Toyota Prius: Prius battery question

In article <googlegroups.com>,
"net" <net> wrote:
 

The only time I have ever seen the charge on my battery
(I have a 2003 model), was during a long down hill run
on a dirt road where I had to ride the break to keep my speed
down. So under certain conditions the batteries can be brought
up to a full charge.
--
Michael LeVine - com
"Thirty days hath September, April, June and November.
All the rest have thirty one except for Gypsy Rose Lee
and every one knew what she had" - Mel Blanc

In article
<vsrv-sjc.supernews.net>,
"Michael N. LeVine" <com> wrote:
 

When all the bars are filled, it's only an 80% charge.

--
Support the troops: Bring them home ASAP.

"Michelle Steiner" ... 
Yep.

On Apr 12, 10:22 pm, "Michael N. LeVine" <com>
wrote: 

There's a difference between a displayed full charge, and the
batteries actually being fully charged.

The number of bars on the battery icon on the Energy Monitor is
different between the NHW11 Classic Prius and the current NHW20 Prius,
and the displayed amount of charge is a little different, but they're
both at around 40-80%. displayed "empty" on the screen is about 40%
charge on the hybrid batteries, and displayed "full" is about 80%
charge on the hybrid batteries.

The Prius doesn't like being at either extreme, either... If too low
(1/4 to 1/2 displayed on the Classic, bottom 2 pink/red bars on the
NHW20), the gasoline engine will keep coming on to add charge to the
battery (or you'll slow down a bit when going up a long/tall mountain
as some of the engine's energy is siphoned for the hybrid battery).
If too high (over the +/- on the Classic or top 2 green bars on the
NHW20), then the Prius will use the electric motor to spin the
gasoline engine repeatedly to bleed off the excess energy (such as
street driving after coming down a long mountain).