I have noticed that my battery indicator never shows it is FULLY charged. I always have 1 bar left regardless of how long I have driven. Is this normal on the Hybrid?

 

Same here - I have never seen it fill the top bar on the display.

 

I have seen it get full, but it doesnt change color like on the older toyota/lexus hybrids. It stays that light blue color. The battery doesnt like to be full at all, so it is completely normal to have two bars less than full. Actually when it gets full, you will notice that the battery will be discharging itself more so than usual and will stay in electric mode even when you push the accelerator pedal harder to get rid of the extra juice.

I was coming down the sierra nevada mountains and as you can imagine I was getting a lot of regen energy going down mile after mile. the regen brakes stopped making the whining sound because the battery was full, and on the rare times that I used the gas, the energy monitor showed electric power use only at 60+ speeds.

also it may be nice to know that when there are full bars, the battery is not actually full. and when it is empty, it is actually not really empty. The battery is kept at its optimal charge to increase lifespan

 

Thank you all for your replies. The max I have ever seen is 1 bar left uncharged and your replies make me feel much better. I don't like bother dealer if it is NOT a really problem.

 

I believe I just recently read in the manual that the battery will be be recharged to a "full" state nor will it go below half. If I recall correctly, the manual said this was to protect and prolong the life of the battery.

 

I just noticed my battery level below 50%, this caught my attention since I was stopped at a traffic light and the RX was off for few seconds then it started with a heavy sound.

Should I be concerned???

 

^^ what you see on the screen is not what really true. your nav may show just 1 bar, mine has many times before, but the battery is not actually empty. Its purposely done this way to keep the battery at its optimal charge, that is never full and never empty

 

This is what I've seen after driving down a hill.

 

There are many times that I drove the battery down to 1-bar in purple color. It is then the engine will be on to both powering the car and charging the battery.

 

I seen mine full also due to coming down steep hill and got it to full. Also gotten the purple 2 bars when in slow moving traffic. Seems all is well. I find myself leaving it on that screen for I like monitoring that stuff and guess that helps me get the high MPGs I regularly get.

Bob