Battery NOT discharging

[shivnz]

Hi folks. I was wondering whether anyone else has had any experience with their battery not discharging. My car seems to be relying on its petrol engine a lot more than it used to in the last three or four days (I've had it for all of three weeks), and I've tried everything I can to figure out why, including making sure it is not on save mode or charge mode. I'm currently at a ski area (I live in NZ and it's peak ski season) and today I still had 3 kms left on the charge indicator by the time I got to the top of the mountain, whereas the first few times I did that, the battery discharged completely. And yesterday I drove to a town 40 kms away and back, and when I got home 80 kms later I still had just under a 50% charge on the battery. At the same time the car is clearly using up more petrol; I have a third of a tank left despite filling it up last week! Any thoughts as to what might be causing this issue? Thanks!

 

[AndyInOz]

Being "heavy footed" can cause the engine to run more often.

If you're stomping on the pedal, the car reads that as a sudden demand for more power and fires up the engine.

If you have had the recent software update, that seems to run the engine a little longer than before, once it has been triggered.

There is a mode which causes the engine to run all the time, but it displays "Engine started to maintain fuel system" on the dashboard when it is doing it.

I keep forgetting the rule, but it's something like: If less than 20 litres of petrol have been added to the fuel tank in the last 6 months, trigger "Engine started" mode.

That mode persists until you add another 20 litres of petrol to the tank. (In my case, I often have to use up fuel first to make room).

 

[Lance]

If you're in a ski area I'm guessing it is cold. If you're using the heater that could be causing the engine to start.

 

[Tipper]

If it's cold outside then the engine will run to run the heater to warm you up! Depends on the model. Higher spec ones have electric heaters but they still use the engine to power the heater.

Try turning the heater off and/or set temperature down to its minimum, (should be around 15C but depends on country model I suspect) and see what happens. Air-con will also use main battery power.

 

[jthspace]

Bit like to old (politically incorrect) joke about the everlasting Guinness . . .

(Nationality deleted) Guy in a bar and a Genie appeared. "I will grant you three wishes"

He thought about it and said . . "When this glass of Guinness is empty, I want it to refill"

"Granted" said the Genie. The guy drank the pint and the glass magically refilled.

"You have two more wishes" said the Genie.

"I'll have two more of these" said the guy.

I wish my battery refilled itself . . . .

 

[shivnz]

Thanks for the tips-- I'll definitely try the heating solution today!

 

[shivnz]

A quick update: turning down the heating helped! The problem has recurred, but if I switch off the defoggers then the car starts running again in pure EV mode. Today I just switched off the climate control altogether, and that worked too. It's a less than ideal workaround, but at least it helps...

 

[Steel188]

Why is this a problem? One does not buy a £35,000 to £45,000 car (even a used one) to deliberately not be comfortable! Do you?

Accept that at warmer times of year, you'll get more pure EV, but in the middle of winter, at altitude, does it matter? Either way you have to fuel the car. Make sure you pre-heat (if you can)then just get in it and drive and let the car do its thing. You'll find life far less stressful that way.

My 45,000 miles in less than 18 months at roughly 36mpg is testament to the comfort and serenity of the car.

 

[jthspace]

 

[anko]

Why is this a problem? One does not buy a £35,000 to £45,000 car (even a used one) to deliberately not be comfortable! Do you?

Accept that at warmer times of year, you'll get more pure EV, but in the middle of winter, at altitude, does it matter? Either way you have to fuel the car. Make sure you pre-heat (if you can)then just get in it and drive and let the car do its thing. You'll find life far less stressful that way.

My 45,000 miles in less than 18 months at roughly 36mpg is testament to the comfort and serenity of the car.

Sorry, I do not agree. I am at double that MPG. But this would not have been possible without turning down the heater 'every now and then'. If it hadn't been for the 'design' of the car, I could have achieved almost the same result in all comfort.

Many short trips, one could do easily WITH heater and WITHOUT burning fossil fuels. But the car won't let you. Can you explain to me why I spent so much extra money to buy a model with electric heater when the car quite quikly decides to use the engine for heating anyway?

During many of my short trips, the car has started the ICE for heating purposes, but the coolant never reached the temperature at which it actually started to contribute to the heating of the interior. A total waste of fuel.