If you own a hybrid vehicle- help me out :)

[teachermom2834]

I have asked about it on here before and we finally bought a hybrid. My dd is starting an activity five days a week in the fall with a 30 mile commute and we really wanted the hybrid. After months of discussing and researching we bought a 2019 Kia Niro hybrid with 11,000 miles on it. 
 

I drove it the 30 miles to pick my dd up from camp and it was fine. On the way home it flashed the warning “Stop car and check regenerative brakes” then lost power. I was able to get on the shoulder on a busy highway. I was able to restart the car and 20 seconds later it happened again. Starting and stopping I was able to get off an exit and coast into a parking lot where I called dh and a tow truck. It’s in the shop now and hopefully they will look at it tomorrow and let us know what is wrong with it. 
 

I did use the Appleplay while the car was off for about ten minutes. I actually thought the car was on. So I guess I drained the battery.? I do feel like I did something wrong to cause all this. But I’m not sure what it was besides the ten minutes of the accessory mode being on when the car was off. 
 

So, if you have read this far, thanks! My question is - is a hybrid so complicated to drive that I broke my car the first time I drove it? Is it so persnickety that 10 minutes in accessory mode with the engine off drained my battery? If it is then I am not smart enough or careful enough ( and neither are the other drivers who live with me 😉)

We can get out of the purchase. But what do I want now? Today was traumatic enough that now I don’t want the same model car at all and I don’t know if I want a hybrid. Dh thinks the reasons we wanted it still apply. But he wasn’t the one who was driving on a bridge over the Tennessee river when the car lost power. 
 

Anyone have any thoughts while we sort this mess out? 

Edited July 22, 2021 by teachermom2834

[Carrie12345]

No.

To be fair, ours was years ago (Prius), but dh abused the heck out of his for 350,000 miles. 

[desertflower]

Sorry, no advice.  But wanted to say that we have a hybrid. Honda accord.  We absolutely love it.  it's about 5 years old now.  But of course it was hardly driven during the pandemic. 

Hope it gets fix and that it doesn't happen again.  That must of been scary. 

[DawnM]

wow, I have no idea what happened to your car, hopefully someone who knows cars can fill you in.

We have 2 hybrid cars, both 2014.   We have a Camry Hybrid and a Prius Hybrid.   We have had no issues with either one and love them.

[prairiewindmomma]

That is not normal.

[bibiche]

A quick Google search reveals that this is not an uncommon problem with that car. Something about the high voltage fuse. 
 

If it were my car and I could still return it, I would do so and buy a more reliable Prius. You’re really lucky you weren’t hurt or killed by another vehicle when the car died like that.

[Danae]

I’ve never had anything like that happen and we’ve had our Prius since 2006.  

[prairiewindmomma]

Fwiw, I would get either a Prius or a Leaf. They are both more reliable. The Prius does run accessories off of a 12V battery but it has a warning message from a voltage monitor if it drops too low…it kicks in about 20 min in. The hybrid battery is separate from the 12V accessory one.

Your engine shouldn’t have failed.

[happi duck]

I would not keep that car.  Two years old and 11k miles should be more reliable.

Eta: We are a Prius family 05 and 16

Edited July 22, 2021 by happi duck

[teachermom2834]

Just now, happi duck said:

I would not keep that car.  Two years old and 11k miles should be more reliable.

Oh yeah I agree. I was just wondering if it was a hybrid thing. I’m nervous to even try another hybrid at all. I figured if other people had a hard time adjusting or they were difficult to operate in general. But sounds like no one is reporting that. 

[happi duck]

Just now, teachermom2834 said:

Oh yeah I agree. I was just wondering if it was a hybrid thing. I’m nervous to even try another hybrid at all. I figured if other people had a hard time adjusting or they were difficult to operate in general. But sounds like no one is reporting that. 

We are a Prius family and I adapted right away.

The only odd thing was when the smaller battery on the 05 needed replacement we didn't recognize the problem right away because not used to two batteries!

[Toocrazy!!]

Toyota hybrid here. No issues, but it’s only been about a year. Sorry that happened to you. That’s scary. 

[Clarita]

This does not sound normal to me. We have a 2013 Nissan Leaf and 2019 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. I've never had either car just stop working just lose power. For a year I was taking the Leaf down to <5% battery every other day for my commute.

[KSera]

The message sounds like one that can come up if the accessory battery dies, but the behavior sounds like something else. If it's the accessory battery drained, it should have been that the car couldn't start, and once started, the accessory battery shouldn't have anything to do with it. Although....now that I'm thinking of it, I do think I recall there being something about the feedback system from the brakes not being able to communicate with the car if the accessory battery is dead, so that the car thinks the brakes have lost pressure. That sounds like a terrible idea for the car to just die at that point, though. I suppose the thought is that if your brakes have gone out, the car has a way to bring you to a stop? I don't know. I still don't know why the car would have started though if the accessory battery was dead. You should make sure if you're running things while parked, that the battery symbol isn't lit up on your dashboard. That means only the accessory battery is running. You want the car fully running if you're going to run anything for long (though I wouldn't have expected music to do it. I would have thought it more likely to be having the a/c going).

[teachermom2834]

4 hours ago, KSera said:

The message sounds like one that can come up if the accessory battery dies, but the behavior sounds like something else. If it's the accessory battery drained, it should have been that the car couldn't start, and once started, the accessory battery shouldn't have anything to do with it. Although....now that I'm thinking of it, I do think I recall there being something about the feedback system from the brakes not being able to communicate with the car if the accessory battery is dead, so that the car thinks the brakes have lost pressure. That sounds like a terrible idea for the car to just die at that point, though. I suppose the thought is that if your brakes have gone out, the car has a way to bring you to a stop? I don't know. I still don't know why the car would have started though if the accessory battery was dead. You should make sure if you're running things while parked, that the battery symbol isn't lit up on your dashboard. That means only the accessory battery is running. You want the car fully running if you're going to run anything for long (though I wouldn't have expected music to do it. I would have thought it more likely to be having the a/c going).

I think this is a good explanation of what likely happened. Yes, the fact that the car started up is confusing. I do see how I could have drained the battery. I definitely see user error here but it is still a confusing and alarming scenario. Thanks!

[NewnameC]

That is super scary. I’m glad you are okay.

We have a Kia hybrid. I’m not the primary driver, but I know the driver has listened to music with the car turned off without the issue you had. So, I do not think there was any user error.

 

[TCB]

I have a Hyundai Sonata hybrid, and I did the same thing the first time I drove it, didn’t realize it wasn’t on and the battery died. But we just jump started the car and everything was fine.