Another Battery Degradation Thread

Excellent point. I hadn't noticed how atypical and gas engine-oriented these test Volts are.

On the other hand, it does make the driving pattern more comparable to the Prius PHV cars that they are battery testing.

These cars are likely sampled from some commercial fleet. I don't know about these cars, but other studies have used delivery service drivers who likely have no personal incentive to plugin but may be compensated for gasoline mileage. The GE Volt fleet is notorious for this.

 

I believe they test all of their vehicles in Arizona. The excessive heat may cause extra loss.

My PiP was parked outside for 10 hours on Wednesday with -20F wind chill. Here's the readings when I got in to go home:
MG2 Temp = 5F
Coolant Temp = 5F
TB1 = 21.37F
TB2 = 23.41F
TB3 = 19.75F
TB Intake = 13.97F

And yes the ICE started right away.

 

Sounds like it was -5F out. "Windchill" doesn't mean much to a car...

 

i'm down to 11.7 ev estimate with the 0 to single digit temps recently. but i can still drive 12 or13 miles. all ev without the engine coming on.

 

Unless you anthropomorphize the Prius. But it hates that.

 

I did a range test running the car around my normal routes which is pretty flat but lots of lights and stop signs. A typical run would be about 1 mile with 5 stop signs and 7 lights. Traffic is pretty heavy so it's often impossible to time lights. Temperatures were in the mid to upper 60's. After a full charge my start up range estimate was 9.8 miles and I actually did 10 miles even. I didn't charge from empty so I couldn't get the amount of energy that went into the batteries. Last year around this time I was getting around 11 miles per charge.

What was interesting is that t the end of the test I pulled into my parking spot at home in EV. As I reached to put the car in park the ICE started.

 

I'm approaching 3 years of ownership and have yet to see a change in pattern. Same route. Same driver. Matching conditions. It's nice having a small collection of videos available for comparison.

 

i hate when that happens!

 

what really boils my noodles is when the ICE comes on at the end of an all EV trip with 2 or 2 and a half EV miles range left showing available or within the first mile of an EV trip.
I haven't installed my block heater yet, but I have a full lower grille block and 3/4 upper grille block, and I've added a second space heater to the cabin while charging.
So far I've noticed EV behavior changes below 40 F, then more changes below freezink and even more changes in the single digits.
I can still get 10 EV miles - give or take at the freezink mark, but if I have to keep up with traffic too soon after the car has sat overnight and all the juices are cold
The ICE comes on. If I can tool around long enough to heat up the juices before I have to merge into traffic I can hold in EV for the full 10 miles. Top speed is also lower as temps drop too - I think, but I have to do more testing on that.
I'm presently at 3720 EV miles and 4102 odo and trying to figure out how to conserve on the ele heat from the grid.

I also just started looking at the charging timer after I plugin. I'm seeing initially .5 or .6 kw and 4.5 hours charge times. Within the first minute the charge rate ramps up to 1 or 1.1KW and the charge time drops to 3.4 or 3.3 hours using the OEM cord and both heaters supplying warm air at the pack intakes. But it's still way different than those screens look when the amient temps are warmer

 

that's about my experience with the ice coming on as well. can you tell us more about your cabin heating project and charging time? or have you written it up in another thread?

 

Not much to tell other than I have an extension cord and my OEM plug through the same hole in the wall on different circuts. I have a triple socket flat wire adapter I plug into the extension cord and plug the two space hearters into the adapter. I cover the flat wire adpater with duck tape and close the rear door on the flat wire extension.
It keeps the pack warm during charging and the cabin comfortable for a short while ( as long as I don't have to defog too much by cracking the windows, which also cools the pack and reduces EV range).
I stopped taking pics in Dec. and I've only just recently rechecked some other screens to get my bearings again. So the charge rate screen is just something I wanted to throw in there to see if anyone else has noticed a lower charge rate and or long charging times in colder weather.
Another thing I throw out there is Level 2 charging in cold weather. The one time I've done it was pretty strange to say the least.

 

thanks. regarding your charge time, mine are similar year round. 90 minutes L2 and 3 hours L1, sometimes a little quicker, not sure exactly why. during a charge, it always starts out fast, and slows down the closer it gets to full. i charge in an unheated attached garage, so it's not too cold, generally between 35 and 55 depending on outside temps.

 

I guess an easy way to check would be on a frigid night ( single digits ) after depleting EV range and no ICE warmup.
plugin and leave garage door open for ten or twenty minutes and watch the charging screen.
brrrrrr

 

ya, that's not gonna happen, sorry. maybe there's someone here who charges outdoors in frostbite falls.

 

Not me!

 

I haven't ever seen anywhere near close to 3 hours for L1. It comes down to the electricity source... which will be changing permanently for me... which means no more "same route" data anymore. What it also means is new data and finally getting a home L2. The house I just made an offer on... if all goes well... will be mine in just a little more than a month.

 

Congrats! On the new digs! Enjoy!
Yep! Takes me about 2h 40m on L 1.

 

all the best john!

 

I just thought it would be a good idea to get some baseline behaviors before I add full grille block and block heater.

Has anyone else ever noticed EV range skip tenths of miles in the cold weather? Lately mine has been skipping 1.2 miles EV, going from 1.3 EV miles to 1.1 EV miles, and that is just the beginning of the weirdness.

I hope the move is a good thing john and if you get it I hope L2 stays a standard for at least another few years.
Retired, what can I say beside at least I'm not sitting in a frozen car for 2 hours looking at the charging screens, brrrrrr....

 

what is this cold weather you speak of, you're in rochester... texas?