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Reduced range after Charge Point L2 charge

Discussion in 'Prime Fuel Economy & EV Range' started by skibummer, May 11, 2021.

  1. skibummer

    skibummer New Member

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    I have a 2020 Prius Prime with around 8,000 miles. EV range is showing around 32-33 miles with the warmer weather. I charged at a new Charge Point L2 at work today and it showed 32.2 miles, temp outside 70 degrees, normal tire pressure, no brakes left on, normal eco prius driving (nothing weird like max AC, heater, etc). I drove home doing 30-35 MPH on flat road and within 14 miles it was fully depleted. As I drove I watched the range count down almost twice as fast as the distance I drove (for every 0.1 miles driven I watch almost 0.3 miles leave the range). This has never happened and I drove the same as I always do and this was an acute and abrupt change from the drive in this morning and all the drives home I have done in the past. Any ideas? did my traction battery just get fried? It took about 2 hours to charge from empty to full SOC on the charge point so it is consistent with my L2 charging times at home. An ideas or recommendations would be appreciated.

    IMG_4441.jpeg
     
    #1 skibummer, May 11, 2021
    Last edited: May 11, 2021
  2. Old Bear

    Old Bear Senior Member

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    I had something similar happen and learned (from others in the PriusChat forum) that it's easy to inadvertently hit the mode button next to the shifter and change your Prius' performance mode from "ECO mode" to " PWR mode" and this will have a significant effect on energy use.

    See the earlier posts here and here.

    The indicator on the instrument cluster is subtle but fortunately the color of the background behind the speedometer also indicates whether you're in normal mode, power mode or ECO mode.

    Of course, this may not be you're problem but it's worth checking this first.
     
    #2 Old Bear, May 12, 2021
  3. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Did it read 100% on the SOC indicator? Charge Points have been known to malfunction in various ways.

    If it was a full charge, the only explanation is that you were driving up a slight incline. It takes only a very slight slope, often almost unnoticeable, to greatly increase electricity use.

    Is the date in question May 11? Is that just from the chargepoint or to and from it? My guess would be both ways. If so it would be the average of something like 7 m/kWh to the chargepoint and 3.4 coming back.
     
    #3 jerrymildred, May 12, 2021
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  4. skibummer

    skibummer New Member

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    Car remained in Eco mode, no changes. I drive this route every day. I usually can get within +/- 1 mile of the guess o meter range (this is a known route for me). SOC showed 100% and took just over 2 hrs from 0% which is consistent with my L2 at home, no wind. Like I said, as I drove the miles remained on the GOM ticked off 2-3 times faster than miles driven on a known route. Did the same driving to work this morning and did the same thing (only made it about half as far as I did usually do, Temps equal in the high 60s to low 70s. Only variable is the Charge Point charge. No funky buttons hit, no flat tires, no wind, no e brake. Very familiar with car and it is acting like the traction battery is all of a sudden discharging at 2-3 times normal rate. Worried the dealer will likely be totally clueless as they don’t sell them in SW VA as I had to drive to Maryland (CARB state) to buy it.
     
    #4 skibummer, May 12, 2021
  5. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    That's totally weird. I can't think of anything else that would cause that rate of use. But I have read occasional strange tales of woe concerning Charge Point and other public charging stations. However, a source of electricity being able to somehow force the car to just throw away electricity isn't logical. It has to be used for something even if it's just making heat. Sorry I don't have anything better, but I do hope that if you find the solution you'll come back and tell people in case it happens to someone else.
     
    #5 jerrymildred, May 13, 2021
  6. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    So, this is the first time you have used this Charge Point L2 charge station? It almost sounds like the EVSE somehow miscommunicated. Fooling the car to think it was full even though it wasn't. Have you tried charging your car again at home since the incident? If so, what the SoC shows and how far could you drive on EV mode? With Charge Point don't you have a record of how much kWh of electricity went to the car? If that number was not close to 6kWh, assuming you charged EV range depleted traction battery to full, then the Charge Point station is not working correctly.
     
    #6 Salamander_King, May 27, 2021
    Gokhan, Old Bear and jerrymildred like this.
  7. PiPLosAngeles

    PiPLosAngeles Senior Member

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    Your car says you got 5.2 mi/kWh, so nothing is wrong with the energy consumption. If you ran out after 14 miles you did not have a full charge. 14 miles divided by 5.2 mi/kWh is 2.69 kWh. That's not even a 50% charge.
     
    #7 PiPLosAngeles, Jun 24, 2021
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  8. Gokhan

    Gokhan Senior Member

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    It is some sort of an artifact. Repeat the experiment and report.

    Charging current is controlled by the computer in the car, and charging stations cannot cause damage unless the voltage is way off.
     
    #8 Gokhan, Jun 24, 2021
  9. dig4dirt

    dig4dirt MoonGlow

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    #9 dig4dirt, Jul 15, 2021
  10. Deleted member 111882

    Deleted member 111882 Guest

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    Oh what I would give to spend those two hours reproducing that charge with a ScanGauge II connected to see the current readings...
     
    #10 Deleted member 111882, Jul 16, 2021
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