Just done my 6 monthly drive battery test.

[Trex]

Hi,
As my Phev ownership is now 1 year I have now just done a capacity test on the drive battery. This I have done every 6 months including when I just bought the Phev ie I have done 3.

I do this test by driving with a fully charged drive battery early on a sunday morning (light traffic so few red lights) with no heating or air conditioner along the same route (same speed) after resetting the odometer and note when the petrol motor starts and goes into hybrid mode. The results of the tests are:

1. 52.5kms Just after buying Phev April 2014
2. 52.9kms 6ths months later ie October 2014
3. 51.8kms April 2015

Now this last test had notable more traffic (some big area championships soccer games) ie stopped at traffic lights etc more than the last 2 tests.

Yes I know the Mitsubishi dealer can do capacity tests at service time but I forgot to ask (I will not next time). But I am happy so far with the results I am getting ie it is not showing bad capacity loss yet.

Regards Trex.

 

[anko]

But I am happy so far with the results I am getting ...

I think you should be. I would think there are very few that have ever made it above to 50 or more.

 

[jaapv]

Actually your dealer can/should do a battery capacity test every major service. That will be far more precise than a distance driven test which is dependent on many factors, including ambient temperature, driving conditions, tyre pressure, wind direction, etc.

 

[gwatpe]

The MUT3 data I was given was not actually an actual dealer test, but rather just a reading of the %SOC and voltage and Ah. My problem PHEV had dealer tests, including full overnight discharges using only A/Cond, followed by full recharging. Also some driven testing. My new PHEV rarely gets a fully discharged battery, and now I power ON in SAVE mode will find time to check the total range on a full battery. Some of my local drives are close to 50km round trips, but it is difficult to get really objective data on a road trip, so will always be only an estimate. Have had over 50km on a few occasions so far.

 

[Trex]

But I am happy so far with the results I am getting ...

I think you should be. I would think there are very few that have ever made it above to 50 or more.

Yes the trick here is light traffic and 60kph speed limits.

Regards Trex.

 

[Trex]

Actually your dealer can/should do a battery capacity test every major service. That will be far more precise than a distance driven test which is dependent on many factors, including ambient temperature, driving conditions, tyre pressure, wind direction, etc.

But my test results are pretty consistent and if kept up will definitely show any long term trends.

Regards Trex.

 

[t3lmo]

The proper 'home' battery test is only one: the remain capacity of the pack.
Full discharge it and measure the kWh that you can full charge it again. Something like 10kWh will be the usual value (assuming the 28-30% reserve).
If there's no kWh counter available on a wallbox charger, use a power meter plug connected to the EVSE.

 

[MartinH]

Trex, I Think your test is great! I will trust your test way more that the dealers "calculated" test. I do not care if my battery have 1 or 12kWh stored, i am interested about the distance i can drive with it!

 

[anko]

+1

According to the reports I have received from my dealer, my battery has degraded quite a few %%. But if I still can do 52 km coming summer, I will not care much. On the other had, if I didn't get past 40 km in the summer I would be concerned. Even if the reports had shown no degradation.

 

[Trex]

The MUT3 data I was given was not actually an actual dealer test, but rather just a reading of the %SOC and voltage and Ah. My problem PHEV had dealer tests, including full overnight discharges using only A/Cond, followed by full recharging.

So does this mean the dealer needs to keep the Phev longer (say overnight?) to do the battery test.

Regards Trex.

 

[Trex]

Trex, I Think your test is great! I will trust your test way more that the dealers "calculated" test. I do not care if my battery have 1 or 12kWh stored, i am interested about the distance i can drive with it!

Thanks MartinH. Yes there is many ways to measure capacity of batteries including what t3lmo correctly states by measuring what goes in when charging but there is nothing like IMO the "wheels to the road" approach if done to consistent testing criteria. For instance jaapv brings up:

"ambient temperature" I test in spring and autumn about the same temp but does not matter as long as test is done at same time each year ie differences will show up consistently even if done summer and winter over the years.

"driving conditions" Here I make sure they are the same ie if it is raining or very windy I put off the test till next week. Exactly 6 months or 1 year is not critical.

"tyre pressure" I am "anal" about mechanical condition of my cars especially that my wife and sons are driving them.

"wind direction" Good thing about early sunday mornings here beside light traffic there is very little wind ie winds come up later in the day and my test route is a loop and actually takes 3 times around to complete :lol: :lol: ( I wonder what the neighbors think?) so any breeze will become irrelevant ie if headwind will become tailwind.

Regards Trex.

 

[jaapv]

You may live in a consistent climate. Over here winds are often force six to eight and can come from any point of the compass. Ambient temperature may be up to 15 degrees or down to minus 10 in winter, up to 30 or down to 12 in summer....

 

[Langepistole]

Sorry, I have to disagree with you here in East Sussex, UK. I've had my PHEV since June 2014 and I do regular EV only range tests. The result is that the range has decreased to just above 23 miles from fully charged.
Yesterday at reasonable ambient temperatures, around 13 Deg C, I managed 23.2 miles from a full to brim charge to when the engine cut in. I was in Eco mode all the time, I broke the journey about 4 times, I didn’t have heater or a/c on and stayed under 50 mph. I also tried very hard not to accelerate harshly so what the Mitsubishi are claiming as 32.5 miles and what is actually happening out on the ground are two different things.
It's either that or my battery is already shot in about 9 months which isn't very impressive. Rgds, C

 

[Trex]

You may live in a consistent climate. Over here wins are often force six to eight and can come from any point of the compass. Ambient temperature may be up to 15 degrees or down to minus 10 in winter, up to 30 or down to 12 in summer....

Hi jaapv,

I am sorry you don't live in a "consistent" climate where you could do this test. Been quite some time since I have been to the Netherlands and I do not remember it being that radical but hey you should know.

Regards Trex.

 

[Trex]

Sorry, I have to disagree with you here in East Sussex, UK. I've had my PHEV since June 2014 and I do regular EV only range tests. The result is that the range has decreased to just above 23 miles from fully charged.
Yesterday at reasonable ambient temperatures, around 13 Deg C, I managed 23.2 miles from a full to brim charge to when the engine cut in. I was in Eco mode all the time, I broke the journey about 4 times, I didn’t have heater or a/c on and stayed under 50 mph. I also tried very hard not to accelerate harshly so what the Mitsubishi are claiming as 32.5 miles and what is actually happening out on the ground are two different things.
It's either that or my battery is already shot in about 9 months which isn't very impressive. Rgds, C

Hi Langepistole,

You do realize that this test is done in light traffic (very few red lights or stopping) at the highest speed of 60kph or about 35mph in your
part of the world. That makes a major difference.

Regards Trex.

 

[t3lmo]

That's why debating battery range with driving test is... useless waste of time.
Everyone does it different, and on several conditions with its own car :roll:

 

[greendwarf]

Sorry, I have to disagree with you here in East Sussex, UK. I've had my PHEV since June 2014 and I do regular EV only range tests. The result is that the range has decreased to just above 23 miles from fully charged.
Yesterday at reasonable ambient temperatures, around 13 Deg C, I managed 23.2 miles from a full to brim charge to when the engine cut in. I was in Eco mode all the time, I broke the journey about 4 times, I didn’t have heater or a/c on and stayed under 50 mph. I also tried very hard not to accelerate harshly so what the Mitsubishi are claiming as 32.5 miles and what is actually happening out on the ground are two different things.
It's either that or my battery is already shot in about 9 months which isn't very impressive. Rgds, C

Hi Langepistole,

You do realize that this test is done in light traffic (very few red lights or stopping) at the highest speed of 60kph or about 35mph in your
part of the world. That makes a major difference.

Regards Trex.

It also doesn't take into account the amount done with no EV when coasting - which can be quite a lot if using B0 - even in B2 there will times when this happens in a 50km/32m journey but will vary everytime unless done on a test track.

 

[Trex]

That's why debating battery range with driving test is... useless waste of time.
Everyone does it different, and on several conditions with its own car :roll:

What does this mean?

 

[Trex]

Sorry, I have to disagree with you here in East Sussex, UK. I've had my PHEV since June 2014 and I do regular EV only range tests. The result is that the range has decreased to just above 23 miles from fully charged.
Yesterday at reasonable ambient temperatures, around 13 Deg C, I managed 23.2 miles from a full to brim charge to when the engine cut in. I was in Eco mode all the time, I broke the journey about 4 times, I didn’t have heater or a/c on and stayed under 50 mph. I also tried very hard not to accelerate harshly so what the Mitsubishi are claiming as 32.5 miles and what is actually happening out on the ground are two different things.
It's either that or my battery is already shot in about 9 months which isn't very impressive. Rgds, C

Hi Langepistole,

You do realize that this test is done in light traffic (very few red lights or stopping) at the highest speed of 60kph or about 35mph in your
part of the world. That makes a major difference.

Regards Trex.

It also doesn't take into account the amount done with no EV when coasting - which can be quite a lot if using B0 - even in B2 there will times when this happens in a 50km/32m journey but will vary everytime unless done on a test track.

My results speak for themselves IMO.

 

[t3lmo]

Means that a lot of variables can affect the 'range equation': SOC, temperature, humidity, wind, path, level and period of regeneration, throttle, etc.
If you want to measure things, home made speaking, you must go for the 'stored energy' (in kWh), that will 'give you the range' later on.

Over time you will see that, like I did on my 30.000km electric scooter in 3 years.