...

nomobmw

Actually, from what I understand, you are correct in not getting something from nothing, however, the way the Synergy drive transmission works with the two "motor/generators" you actually can be running the gasoline engine to generate power which directly drives the second electric motor.

Again, this is from my faint understanding , but this is actually how the car moves when running at low speeds. The transmission works like a CVT, but unlike a true CVT, it can't multiply torque. So, put very simply and generalized, when you are running below some speed you are actually not directly driving the real wheels from the engine but from the electric motor and the engine is simply being used as a generator. When you get up to highway speeds, the gas engine directly drives the wheels and the electric motor comes in and out to boost torque.

I think, in fact, the gas engine can generate more electrical power than the batteries can deliver, but when combined with the batteries you really get some "omph."

I'm sure someone who knows much more about this system can correct me if I'm wrong.