2 Battery Questions

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by Aqua Vitae, Apr 2, 2015.

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  1. Aqua Vitae

    Aqua Vitae New Member

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    Hello all, my apologies if this has been asked before but I did a google search and nothing terribly informative came up.

    1) My EV battery seems to have dropped its full charge capacity by a lot. When I first got the car last June I could get ~13 miles on a full charge. It dropped to ~11 within 2-3 months. Now I am lucky to get 10 but it is usually 9.5-9.8. First off, I don't think this is a cold temperature issue because it remained fairly steady through the full winter months and only has dropped below 10 in the last 2 months (of the warmest winter I've seen up here). Also, any EV has a temperature control system to prevent the battery from getting too cold or too warm. I'm looking at people here reporting they get 15-20 miles on a charge and I can't help but think something is wrong. I read on here someone positing that your average driving routines are taken into account when determining charge time (so if you typically go faster or use the gas on a typical drive it affects the estimate displayed for the EV battery). This seems slightly counter-intuitive but it may explain my situation in light of #2 below.

    2) The Leaf has a "Long Battery Life" setting that prevents the battery from charging to full capacity. Does the PIP have something similar? This would be helpful for a number of reasons. For one, I live on a hill and I can't go anywhere without the engine starting to prevent overcharge during regenerative braking. So having it slightly less than full would allow me to run fully on battery alone. Secondly, Lithium batteries last longer if you don't charge to 100%. I would rather have an expensive battery last longer especially since my hills will help charge.

    I'd appreciate any insights!
     
    #1 Aqua Vitae, Apr 2, 2015
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome to priuschat, congratulations on buying the finest automobile ever designed. happy to help. how many miles can you actually drive in ev?

    a) charge time is determined by the state of charge when you plug in, not your past performance.

    2) you are not driving an ev, you are driving a phev, designed to reduce pollution.

    b) the ev display estimate is based on your past driving history.

    3) the pip has a couple fans to cool the battery and counts on you to keep the cabin temp comfortable, so the battery will be comfortable.

    c) the pip does not fully charge or discharge, so your battery will probably outlive you.

    4) there are no user settings for the pip battery. it comes standard with the long life setting. unfortunately, it will always fire the ice in your situation.

    d) all the best!(y)
     
    #2 bisco, Apr 2, 2015
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2015
  3. CharlesH

    CharlesH CA HOV Decal #5 on former PiP

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    The Leaf used to have a setting which limited the charge to much the same levels as the Prius Plugin does. The other setting on the Leaf was the "charge to a higher level to get more range, but kill the battery" setting, which is not offered on the PiP. However, the "save the battery" setting on the Leaf lowered the range number that Nissan could advertise, since they had to include using that setting when computing the official "range". So they removed the battery-saving option, so that the higher "kill the battery" range would be the advertised range. Instant official range increase.
     
    #3 CharlesH, Apr 3, 2015
  4. Easy Rider 2

    Easy Rider 2 Senior Member

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    Are those actual miles driven before it drops out of EV mode.......or an estimate displayed on the dash ??
    Weather WILL take a toll. The energy used to cool/warm the battery comes from.........the battery.
     
    #4 Easy Rider 2, Apr 3, 2015
  5. Aqua Vitae

    Aqua Vitae New Member

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    Thank you all for your responses.

    My apologies for wording it like that. I was meaning the amount of driving time on a charge--totally my bad.

    After the last two full charges, it has displayed 9.9 and 9.8 respectively. And I got about that in actual miles driven (within a tenth or two). I don't tend to jack rabbit after stopping. I let off the accelerator well before I come to a red light so as to get as much regenerative power as possible.
     
    #5 Aqua Vitae, Apr 3, 2015
  6. rxlawdude

    rxlawdude Active Member

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    Dumb question, but when you are seeing 9.5-9.8 estimated, is the climate control system (or even the fan) running, or is it totally off?

    The 10% calculated penalty running any climate system components on the estimated EV range might be the culprit here.
     
    #6 rxlawdude, Apr 3, 2015
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    if your actual ev miles driven don't go back up to 13, on the same drive and temp as last june, i would visit the dealer. until then, realize that temp has a major influence on battery capacity. i drive 15-16 in summer, and 11-12 in winter, at the extremes. same route and speed and driving style and other weather factors.
     
    #7 bisco, Apr 3, 2015
  8. Easy Rider 2

    Easy Rider 2 Senior Member

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    Then we are back to other factors.

    Still kind of cool in Seattle, right?
    That not only affects the total amount of energy used but the battery efficiency too.

    Then, is there any chance that your overall driving speed is creeping up a bit ? ;)
    Speed and wind resistance is THE single most important factor in energy efficiency.......both gas and electric.

    Brakes can be dragging and tire pressures can be low. All the things that adversely affect gas mileage have the same impact on electricity mileage too.
     
    #8 Easy Rider 2, Apr 3, 2015
  9. Aqua Vitae

    Aqua Vitae New Member

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    Bisco, you speak wisdom. If I don't see an increase when it starts to hit the 70s full time I will ask my dealer.

    As to some of the other questions, my driving has not changed so much and I am conscientious about maintenance (brakes, tire pressure, etc.). Also, as I stated above, it has been very strangely warm here in Seattle and the drop below 10 miles on the meter didn't happen until the March/April time frame which is well past the coldest part of the year for here. But valid points to consider for sure.

    Not dumb at all. Do you mean the heat and AC that I control? If so then sometimes but not often and not much at all lately. I actually fiddle with that. If I do need to warm up I tend to turn it off once the cabin heats up as I do know that will spend energy. Also, as a side, it is sometimes difficult to gauge the estimate vs. reality because as I noted I live on a hill which means the engine will turn on to handle some of the braking. When it does the engine stays on well after I am past the bottom. During this time the car seems to act as if in regular hybrid mode because I see the MPG meter go up and down according to my accelerator. About 25% of the time the engine doesn't kick in though and I have no idea what the magic condition is to make that happen. But when it does, the estimate matches up with the actual distance driven. Kind of a bummer though as I have *never* gotten 15-16 miles on a single charge.

    Thanks all for the responses and good advise! I will sit on this for another month or so to see if it bounces back up.
     
    #9 Aqua Vitae, Apr 3, 2015
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    danny, can you put aqua vitae's first sentence above on the cover of priuschat? thanks.(y)
     
    #10 bisco, Apr 3, 2015
  11. retired4999

    retired4999 Prius driver since 2005

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    I will give you one At A Boy !!!!!!!!!! Enjoy. (y)
     
    #11 retired4999, Apr 4, 2015
  12. Easy Rider 2

    Easy Rider 2 Senior Member

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    You do know that one "Aw crap" wipes out 10 atta boys........right ?? ;)

    I think you are still in the hole. :ROFLMAO:
     
    #12 Easy Rider 2, Apr 4, 2015
  13. retired4999

    retired4999 Prius driver since 2005

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    when in a hole.......keep digging!!:D
     
    #13 retired4999, Apr 4, 2015
  14. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    rather be in a hole than the hole.:p
     
    #14 bisco, Apr 4, 2015
  15. rxlawdude

    rxlawdude Active Member

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    Not very wholesome?
     
    #15 rxlawdude, Apr 6, 2015
  16. Jeff N

    Jeff N The answer is 0042

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    When it comes to cold temperatures reducing battery range, what matters is the temperature of the battery and not the present ambient air temperature. The battery has a fair amount of mass and doesn't instantly warm up.

    For example, if the car has been sitting in cold temperatures overnight then the battery may still be cold even though the Sun has risen and its a pleasant morning at 9am. Even in Seattle.

    If you charge it up during the day and drive it immediately then how many miles do you actually get before the engine comes on due to low battery charge?
     
    #16 Jeff N, Apr 7, 2015
  17. bractar

    bractar Junior Member

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    I was wondering exactly the same thing. I have my car for 1 year. The 1st month I could get 12 miles per charge. Then 10-11 for 3 months. And now i only get 9 to 9.8 miles. Even 8.9 miles a couple of times.
    I live in orange county, California. So the wearher is never cold. And I drive 40 miles a day. Mostly in traffic jams.
    The car stays plugged every night.
     
    #17 bractar, Apr 7, 2015
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    sounds normal, but you're not supposed to leave it plugged every night.
     
    #18 bisco, Apr 7, 2015
  19. rxlawdude

    rxlawdude Active Member

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    Where in the manual does it say "you're not supposed to leave it plugged in every night?" I can't seem to find that verbiage in my owner's manual.
     
    #19 rxlawdude, Apr 7, 2015
  20. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    you want me to look through 700 pages for you, your honor?:cool:
     
    #20 bisco, Apr 7, 2015
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