Hybrid battery query

geordiepaul2011 · January 4, 2017

Hi all,

After much deliberation I have bought a 63 plate CT200h, the deciding factor being that we have a Nissan Note as a second car for when we need to fit all of the kids in.

After my first 60 miles of ownership I have to say that I'm loving the car so far, my only query is with the hybrid Battery. A lot of my commute is on A roads and I noticed that even though the engine was constantly recharging the Battery, I never managed to get it to fully charge - It was 2 bars from the top the majority of the time and may have briefly went to one bar from the top.

Is this normal?, I queries it at the dealership in case the Battery was losing capacity - they stated that the Battery never shows fully charged.

Paul

floggit · January 4, 2017

Had my car for two months from new and only managed a full Battery once. That was long downhill on "b" mode. Soon as it levelled out the Battery soon dropped again.

Its perfectly normal. Glad your enjoying the drive, good choice.

200h · January 4, 2017

you will generally never get to fully charged or fully discharged always a little from the top and bottom so perfectly normal so dont worry

Wass · January 4, 2017

I have never heard of a hybrid Battery problem with any toyota derived system. Honda used to have problems with traction batteries and I think that some of the other companies ( like Renault ) have Battery problems since they dont want to risk their reputations by selling batteries and will only hire them ( also having the advantage of factory controlled obsolescence).

stormchaser · January 4, 2017

That's exactly right and nothing to worry about. You can never fully fill the meter. As said on Lexus US site it's a safety feature for the lithium batteries.

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tayaste · January 4, 2017

Had my meter full a couple of times now

cadman2k · January 4, 2017

Hi Paul,

I have also had my CT200H for a week or so and getting used to the technology, I also looked at the FSPORT you bought after test driving a Demo CT200H Sport at Newcastle, Its a nice example , I particularly liked the dark interior roof of the FSPORT.

Its my first Lexus and am currently experimenting with the 3 driving modes and my style of driving adjusting to the Hybrid technology so early days but getting some fairly decent MPG

I'm sure we'll have more queries as time goes by and with the experienced forum members here any help and advice is not far away.

I have only just registered but looking forward to contributing where I can, enjoy your car

Peter

AlwaysEddie · January 5, 2017

Hi Paul,

I have a 63 plate CT200h, bought from new at the time. I've had 3 services done on the car at the Lexus dealer. Never had any problems, except for a standard Toyota/Lexus recall for the oil canister replacement in November 2016. Had the car for over 3 years now, and I don't recall having the Battery at 100%. It seems pretty close to 100% after a long downhill drive, but not quite.

I hope you keep enjoying your CT!

Regards.

Eddie

stormchaser · January 6, 2017

Yes mine nearly gets there except for a tiny gap at the top which is normal apparently. Prius owners too can never fill the meter up.

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geordiepaul2011 · January 6, 2017

Thanks for all the replies guys, I guess coming from a Nissan Leaf with a depleted range due to Battery loss has made me slightly wary of batteries in cars. So far so good though with the CT200h

Britprius · January 6, 2017

The batteries used in the CT200H are the same as in the Prius NiMh not lithium. Although the 7 seater Prius does use lithium to save weight.

It is possible to get the charge filling all the bars, but this generally only occurs on long downhill runs where a lot of regeneration takes place. Even when the display shows the Battery as full in actual fact the Battery is only charged to 80% of capacity. At the other end of the scale no charge bars being displayed is a charge level of 40%.

The reason these limits are in place is to increase the number of Battery cycles from around 1000 for NiMh technology to 100,000's of cycles.

John.

Britprius · January 7, 2017

I should have added to the above post the HV Battery is rated at 6.5 amp hours at a nominal voltage of 201.6 volts depending on the level of charge. In use only something in the region of 3 amp hours capacity is ever used. Maximum discharge amps in use is around 100 amps, and can supply 25 kwatts to the electric motor (MG2) the motor used for traction via a voltage booster to bring the voltage up to 700 volts.

John

stormchaser · January 7, 2017

This is as far as mine fills on a normal drive just a moment ago.

Pretty normal. I haven't tried hills as there isn't any where I live.

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Glover · January 7, 2017

Just below the top is normal for me too. I thought something was wrong at first but reassured by the forum. I've had it totally full once a couple of weeks ago, which really surprised me! Don't know why it happened it was on a journey across rolling countryside that I've done quite a few times and never got to full before on it.

thar · January 8, 2017

We had a ride to Holmfirth in Summer. On the way home, I had to use the B gear for the first time as the hills are so steep, the Battery was topped up to bursting after that!

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doog442 · January 8, 2017

If i was looking to get one of these in a few years time, would an extremely low mileage of 2-3K a year suit the hybrid system ? Often my car will sit there for 4 days and then might do a trip to Tesco...do these cars need regular runs to keep the Battery charged or shall I just stick with a full petrol until Lexus eventually go EV.

Any low mileage owners out there ?

Wass · January 8, 2017

55 minutes ago, doog442 said:

If i was looking to get one of these in a few years time, would an extremely low mileage of 2-3K a year suit the hybrid system ? Often my car will sit there for 4 days and then might do a trip to Tesco...do these cars need regular runs to keep the battery charged or shall I just stick with a full petrol until Lexus eventually go EV.

Any low mileage owners out there ?

It appears to me that with such low mileage you would quite easily be able to take advantage of a 100% electric car with a solar cell Doog. Your fuel bill would total nowt including electrical.

Jedimaster65 · January 10, 2017

I was going to ask the same question, but I have another:

I am new to the car just yesterday and it feels like I could really do with help from Dr Stephen Hawking on this one! ... My question is about EV mode from start up... does the car not work this way, - does it not hold enough charge to work in EV mode from start-up? Mine won't and I wonder if it is because my car has been stood imobile for months and I understand the Battery went completely flat for some time... now I have warnings lights for brakes, ABS, stability control failure...everything!

I live in very quiet cul de sac and would like to start the car in EV mode to run quietly very early in the morning out of respect for the neighbours but at present it will only start using petrol power.

Am I doing something wrong?

(It's booked in for major Lexus attention at the local dealer on Friday).

Any help or advice would be much appreciated. :-)

colin79666 · January 10, 2017

In the warmer months I can start mine and stick it straight into EV mode before the petrol motor kicks in then sneak out the cul-de-sac. Not always, sometimes the Battery mustn't have enough charge as it says EV mode not available but most times. In these winter months however that is less frequent and it usually wants to run the petrol motor as soon as I start moving, in order to get heat going, demisting etc.

Next time you come back home in the car and it has at least half charge turn it off an give it a few minutes then start it up with the climate control off and see if it will run in EV mode then. It probably will but if it never goes into EV then it could have a fault - although that should trigger a warning.

Jedimaster65 · January 10, 2017

Thanks Colin.

I drove 150 miles last night (climate control mostly off) yet there was barely any charge at all in the Battery today and starting in EV mode it just will not do.

I wonder if there is indeed a fault.

What is the right starting sequence in EV mode normally?

colin79666 · January 11, 2017

10 hours ago, Jedimaster65 said:

What is the right starting sequence in EV mode normally?

You can't start it straight to EV mode. Just power on and push the EV button. It usually takes a few seconds after power on for the petrol engine to kick in and you can go into EV before this happens.

200h · January 11, 2017

you can start your car in ev mode i used to do it in the CT and now in the IS

but it will depend if your car has enough charge in the Battery,if you have to travel uphill

when moving off also if you have the inside temp set much above LO then the engine will start

as you have requested the temperature to be higher than it currently is therefore the engine

needs to warm the coolant up.

Obertelli · January 22, 2017

On 04/01/2017 at 9:04 PM, stormchaser said:

...As said on Lexus US site it's a safety feature for the lithium batteries.

Just a technical correction: the HV traction Battery on our cars and on most other hybrids is Nickel Metal Hydride and not lithium. NiMH cells are far more robust and cope far better with high current charging and discharging than any lithium batteries can manage.

But, yes, preventing them from fully charging or discharging is a deliberate feature to reduce Battery stress fatigue and so ensures a long lifespan.

Overview of Lexus CT HV battery. (Reference to NiMH is at 2 minutes into the video)