This was a new one for me...

[Struja]

I was reading the "rapid battery loss" thread and I am not sure, if that is what I experienced yesterday but was hoping for some insight and input.

I have a 90D, refresh with about 90k KM (or about 55k miles). My 90% is about 405km.

Yesterday, I had a longer than normal day of driving, which was going to take me about 175-190km round trip. Unfortunately, I did not plug in the night before and when I got in my car, I had 325KM of range left from the day before. My car was garage parked and my garage is partially insulated so the internal temp of the garage was about 7c (44-45F).

Even though my garage is partially insulated, the battery was pretty cold soaked, as I had almost no regen when my day started. The first stretch of my drive was about 100km one way. It took me about 85 minutes (Toronto traffic speed) and when I arrived at my destination, I had full regen and I had 189KM left showing on my range.

I parked outside (at the time it was -1C but warmed up to 3C). When I got back into my car, my range showed 185km (I had been parked for about 3 hours). My drive back was about 80km. When I got back to work, I had 89km of range left and when I put the car in park, I got a warning saying something like "because of the cold, your battery will lose range so we recommend charging now". Unfortunately, I have no charging at work but I only live 8km from the office, so with 89km in range, I wasn't really worried.

The car was parked at the garage at work with full regen and I was at work for about 2.5 hours in a 8C garage (48F). When I got in my car, my battery was at 53km, meaning I had lost 36km in range after just more than two hours in a 8C garage.

Is this related to the software update or an indication of another issue? Thoughts?

 

[David29]

It sounds as if all is normal, just related to the cold. You simply cannot rely on the battery state of charge (SOC) indicator for an accurate range, especially when the weather is cold. It is more accurate (usually) to use the energy app for range. I am going to guess that when you got in your car to go home, the indicated range might have even gone up as you drove and the battery warmed up. But maybe not since your trip home is so short. Many people report that phenomenon, though -- the battery management system adjusts the indicated range to reflect the battery condition, and people find the range reduced when the battery is cold and then increased as it warms up. i hope you got home Okay and were able to give the battery a proper charge. I live in the Boston area, so your cold is worse than ours, but I think your battery sounds OK.
One thing to look at -- what does your energy app say the range is, based upon your recent driving? I keep that showing on my instrument cluster, with the mileage setting (5-15-30) set to the type of driving I am doing. i find that the best way to judge range, and keep the SOC indicator set to %. I find I stress less about the range that way.

PS: You say your garage is partially insulated. Keep in mind that the battery sits just a few inches above the floor, and the floor is likely colder than the air in the garage, especially if it is a concrete floor. That cold floor can act like a huge heat sink and chill the battery to a temperature lower than the indicated air temperature in the garage. So the battery might be colder than you think after being parked overnight....

 

[Struja]

It sounds as if all is normal, just related to the cold. You simply cannot rely on the battery state of charge (SOC) indicator for an accurate range, especially when the weather is cold. It is more accurate (usually) to use the energy app for range. I am going to guess that when you got in your car to go home, the indicated range might have even gone up as you drove and the battery warmed up. But maybe not since your trip home is so short. Many people report that phenomenon, though -- the battery management system adjusts the indicated range to reflect the battery condition, and people find the range reduced when the battery is cold and then increased as it warms up. i hope you got home Okay and were able to give the battery a proper charge. I live in the Boston area, so your cold is worse than ours, but I think your battery sounds OK.
One thing to look at -- what does your energy app say the range is, based upon your recent driving? I keep that showing on my instrument cluster, with the mileage setting (5-15-30) set to the type of driving I am doing. i find that the best way to judge range, and keep the SOC indicator set to %. I find I stress less about the range that way.

PS: You say your garage is partially insulated. Keep in mind that the battery sits just a few inches above the floor, and the floor is likely colder than the air in the garage, especially if it is a concrete floor. That cold floor can act like a huge heat sink and chill the battery to a temperature lower than the indicated air temperature in the garage. So the battery might be colder than you think after being parked overnight....

Thank for the great response @David29.

As I drove home, my range decreased slowly but I got home fine and I plugged in right away. I can't say for sure, because I only looked at my energy app while I was driving back to the office and I remember it being exactly spot on with the what my range was showing in the car (both at about 89km when I parked). The energy app might have been slightly lower, but no more than about 5km.

About the garage... I have NO doubt you are accurate that the floor temp is lower (especially since the part of the garage that is fully insulated is the ceiling).

 

[SilverGS]

I keep that showing on my instrument cluster, with the mileage setting (5-15-30) set to the type of driving I am doing.

Hi David, what exactly do you mean by the above? Just curious.

 

[cduzz]

Hi David, what exactly do you mean by the above? Just curious.

Under the energy tab, you can change the look-back of the energy usage screen to show an average of the past 5, 15, or 30 miles.

 

[ucmndd]

Yes, this is normal. If you put the car in park with the battery below 20% SoC and the outside temperature below some preprogrammed threshold (not sure what it is exactly but I believe it’s close to 40F) you get that warning about reduced available range if the battery cools.

True to its word, the car will actually do this. At low pack temps and states of charge, the battery limits energy available for propulsion to keep from damaging itself. This manifests as reduced range while the car sits and the battery cools.

 

[Struja]

Yes, this is normal. If you put the car in park with the battery below 20% SoC and the outside temperature below some preprogrammed threshold (not sure what it is exactly but I believe it’s close to 40F) you get that warning about reduced available range if the battery cools.

True to its word, the car will actually do this. At low pack temps and states of charge, the battery limits energy available for propulsion to keep from damaging itself. This manifests as reduced range while the car sits and the battery cools.

I think my surprise came because I've only ever let my car get this low SoC twice and the only other time I was enroute to a supercharger so I was okay.

This was actually a good learning experience for me.

 

[David29]

Hi David, what exactly do you mean by the above? Just curious.

Someone answered what was in bold, and I assume you know that you can display the miniature energy app on either side panel of the instrument cluster. But in case you or someone else does not -- It is one of several apps that can be selected by pressing and holding the scroll wheel on either side of the steering wheel. I usually have the Energy app on the right side, because the Nav screen occupies the left panel by default, when it is in use.

 

[SilverGS]

Someone answered what was in bold, and I assume you know that you can display the miniature energy app on either side panel of the instrument cluster. But in case you or someone else does not -- It is one of several apps that can be selected by pressing and holding the scroll wheel on either side of the steering wheel. I usually have the Energy app on the right side, because the Nav screen occupies the left panel by default, when it is in use.

Thanks. That is exactly how mine is setup - energy numbers on the right and nav on the left.