new to this hybrid stuff but to be honest i was so impressed with a rx400h i took out that i had to have one.as i say that i hear that gillette guy saying' i was so impressed , i bought the company! (sic).anyway back to topic: does anyone get a 'full' battery when they are 'regenning'? although i haven't had it long, it seems that i can't get that last bar to go green! thanks to all in advance.

 

Full battery is pretty rare. I have seen mine go to full at the end of a 3 mile downhill at highway speed. Or if I hold down the gas to rev the engine while in park. The hybrid system is designed to keep the battery between something like 50 and 90% charge. Staying in the sweet spot allows them to last 12 years in my case.

 

i am hoping to get more than 12 from mine but will take it as it comes. are you saying you only got 12 yrs from yours? great news on the 'sweet spot'.thankyou

 

Our battery is still working fine at 12 years old. June 2005 build 2006 400h. It is not as strong as when new but that is expected. I can drain it completely blasting up a long mountain at interstate speed. But at 160k miles this is mostly the around town car now.

 

Mine is 2008 and has 209k miles, still going strong....

 

great news ! thanks to all for your input. i read that the B on the gear selector was a way to increase regenning to the battery. i tried it on a downhill but did not see any gains.i can see how people who put it in B during winter said it felt more stable. to me i thought i could feel it dragging during deceleration, like i was in 3rd when the engine wanted to be in 4th or 5th.(209k miles--wow-that's great!)

 

Not a huge load. Just huge mountains out west. Probably a 5+ mile climb at 80 MPH. When the battery gets low, you no longer have the electric motor kick you get when you step on the gas. It was running with gas engine only at higher than normal RPM. Power was down and noise was up.

 

That's a bit surprising/perplexing, since I'd have bet that, at 80 MPH on a stiff incline, that you wouldn't have needed more than the available power from the ICE; and that there would have been more than enough excess HP from the ICE to have not "needed" any assist from the battery.

Do you suppose that, even at 80 MPH, the ICE wasn't spinning fast enough to have been close enough to it's peak HP/torque - or was the grade an unusual one?

I have a '13 RXh, and with it loaded and with horrible wind resistance (two bikes on hitch rack, and large rooftop carrier) I didn't notice battery drain while going through the hills of Tennessee on the ways between MI and FL. They weren't as big, nor were the pulls as long as you described.

Any thoughts or other warnings?

Thank you!

P.S.: Despite the battery depleting, did you NEED to reduce speed, or did you ever feel that you didn't have enough power to maintain 80 (or whatever you simply Wanted to go)? Another way of asking: Did it ever seem under-powered? I'm inferring from your description that if you'd have been driving a 350, that it'd have been downshifted a gear or so to maintain 80 - and even the 350 would have been a bit noisy during those runs. Yes?