Dealer won't provide battery capacity

[annewilson]

Hi everyone,
I'm looking at buying a second hand Outlander PHEV, and have asked the Mitsubishi dealer and service centre that is selling it what the battery capacity is at. They ran a battery diagnostics test, but the only information it provided was the individual cell voltages at full charge. They said they were unable to do a load test to be able to tell me what the current state of health or capacity of the battery is. This sounds a little unlikely to me - I would've thought an authorised Mitsubishi service centre could do a proper load test. Are they giving me the run around or does this sound legit?
Thanks for any advice,
Anne

 

[disconnect04]

They will be able to tell you what the car's BMU (Battery management unit) sees as the battery's SOH. That may not correspond exactly to the actual SOH, determination of which would require the procedure they describe . But yes, they are fobbing you off, ask for the SOH from the BMU or get it yourself with an OBDII adaptor and an app like PHEV watchdog.

 

[greendwarf]

If you are in the UK it is unlikely you will get it - they are not interested!

 

[jaapv]

Walk away - if they won't accommodate you, what else are they hiding? I was on the market for a new pre-loved car. My trusted dealer found a beautiful example on auction for me, and returned it the next day for a refund. After partly dismantling it they found welds in structural parts; the car had been a write-off and sent to Poland for a repair (to avoid the Dutch repair register) - it was completely invisible except to an expert eye.

 

[annewilson]

Thanks everyone, I'll call them again and ask for the SOH readout from the BMU. (I'm in Australia by the way)

 

[ThudnBlundr]

To calculate the actual SOH of the pack involves emptying the battery pack so that each of the 80 cells is at its lowest permissible voltage and then seeing how much energy is required to refill each cell to the correct voltage without allowing any balancing. It is an involved process, bypasses many of the car's onboard systems, takes many hours and requires extremely specialist equipment. I know of no manufacturer whose dealers carry out that process.

 

[jaapv]

Although that is technically true, that is not what is needed. A dealer selling a car can - and should -- provide a battery condition report. That is a simple procedure, and is done routinely with every service over here, although it is normally not reported to the customer, except on request.

 

[annewilson]

I called another dealer in Sydney and they said they can do a report, but it doesn't show SOH, just whether there is a dead cell or not.
Sounds like there is an unfilled gap in the market for second hand EV battery analysis.

 

[jaapv]

I guess that this is inexperience. Over here ( a small country with 17 million inhabitants), there are about 50.000 on the road. The average dealer has hundreds on their book, so they are far better equipped to handle such requests.

 

[greendwarf]

I'm still not clear what actual use this information is - especially when buying. The only relevant test is how far will it go on a full charge and with such a small battery that is easily checked in a single road test. :idea: