Today after running several errands, I stopped by the local CarWash to rinse the car. Same as always, parking brake off, shift into neutral and away we go. Half way threw she starts beeping, I see the yellow triangle and to the right a boxed message "LOW TRACTION BATTERY SHIFT INTO P POSITION". There was a sudden rush of anxiety because I could not shift while being conveyor-ed threw the wash. As soon as I was pushed out and the light turned green, I shifted into drive to exit. The warning and box cleared instantly. I pulled into parking, shfted into P, and noticed the battery indicator had only 1 bar. Did a quick walk around of the car and got back on the road thinking, head directly the Dealership. Before I got to the freeway I was back up 4 bars and climbing. Continued on the freeway and within 2 exits all looked normal. As it is Saturday and the Dealership was 1 hour from closing, I proceeded home. Later we went to dinner and an event, then came home. All is still normal. Owners Manual only states to follow the command on page 515. I know this is a long story and was intentional to starve off multiple questions. The only thing I can think is that the air conditioner, radio and headlights were on prior to, while waiting my turn for wash (park-roll-park-roll...) and up to the point of the warning (tuned off all at that point) while in the tunnel. However this is normal for me. Will monitor the battery indicator more closely for a while. I'm sure this event latched in a computer somewhere, so will run by the Dealer if anything else acts up again. A/C and radio and lights are turned off now while in "neutral", for whatever reason. The car is a 2010 II and only 27600 miles. Was not a pleasant feeling. Comments?
I don't have time to leave a huge reply, but what you stated was normal during a car wash and being shifted into neutral. Several others have had their traction battery run low while going through a car wash. You didn't damage anything, it was just warning you. That's why I'm a little hesitant to go through an automated car was. I'm not sure what to do either, maybe just put it into drive. Others may have other comments, but you should be fine. Just a warning to shift into park or drive so the inverter could charge the battery.
That's what I'm thinking, but will power down systems in the carwash and give that indicator more attention for a while. Thanks.
Yeah, if I were going to go in a car wash I'd make sure my battery was at a decent level and I turned everything off for safe measure.
I've also seen numerous other posters mention this problem. How many battery bars did it have at the end of the park-and-roll line, before going Neutral for the tunnel? If this time it was down to just 2 bars, you had little margin. The AC is a major power hog, so if possible, turn it off even before the park-and-roll in the queue. Or if AC is a must, can you do a force charge to build up several battery bars before going into Neutral?
For reference, you still have another 10% SoC that can be drained before the car will produce a red triangle, at 30%. It is still enough to start the gas engine, though.
Thanks. Trust me, if she went red and did not clear....immediate shut down with call for flat bed to the Dealership.
