LR RWD Battery Capacity Winter

[mojoe]

Hi, just a quick question, I got a used LR RWD last Dec., and being winter my 100% capacity has been 307, can I assume that in the warmer months this 100% capacity will go up? The car was advertised as having the 325m range but clearly doesn't seem to be anywhere near that, unless winter temps can bring the capacity that far down? I'm in CT currently it's in the mid 40s so not that extremely cold.

Thanks for any input.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

I got a used LR RWD last Dec., and being winter my 100% capacity has been 307, can I assume that in the warmer months this 100% capacity will go up? The car was advertised as having the 325m range but clearly doesn't seem to be anywhere near that, unless winter temps can bring the capacity that far down? I'm in CT currently it's in the mid 40s so not that extremely cold.

Wouldn't count on it. Given those temperatures, if you can do a long fast drive, do battery preconditioning, hit a Supercharger, charge to 80%, without any regen dots, that means your battery is warm. At that point you can safely extrapolate from that 80% value to 100% for an approximate estimate of where you will be in summer time. I'd mostly ignore any numbers you see when your battery is chilly, just to be safe (though they may well be close to correct).

I'd expect you'll be in the region of about 310 rmi come summer. So the BMS thinks you have 72.5kWh available (vs. the 77-78kWh the vehicle started with).

Anyway, if it's a year or two old you're likely past the initial fast decay and so generally your battery is doing pretty well (6% loss of capacity is good). Plenty of available energy for most purposes.

 

[mojoe]

Wouldn't count on it. Given those temperatures, if you can do a long fast drive, do battery preconditioning, hit a Supercharger, charge to 80%, without any regen dots, that means your battery is warm. At that point you can safely extrapolate from that 80% value to 100% for an approximate estimate of where you will be in summer time. I'd mostly ignore any numbers you see when your battery is chilly, just to be safe (though they may well be close to correct).

I'd expect you'll be in the region of about 310 rmi come summer. So the BMS thinks you have 72.5kWh available (vs. the 77-78kWh the vehicle started with).

Anyway, if it's a year or two old you're likely past the initial fast decay and so generally your battery is doing pretty well (6% loss of capacity is good). Plenty of available energy for most purposes.

Thanks I was a little bummed that I wasn't seeing anywhere near 325m but I know it's merely a calculation. The car is a 2018 and had 25k miles on it, so it was definitely broken in/cycled. I know that 325m range is a bit of a unicorn seeing many LR RWD owners who saw it briefly and then went back down to the 310-ish range after software updates. I'm still unsure if the whole battery calibration truly does anything but may try depleting to 10% and charging up to 100% a few times, as I'm curious if it changes anything.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

25m but I know it's merely a calculation.

It is merely a calculation but it does indicate how much energy the BMS thinks you have available. If you had a CAN reader it would tell you something like 72kWh available. And that same CAN reader would have said the BMS thought it had ~78kWh when new.

I'm still unsure if the whole battery calibration truly does anything but may try depleting to 10% and charging up to 100% a few times, as I'm curious if it changes anything.

I doubt it will change much, but no harm in trying. I wouldn't be surprised at a few miles change.

The main thing is to not draw any conclusions when the battery is cold. But even in winter it is possible to warm it up, unless it is extremely cold.

Your battery seems like it's doing just fine for a 2018, and I wouldn't expect quick changes from now on...just a relatively slow reduction of capacity over time.

 

[ewoodrick]

Dependent on the car, it may have or haven't ever seen 325 miles. Mine, a March 2018 never has shown above 311.
But, as has been mentioned in numerous messages, the different software versions have changed the number shown, sometimes dramatically.
Dependent on the daily charge level, it is also possible that the battery may just need some conditioning, half being to bring the batteries back to full capacity, half being to get the car to understand what 100% really is. Charge to over 90% (even 100%, it won't hurt your battery) and leave it there for maybe a day or two and that may help the numbers.

But at 307, just drive and be happy, you don't have any significant battery degradation. The only thing that you can do is to worry about nothing.

Also, in cooler temps, you won't be getting any where near 307, more like 207.

 

[mojoe]

Thanks guys, I kinda knew I had no shot at the 325m advertised range but thought I'd check in case there was some magical thing about the Spring/Summer months and the battery.