Hi everyone, On a hot day a few weeks ago, I had the AC on and was going up a steep hill when I lost power after just a few minutes. The vent in the back seat was blowing air loudly, the first time I had ever heard that happen. No warning lights on the dashboard, just very little power. The engine strained every time I hit the gas. I pulled over, restarted, turned off the AC, and the car seemed to run fine after that. Just wondering if anyone else has encountered similar problems. Is this abnormal, and something I should get checked out? Or is running the AC while driving up a steep hill on a hot day just a bad idea? Thanks!
Sounds like your HV battery got hot. It kicked the battery cooling fan on (on hi or just on and off?) and started to cut out power to the electric motor to keep the batt temp down. Is your A/C compressor electric?
Hi hoodenc, The vent noise indicated the battery was warm, and the car decided not to give you any battery power until the battery cooled. Which probably means you went up the hill you started at a low battery state of charge, or went up so fast that the battery was needed to maintain the speed. I find the car warms more when there is a tail wind. As the airspeed is less, and thus less cooling. To avoid this in the future, avoid yellow arrows going up a hill, if its long. Get a steady state speed going with just the engine providing power.
Did it ever do this before, on the same hill in the same heat? If not, and if it happens again you might ask a dealer for diagnosis. Otherwise it's happenstance: the battery was drained when you hit the hill on that trip, or the car was really hot in the Sun and you had not been driving long enough for the AC to cool down the cabin (and thus the battery system).
Use open vents in hot weather to keep air going through the battery with the AC fan, not the recirculating setting. Dont tow trailers, especially in hot weather and roof top boxes arent much better.
Thanks, everyone! Yeah, I'm guessing the battery wasn't in the green when I started, and it drained quickly with the steep uphill and the AC on. I guess the best way to avoid this in the future, if I have to go up a steep hill, is just to roll down the windows and not use the AC...? Thanks again.
Hood, A note, the battery was not necessarily drained, but getting hot. The battery will heat both on charge or discharge. So donee's recomendation above is what you need to think about. Can you manage your gas pedal so that there are no arrows in/or out of the battery. Since the traction battery is cooled by cabin air, turning off the AC might make the situation worse since that would raise the air temp into the battery compartment making the battery cooling less efficient.
Hm. But going uphill, isn't it impossible to have arrows in or out of the battery? That is, one can't pulse&glide up a hill, right?
