Best practice to improve drive battery performance & life

[ufo]

When I asked the salesman at the time of picking up my PHEV if the drive battery would display typical battery memory phenomenon if it is recharged without completely depleting it, his answer was “no “. He further said that drive battery is divided into some blocks of battery cells and every time PHEV is started it starts to suck energy from a different block that it used last. Therefore, recharging without completely depleting the battery will not reduce the battery performance and longevity.
What’s other owners’ take on this, do you have any solid info supporting this claim or opposite.
What do you guys do, charge every night at home so you start the next day with full charge every day or fully charge only when battery is depleted? Obviously if you doing the latter you run risk of running out of charge and come back home running in Series mode depending on the trip. I wouldn’t mind running in series mode like this if the drive battery is prone to battery memory effect.

 

[user 258]

Hi
Only time will tell how the battery lasts in truth. But they have been designed to last the life of the car. I think I read the charge capacity may drop by 20% in 5 years and 40% over a longer period.
Although I've only had the PHEV a short while I had the plug in Prius before and Toyota provided some tips on how to preserve battery life. Since the batteries are similar I would have thought most principles would equally apply. Try googling for that.

One tip I can remember is to try to avoid continuous high loading on the battery.

Another is to try and finish charging as close to using the car in the morning as possible. I think the logic was that it allowed things to cool down at the end of the journey before starting to charge and warmed the battery up ready for use in the morning while keeping the average state of charge as low as possible.

Personally, I charge overnight as that is slightly better for the car battery and much better for the power grid. I charge immediately if there is a chance I may need to make another trip.
Kind regards
Mark

 

[jaapv]

Li-Ion batteries (with which the car is equipped) do indeed not have a memory effect. In order to prolong their life there are a few tings to take into account:

The battery must never be discharged to 0. The car will do this automatically, so there is no worry there.
Charging a partly discharged battery frequently gives a longer lifespan than emptying it down to minimum level and charging less frequently.
So just plug it in whenever you can.
Fast charging shortens battery life.
The main thing: don't worry about it; these are industrial grade batteries and are built to last far better than the battery in your cellphone.

 

[ufo]

Li-Ion batteries (with which the car is equipped) do indeed not have a memory effect. In order to prolong their life there are a few tings to take into account:

That's what I thought so but then I found this.

http://phys.org/news/2013-04-memory-effect-lithium-ion-batteries.html

Even though it is not at same level with Ni-Cad batteries, Li-Ion batteries still seem to have memory efffect.

 

[SimonP]

We were told by our dealer that their was a reduction in battery life of around 20% after ten years.

 

[jaapv]

Li-Ion batteries (with which the car is equipped) do indeed not have a memory effect. In order to prolong their life there are a few tings to take into account:

That's what I thought so but then I found this.

http://phys.org/news/2013-04-memory-effect-lithium-ion-batteries.html

Even though it is not at same level with Ni-Cad batteries, Li-Ion batteries still seem to have memory efffect.

That is just one voice against many. This site is regarded as rather authorative:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries

 

[ufo]

Li-Ion batteries (with which the car is equipped) do indeed not have a memory effect. In order to prolong their life there are a few tings to take into account:

That's what I thought so but then I found this.

http://phys.org/news/2013-04-memory-effect-lithium-ion-batteries.html

Even though it is not at same level with Ni-Cad batteries, Li-Ion batteries still seem to have memory efffect.

That is just one voice against many. This site is regarded as rather authorative:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries

Thanks, I actually found that site as below;

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

which wasn't as helpfull as your article in terms of cars.

 

[ufo]

I also found this;

http://phys.org/news/2013-04-life-lithium-ion-batteries-electric.html

which is very promising, basically saying if you watch the environmental temperature and don't charge to full capacity, you are pretty much alright. Living in Sydney, it sometimes gets too hot but not too long. PHEV doesn’t charge to actual full capacity anyway. Trying to find the full article of the guy (Mikael G. Cugnet, Ph.D.,) to read details but can’t seem to find it in cyber space for the time being.

 

[jaapv]

And the battery compartment is climate-controlled.

 

[user 258]

And the battery compartment is climate-controlled.

Hi jaapv

I know it can be cooled while the car is running or on charge if needed. Are you saying that the car can cool itself when just parked at work not plugged in? Do you know at what temperature cooling is activated?

Kind regards
Mark

 

[Gabe]

So if were to leave the car at the airport for a month, I suppose I ought to drive to the airport in Charge mode or Save mode so as not to deplete the battery. This way, it would still have some charge left for the journey home. At least, the aux battery will have some charge left to start up the ICE.

Question is, what is the rate of discharge of the main battery?

 

[jaapv]

In general, Li-Ion batteries have a very low rate of discharge. About 4-5% in the first month and 2-3% in the following months are normal figures.

 

[Gabe]

Surely the electronics still running would take out some juice over the period the car is sitting at thd car park. This is what is worrying me at the moment.

 

[BeerHunter]

Surely the electronics still running would take out some juice over the period the car is sitting at thd car park. This is what is worrying me at the moment.

The electronics continue to tick over in powersave mode in all "normal" cars and they never fail to start after a few months of being left alone. I cannot see it being an issue with the PHEV and if it were Mitsubishi would be providing big warnings all over the owners manual.

Kev.

 

[user 258]

Hi
I would drive to the airport trying to leave about 50% charge in the main battery when I arrive.
If the car has wi-fi for the app then the drive battery will charge the auxiliary battery once per day to stop it depleting. If no wi-fi then I guess the aux battery wouldn't deplete much anyway so wouldn't need the daily charge.
Kind regards
Mark

 

[thegurio]

I would personally eat my hat if you couldn't start the car after a month... This car is utterly no different than any other car that has been made in the last 5 years, and I can tell you with utmost honesty, that every time I have left all my cars in those last 5 years for that length of time they have always started first tick. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[user 258]

Hi
After retrieving my car from the airport this morning after 8 days I would strongly suggest you leave your car at home as I will be doing in future. Not because of any problem with the car but because some tw#t banged into it while I was away causing scratched paintwork. Manchester T1 multistorey if anyone is interested ...
Only had it 2 weeks. Gutted.
Kind regards
Mark

 

[BeerHunter]

Hi
After retrieving my car from the airport this morning after 8 days I would strongly suggest you leave your car at home as I will be doing in future. Not because of any problem with the car but because some tw#t banged into it while I was away causing scratched paintwork. Manchester T1 multistorey if anyone is interested ...
Only had it 2 weeks. Gutted.
Kind regards
Mark

That is horrible! No CCTV?

Kev.

 

[Hypermiler]

My friend had her door banged in at a park and ride causing over £1K of damage and the cctv was useless - has taken her 6 months to get round to fixing it because of a big excess. But when it's a new car. :evil:
H

 

[jaapv]

I would personally eat my hat if you couldn't start the car after a month... This car is utterly no different than any other car that has been made in the last 5 years, and I can tell you with utmost honesty, that every time I have left all my cars in those last 5 years for that length of time they have always started first tick. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I know a candied hat store... :mrgreen:
The first batch had a bug that caused some cars to do exactly that...