Battery Problem???

[brownville]

Hi all, not been on for a while but wanted your opinions please. Think I have an issue with my battery. Regularly only shows 23 miles now on a full charge which is annoying . Other day it charged 41 miles (I thought max was 32?). Today hooked up to the rapid charger at work and on motorway and the battery charged to full, it's only supposed to do 85% isn't it, to protect battery. What do you think? Is it an issue or has anyone else experienced similar? Thanks

 

[gwatpe]

Thanks to forum members, particularly "anko", we have a means of checking the PHEV computer for specific battery parameters, like Ah capacity. You can still approach your dealer and request they check for you, probably for a fee. Numbers from 34-37Ah can probably be expected after a year, or 25-35000km.

The predicted range is not really any guide, and the driven range is affected by speed, terrain and driver style, so is not a good comparison between vehicles either. The car has internal records that may be the most reliable and at any rate will be all that MMC will use for any warranty claims.

 

[simonrh]

A few thoughts:

The Electric range is a (very basic) estimate based on recent usage and varies immensely based on recent usage. The outcome is always the same on mine though. About 20-24 miles of 60-70mph solid driving. I have seen mine saying a fully charged range of 20-29 miles but the actual range never changes.

Depends on how rapid the rapid charger is.
Charging the battery on AC (the small connector inside the hatch) should always yield a full 100% charge.
Charging at the motorway services using DC (the big connector inside the hatch) will only charge to 80% by default to minimise harm to the batteries from fast charging.

 

[brownville]

A few thoughts:

The Electric range is a (very basic) estimate based on recent usage and varies immensely based on recent usage. The outcome is always the same on mine though. About 20-24 miles of 60-70mph solid driving. I have seen mine saying a fully charged range of 20-29 miles but the actual range never changes.

Depends on how rapid the rapid charger is.
Charging the battery on AC (the small connector inside the hatch) should always yield a full 100% charge.
Charging at the motorway services using DC (the big connector inside the hatch) will only charge to 80% by default to minimise harm to the batteries from fast charging.

Hi, and thanks for the response, it was a DC charger both times and it charged to 100%.... So doesn't sound right??

 

[brownville]

Thanks to forum members, particularly "anko", we have a means of checking the PHEV computer for specific battery parameters, like Ah capacity. You can still approach your dealer and request they check for you, probably for a fee. Numbers from 34-37Ah can probably be expected after a year, or 25-35000km.

The predicted range is not really any guide, and the driven range is affected by speed, terrain and driver style, so is not a good comparison between vehicles either. The car has internal records that may be the most reliable and at any rate will be all that MMC will use for any warranty claims.

Hi,thanks, checked out anko post.... Far too techie for me I get the range is an estimate but was surprised to see it charge to over 40? Always 23 and then after a 250 mile trip on next charge went up... Also the DC charging to 100% doesn't feel right to me, meant to protect battery by cutting off at 80%. Any thoughts on that? Thanks

 

[PeterGalbavy]

In the UK my experience is that if you start a Rapid (CHAdeMO) charge anything above about 70% it will go to 100%. Less and it will stop at 80%.

 

[Neverfuel]

I have had 95% twice on a rapid charger if I have had 5-6 bars showing when I started the charge session. It normally will only do 80% if the battery is empty. Anything above 80% reduces the charging current quite significantly, so it takes ages to charge to 95%. Never seen 100% though.

 

[gwatpe]

The PHEV is quite techy in its own way. My investment in a WiFi OBD2 connector and a free telnet app for my phone, and just to follow the procedure "anko" used, had battery capacity in about 5 mins. I think we do need reassurance that our driving style is not impacting the battery. I am confident that checking the battery capacity every 6 months would be sufficient. Having a known capacity at some point and checking over time will be similar to checking the dip stick for oil condition. As I found, a problem battery affects performance, and not just range. I suspect sub zero conditions will impact battery life in a negative way, similar to really hot conditions.

I was quite paranoid after my early experiences with the PHEV, but my confidence is now high, following a recent extended driving holiday in a variety of conditions, from 40+C to sub zero in a few months, and the reported battery Ah is still very good after over 35000km.

Those concerned, should just have the battery tested, and unless performance like REGEN is suffering, then the battery, even if reported lower Ah, will probably still meet MMC specs.

It will be interesting to find at which point MMC will eventually choose to replace the battery under warranty, even though a maximum 20% reduction in capacity in 5 years is expected. I believe we will have a difficult time getting a driver deemed faulty battery replaced, even if say faulty cells are found, and as the car is recording the number of rapid charges, it may still be deemed a driver, or wear and tear, and not actually a faulty battery.