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The battery is charged to about 4.1 volt max, not 4.2 volt. So indeed there is a top side buffer. The car considers 4.1 volt as 100% (14 bars shown). So does the dog (100% shown).

Now under normal circumstances the battery is discharged no furter than to somewhere between 25 and 30% before the ice starts. Internally the car reports this as what it is: 25 to 30%. But on the DIC you will see 0 or 1 bar.

The dog takes into account that the lower range is kept as a buffer and transforms real soc (ignoring top side buffer) to usable soc, using a set %age as reference. So the dog will report 25% real soc as 0%. Round and about.



The DIC shows between 0 and 14 bars.
 
Tytalus said:
Hi all! ............................ Any advice, especially from GreyBigFoot would be welcome.

Hi Tytalus,

As far I know PHEV Watchdog and Evbatmon before it are just apps using a member here on this forum called Anko, decoding of the canbus of the PHEV. Now again as far as I know Anko or GreyBigFoot or anyone else here has not done an analysis of the type lithium ion chemistry of the PHEV until I started a topic called:

GS Yuasa drive battery in the PHEV. Lets discuss.

Now in my highly researched section of that topic I stated:

Trex said:
I think the chemistry is Lithium Manganese Oxide (LiMn2O4) with probably other chemicals added.

I also said:

Trex said:
So on we go.

If I am right about Lithium Manganese Oxide (LiMn2O4) cells being used in our drive batteries this is what the Battery University says:

"Lithium Manganese Oxide (LiMn2O4)
Li-ion with manganese spinel was first published in the Materials Research Bulletin in 1983. In 1996, Moli Energy commercialized a Li-ion cell with lithium manganese oxide as cathode material. The architecture forms a three-dimensional spinel structure that improves ion flow on the electrode, which results in lower internal resistance and improved current handling. A further advantage of spinel is high thermal stability and enhanced safety, but the cycle and calendar life are limited.

Low internal cell resistance enables fast charging and high-current discharging. In an 18650 package, Li-manganese can be discharged at currents of 20–30A with moderate heat buildup. It is also possible to apply one-second load pulses of up to 50A. A continuous high load at this current would cause heat buildup and the cell temperature cannot exceed 80°C (176°F). Li-manganese is used for power tools, medical instruments, as well as hybrid and electric vehicles."

And:

"The cathode crystalline formation of lithium manganese oxide has a three-dimensional framework structure that appears after initial formation. Spinel provides low resistance but has a more moderate specific energy than cobalt.
Courtesy of Cadex

Li-manganese has a capacity that is roughly one-third lower than Li-cobalt. Design flexibility allows engineers to maximize the battery for either optimal longevity (life span), maximum load current (specific power) or high capacity (specific energy). For example, the long-life version in the 18650 cell has a moderate capacity of only 1,100mAh; the high-capacity version is 1,500mAh.

Figure 5 shows the spider web of a typical Li-manganese battery. The characteristics appear marginal but newer designs have improved in terms of specific power, safety and life span. Pure Li-manganese batteries are no longer common today; they may only be used for special applications."

Ok will bring in figure 5 later.

and this:

"Most Li-manganese batteries blend with lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) to improve the specific energy and prolong the life span. This combination brings out the best in each system, and the LMO (NMC) is chosen for most electric vehicles, such as the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and BMW i3. The LMO part of the battery, which can be about 30 percent, provides high current boost on acceleration; the NMC part gives the long driving range.

Li-ion research gravitates heavily towards combining Li-manganese with cobalt, nickel, manganese and/or aluminum as active cathode material. In some architecture, a small amount of silicon is added to the anode. This provides a 25 percent capacity boost; however, the gain is commonly connected with a shorter cycle life as silicon grows and shrinks with charge and discharge, causing mechanical stress.

These three active metals, as well as the silicon enhancement can conveniently be chosen to enhance the specific energy (capacity), specific power (load capability) or longevity. While consumer batteries go for high capacity, industrial applications require battery systems that have good loading capabilities, deliver a long life and provide safe and dependable service.


Summary Table

Lithium Manganese Oxide: LiMn2O4 cathode. graphite anode
Short form: LMO or Li-manganese (spinel structure) Since 1996
Voltages 3.70V (3.80V) nominal; typical operating range 3.0–4.2V/cell
Specific energy (capacity) 100–150Wh/kg
Charge (C-rate) 0.7–1C typical, 3C maximum, charges to 4.20V (most cells)
Discharge (C-rate) 1C; 10C possible with some cells, 30C pulse (5s), 2.50V cut-off
Cycle life 300–700 (related to depth of discharge, temperature)
Thermal runaway 250°C (482°F) typical. High charge promotes thermal runaway
Applications Power tools, medical devices, electric powertrains
Comments High power but less capacity; safer than Li-cobalt; commonly mixed with NMC to improve performance.
Table 6: Characteristics of Lithium Manganese Oxide."

Now note that section talking about Lithium Manganese Oxide (LiMn2O4) or LMO blending with lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) or NMC:

"Most Li-manganese batteries blend with lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) to improve the specific energy and prolong the life span. This combination brings out the best in each system, and the LMO (NMC) is chosen for most electric vehicles, such as the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and BMW i3. The LMO part of the battery, which can be about 30 percent, provides high current boost on acceleration; the NMC part gives the long driving range."



Which is why I said "with probably other chemicals added".

Also note in the table: Voltages 3.70V (3.80V) nominal; typical operating range 3.0–4.2V/cell

Now for lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) or NMC cell this is the table summary from Battery University:

Summary Table

Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide: LiNiMnCoO2. cathode, graphite anode
Short form: NMC (NCM, CMN, CNM, MNC, MCN similar with different metal combinations) Since 2008
Voltages 3.60V, 3.70V nominal; typical operating range 3.0–4.2V/cell, or higher
Specific energy (capacity) 150–220Wh/kg
Charge (C-rate) 0.7–1C, charges to 4.20V, some go to 4.30V; 3h charge typical. Charge current above 1C shortens battery life.
Discharge (C-rate) 1C; 2C possible on some cells; 2.50V cut-off
Cycle life 1000–2000 (related to depth of discharge, temperature)
Thermal runaway 210°C (410°F) typical. High charge promotes thermal runaway
Cost ~$420 per kWh (Source: RWTH, Aachen)
Applications E-bikes, medical devices, EVs, industrial
Comments Provides high capacity and high power. Serves as Hybrid Cell. Favorite chemistry for many uses; market share is increasing.

and this from Battery University also:

"New electrolytes and additives enable charging to 4.4V/cell and higher to boost capacity."



So I think we have a LMO NMC blended drive battery in the PHEV where LMO can be charged to 4.2V and NMC can be charged to 4.2V or even higher.

So as the PHEV only charges to 4.1V you can see we have probably a top side buffer. How much? You would have to ask GS Yuasa IMHO because I am not sure any one here knows for sure.

Regards Trex.
 
Now as for this:

Tytalus said:
.................discussions with our friendly German down-under that casts doubt on this.

I have called this person before the "whinging German that moved here down under and calls himself Andy on youtube or Bert when he comes on the forum". :lol:

Now Bert or Andy has come into some of the topics I have started.
 
Trex said:
As far I know PHEV Watchdog and Evbatmon before it are just apps using a member here on this forum called Anko, decoding of the canbus of the PHEV.
Thanks for the credits. But I don't think you are doing the app developers right by calling these apps 'just apps'. Especially Daniel, I would say.
 
anko said:
Trex said:
As far I know PHEV Watchdog and Evbatmon before it are just apps using a member here on this forum called Anko, decoding of the canbus of the PHEV.
Thanks for the credits. But I don't think you are doing the app developers right by calling these apps 'just apps'. Especially Daniel, I would say.

Ok did not mean any negative connotation by saying "just". Tell you what, you can call my programming of PLCs etc "just programming" and I will not be offended. ;)

BTW anko are you sure the display only shows 0-14 bars? I always thought it to be 0-16 bars. :?
 
anko said:
The battery is charged to about 4.1 volt max, not 4.2 volt. So indeed there is a top side buffer. The car considers 4.1 volt as 100% (14 bars shown). So does the dog (100% shown).

Now under normal circumstances the battery is discharged no furter than to somewhere between 25 and 30% before the ice starts. Internally the car reports this as what it is: 25 to 30%. But on the DIC you will see 0 or 1 bar.

The dog takes into account that the lower range is kept as a buffer and transforms real soc (ignoring top side buffer) to usable soc, using a set %age as reference. So the dog will report 25% real soc as 0%. Round and about.



The DIC shows between 0 and 14 bars.

Thanks Anko!

4.1 volts sounds about right and from all the videos and pics I've seen. However, I've not seen a Watchdog pic or article that shows that the SoC go much below 30% SoC, so I'm surprised by your comment that the dog will report 25% real battery SoC as 0% Watchdog SoC. I've also seen regular Watchdog footage where the ICE kicks in when the Dog shows about 30%, and with GreyBigFoot (Daniel Santos) confirming on the Facebook page that the dog only reports the BMS's SoC, no alteration, then I think when the dog shows 25-30%, that's the lower battery buffer to prevent damage. It also agrees with this really useful article (which I'm sure has been mentioned elsewhere, but I'm really playing catchup!)

https://www.richi.uk/p/mitsubishi-outlander-phev-faq.html?fbclid=IwAR18nWO2R7fycH5G29y3uGTwknps0e76mLq270EvvE1NCWJXZEgErbHn8c8

I've so much to learn ;)
 
Trex said:
Tytalus said:
Hi all! ............................ Any advice, especially from GreyBigFoot would be welcome.

Hi Tytalus,

As far I know PHEV Watchdog and Evbatmon before it are just apps using a member here on this forum called Anko, decoding of the canbus of the PHEV. Now again as far as I know Anko or GreyBigFoot or anyone else here has not done an analysis of the type lithium ion chemistry of the PHEV until I started a topic called:

GS Yuasa drive battery in the PHEV. Lets discuss.

...

So I think we have a LMO NMC blended drive battery in the PHEV where LMO can be charged to 4.2V and NMC can be charged to 4.2V or even higher.

So as the PHEV only charges to 4.1V you can see we have probably a top side buffer. How much? You would have to ask GS Yuasa IMHO because I am not sure any one here knows for sure.

Regards Trex.

Thanks Trex, and Hi!

The more I look into this battery and how Mitsubishi have programmed its use, the more concerned I'm getting. I also still appear to be in debate with 'Bert' as he still insists that the SoC of the 40Ah battery at full (38Ah) charge is only 85%-90% battery SoC, but I really can't see or calculate this from any other available information to date, so I still believe the PHEV is charging to 95% BSoC (100% on the Watchdog). It also appears to be a result that others have come to:

https://www.richi.uk/p/mitsubishi-outlander-phev-faq.html?fbclid=IwAR18nWO2R7fycH5G29y3uGTwknps0e76mLq270EvvE1NCWJXZEgErbHn8c8 (section H).

Now, I'm no expert in electric drive mechanics, but as a CEng with the IET, fortune had it that the Institute ran a lecture last night with Roger Ratley, the head of EV Drive-train Design from Ford. I discussed the issue about the PHEV and he was astonished that the battery was taken to 95% state of charge and agreed that 38Ah out of a '40Ah' battery sounds about that high. Ford PHEVs only take their LiIon batteries to 75%-80% to prevent issues with life, and expect little degradation over the 100,000 mile. In fact Roger said that most battery designs were over-cautious as you can life a Catalytic-Converter 10years in 2 days to test what you've developed, but to test a battery design, you have to run it for 10 years :lol: This may change in the future as more Hybrid, PHEV and BEV data becomes available.

It is also interesting that I've seen a posting on one of Andy's videos that one of his watchers only charges to about 80% Watchdog SoC (against the above articles advice) and stalled his otherwise steady battery degradation... according to the Watchdog reporting of the BMS's opinion. Now, whether this is because the BMS's software is flaky and doing partial charging fools it, or that avoiding that top 20% BSoC is actually doing the battery a favour, or my favourite option: that it's a mixture of the 2, I don't know, and would be interested to know if anyone has done any research into this with the Watchdog.

So, I'm still playing catchup and welcome your thoughts... off to pick up the PHEV tomorrow :D
 
Tytalus said:
Trex said:
Tytalus said:
Hi all! ............................ Any advice, especially from GreyBigFoot would be welcome.

Hi Tytalus,

As far I know PHEV Watchdog and Evbatmon before it are just apps using a member here on this forum called Anko, decoding of the canbus of the PHEV. Now again as far as I know Anko or GreyBigFoot or anyone else here has not done an analysis of the type lithium ion chemistry of the PHEV until I started a topic called:

GS Yuasa drive battery in the PHEV. Lets discuss.

...

So I think we have a LMO NMC blended drive battery in the PHEV where LMO can be charged to 4.2V and NMC can be charged to 4.2V or even higher.

So as the PHEV only charges to 4.1V you can see we have probably a top side buffer. How much? You would have to ask GS Yuasa IMHO because I am not sure any one here knows for sure.

Regards Trex.

Thanks Trex, and Hi!

The more I look into this battery and how Mitsubishi have programmed its use, the more concerned I'm getting. I also still appear to be in debate with 'Bert' as he still insists that the SoC of the 40Ah battery at full (38Ah) charge is only 85%-90% battery SoC, but I really can't see or calculate this from any other available information to date, so I still believe the PHEV is charging to 95% BSoC (100% on the Watchdog). It also appears to be a result that others have come to:

https://www.richi.uk/p/mitsubishi-outlander-phev-faq.html?fbclid=IwAR18nWO2R7fycH5G29y3uGTwknps0e76mLq270EvvE1NCWJXZEgErbHn8c8 (section H).

Now, I'm no expert in electric drive mechanics, but as a CEng with the IET, fortune had it that the Institute ran a lecture last night with Roger Ratley, the head of EV Drive-train Design from Ford. I discussed the issue about the PHEV and he was astonished that the battery was taken to 95% state of charge and agreed that 38Ah out of a '40Ah' battery sounds about that high. Ford PHEVs only take their LiIon batteries to 75%-80% to prevent issues with life, and expect little degradation over the 100,000 mile. In fact Roger said that most battery designs were over-cautious as you can life a Catalytic-Converter 10years in 2 days to test what you've developed, but to test a battery design, you have to run it for 10 years :lol: This may change in the future as more Hybrid, PHEV and BEV data becomes available.

It is also interesting that I've seen a posting on one of Andy's videos that one of his watchers only charges to about 80% Watchdog SoC (against the above articles advice) and stalled his otherwise steady battery degradation... according to the Watchdog reporting of the BMS's opinion. Now, whether this is because the BMS's software is flaky and doing partial charging fools it, or that avoiding that top 20% BSoC is actually doing the battery a favour, or my favourite option: that it's a mixture of the 2, I don't know, and would be interested to know if anyone has done any research into this with the Watchdog.

So, I'm still playing catchup and welcome your thoughts... off to pick up the PHEV tomorrow :D

Hi again Tytalus, :)

Just writing this here in my lunch break on a Friday so do not have very long to reply. I own and manage a smallish business that mainly designs and builds specialised machinery.

Now I just want to say this in as nice a way as I can but I think you, and others, are making too big an assumption about the supposedly 95% SOC the drive battery is charged to. I am actually in communication with MMC Japan to try and get answers to these sort of questions right at the moment.

Will let you and all others know how I go.

Now as for this:

"The more I look into this battery and how Mitsubishi have programmed its use, the more concerned I'm getting."

Other have said this sort of thing before and I am not sure why these people buy the PHEV or even keep it but I have far more faith in Mitsubishi's engineers.

Hell, for a very new product (first mass produced PHEV 4x4 or SUV) there have been IMO only some very minor recalls so far (touch wood). :cool: Probably just gave it bad luck by saying that. :lol: If something bad goes wrong with the PHEV now, everyone can blame me. ;)

Got to go.

Regards Trex.

Ps There was problem with an assembly process from memory of the drive battery early on in 2013 which held up release of the PHEV to the rest of the world after the PHEV was released in Japan.
 
Tytalus said:
Thanks Trex, and Hi!

The more I look into this battery and how Mitsubishi have programmed its use, the more concerned I'm getting. I also still appear to be in debate with 'Bert' as he still insists that the SoC of the 40Ah battery at full (38Ah) charge is only 85%-90% battery SoC, but I really can't see or calculate this from any other available information to date, so I still believe the PHEV is charging to 95% BSoC (100% on the Watchdog). It also appears to be a result that others have come to:

https://www.richi.uk/p/mitsubishi-outlander-phev-faq.html?fbclid=IwAR18nWO2R7fycH5G29y3uGTwknps0e76mLq270EvvE1NCWJXZEgErbHn8c8 (section H).

Now, I'm no expert in electric drive mechanics, but as a CEng with the IET, fortune had it that the Institute ran a lecture last night with Roger Ratley, the head of EV Drive-train Design from Ford. I discussed the issue about the PHEV and he was astonished that the battery was taken to 95% state of charge and agreed that 38Ah out of a '40Ah' battery sounds about that high. Ford PHEVs only take their LiIon batteries to 75%-80% to prevent issues with life, and expect little degradation over the 100,000 mile. In fact Roger said that most battery designs were over-cautious as you can life a Catalytic-Converter 10years in 2 days to test what you've developed, but to test a battery design, you have to run it for 10 years :lol: This may change in the future as more Hybrid, PHEV and BEV data becomes available.

It is also interesting that I've seen a posting on one of Andy's videos that one of his watchers only charges to about 80% Watchdog SoC (against the above articles advice) and stalled his otherwise steady battery degradation... according to the Watchdog reporting of the BMS's opinion. Now, whether this is because the BMS's software is flaky and doing partial charging fools it, or that avoiding that top 20% BSoC is actually doing the battery a favour, or my favourite option: that it's a mixture of the 2, I don't know, and would be interested to know if anyone has done any research into this with the Watchdog.

So, I'm still playing catchup and welcome your thoughts... off to pick up the PHEV tomorrow :D

Lot of good points

Yes, I agree it is astonishing the BMU in the Outlander PHEV

The PHEV battery, we assume it is done with 40Ah cells, but in reality we have no clear indication from Yuasa or Mitsubishi what are the specs of the Lithium cell in the PHEV

We know that iMEV use LEV50 from Yuasa, and we assume since the PHEV cells are similar cells (just marginally smaller) that the PEHV must use some sort of LEV40 or LEV40N (N is the 2nd generation of the Yuasa cells, possibly they are still improving the cells, so latest PHEV with bigger capacity might have a further evolution)

So ... we don't know for sure if these cells are 38Ah or 40Ah ... but it is not really relevant

What we might assume is the battery used in our PHEV is based on LEV50N as specs below.

Charging up to 4.1v is not a conservative way of charging the cells ... but it is looking a "by design" .. so charging up to 4.10v means to charge 100% ... so the PHEV BMU does not have any protection over battery ageing due to charge and leave at 100% a Lithium battery

Note .. charge up to 4.2v per the specs it is allowed only for 60mSec ... that sounds to me .. going above 4.1v is definitely not recommended

What is interesting is that the BMU take care to never discharge too much the battery .. since normally the PHEV can be used between 100% to 300% SOC .. and per the BMU 30% SOC is equal to 3.81v .. which is way more then the nominal voltage 3.75v .. and far far away from the lower usage voltage of 2.75v

What we know is that our PHEV does degrade battery relatively quickly ... and to me it is looking a "strange" decision to have no protection on keeping the car at 100% SOC and Max allowed voltage (which is a well known situation for age the Lithium battery even when not used), while having a huge protection buffer on low voltage

Anyhow ... possibly Mitsubishi engineer know better then me how to design a BMU .. but possibly Chevrolet, Tesla and other know better then Mitsubishi, since battery degradation on PHEV volt is almost a non existing problem .. while on the Outlander lot of PHEV are having less then 80% SOH without having be driven many km and with only 3y of age.

PS: The videos from Andy are very interesting .... yes he does not know what is really going on in his PHEV battery, but the side effect are very well documented .. and based on these videos I think people can get a decent idea about the limitations of our PHEV BMU


GS-Yuasa-LEV50N-data-sheet.jpg
 
elm70 said:
Tytalus said:
PS: The video from Andy are very interesting .... yes he does not know what is really going on in his PHEV battery, but the side effect are very well documented .. and based on these video I think people can get a decent idea about the limitations of our PHEV BMU
And those of Andy :D
 
Trex said:
Hi again Tytalus, :)

Just writing this here in my lunch break on a Friday so do not have very long to reply. I own and manage a smallish business that mainly designs and builds specialised machinery.

Now I just want to say this in as nice a way as I can but I think you, and others, are making too big an assumption about the supposedly 95% SOC the drive battery is charged to. I am actually in communication with MMC Japan to try and get answers to these sort of questions right at the moment.

Will let you and all others know how I go.

Now as for this:

"The more I look into this battery and how Mitsubishi have programmed its use, the more concerned I'm getting."

Other have said this sort of thing before and I am not sure why these people buy the PHEV or even keep it but I have far more faith in Mitsubishi's engineers.

Hell, for a very new product (first mass produced PHEV 4x4 or SUV) there have been IMO only some very minor recalls so far (touch wood). :cool: Probably just gave it bad luck by saying that. :lol: If something bad goes wrong with the PHEV now, everyone can blame me. ;)

Got to go.

Regards Trex.

Ps There was problem with an assembly process from memory of the drive battery early on in 2013 which held up release of the PHEV to the rest of the world after the PHEV was released in Japan.

Hi Trex,

Similarly, not long to write; about to head off to South London and pick up my newish PHEV :D

Why am I buying a PHEV, and particularly, an Outlander? Here's are my list of requirements/wants/nices to have, and although now a mute point (as I should hopefully be driving back in one by the time you read this) I hope you'll come to the same conclusion as us:
- We've driven Prius's for over 10 years. Others were doubters of battery tech and saying things like: "You'll have to change the battery in 5 years, they cost more to make, they aren't as green as they say, the performance is terrible, you'll regret it." So my wife (also an electronics engineer) looked at what Toyota had done and realised it was the best of all the worlds at that moment in time (2008): Economy of a diesel without the rubbish (how people ever got convinced otherwise, I never will understand), size and price of an equivalent spec/age Ford Focus C-Max, geeky. :)
- 10 years later and apart from a terrible run in with 2 Toyota sales staff (the service staff were great) the cars have been great, especially the '04 plate we had for 8 years. Twice the economy of the V40 Volvo we used to own.
- We then started looking elsewhere for a newer car, especially as the Prius's don't like town driving in the cold (35mpg max, although on a good 40 mile run we got 70.1 mpg), each time we go anywhere (about 250 miles every couple of months, or camping in the summer) the Prius is packed and we cant take 3 bikes due to the limits put on the hatch.
- We've got 4kW solar on the house and 3kWh battery storage, so we could go full EV, and this would do us 90% of the time, but what of the bikes and those regular further trips?
- 80% of our journeys are fetching and carrying around town in the evenings after work (I either Work from Home or are on the train) or usual town/family stuff at the weekend, so the car's sat outside the garage anyway during the day.

The Outlander PHEV therefore ticks all the boxes, and quite frankly, at the price point, I can't see anything else that matches it. And with the tow-bar being fitted with a tow-rack for the bikes, it's just about perfect.

So to date (and in the 6 months before buying) I've been grateful for these forums and those on the Interweb and Tubes for all the useful stuff and I feel I know what I'm buying into.

The Prius was a 'Just Drive' car, infact, it says those exact words in the handbook. Yes you can 'hypermile' or press the nearly-pointless EV button, but frankly, you just drive.

However, the post MY16 Outlanders + Watchdog give the likes of you and me much greater control of what's going on. Between mains charging, battery saving, petrol charging, B levels, states of charge, states of health, etc, there is so much more scope. I was just looking for guidance on making the best of it all.

So when I started seeing comments about battery degradation, it peaked my interest as I had got over such comments 10 years previous. Hence why I came and registered here. To date I have:

- Got back up to speed on the latest battery tech
- Reviewed both technical and interest led articles on EV's uses of such batteries.
- Clarified with Daniel what the Watchdog does
- Looked for evidence of Watchdog reports to see if they stack up to what others are saying
- Stumbled across some interesting articles about other pressures on the EV industry, which I will get to in a moment.
- Spoke to an expert in this theatre, purely through timing as I was only aware of the EV Drive-train talk through my Institutes mail-shot last week.
- Got you upset somehow, for which I apologise, I'm just trying to follow a train of thought that I hoped others had followed. Which appears you have.
- Looking to see if there really is an issue, and if so, how to simply fix it with all of the tools at our disposal.

So, to date we have:

- Evidence of battery replacements under warranty due to low Capacities, and at least 2 that I know of. To put this in context, in Roger's talk (Ford EV) he said that there had only been 3 Nissan Leaf battery replacements under warranty in total.
- Lot's of other PHEVs on the Watchdog with worrying SoC/SoH's being reported. Now, I know it takes a lot of work to fully test a battery pack properly, these reports are guesstimates by the BMS and maybe a S/W issue, but when the driver is seeing 10-20km knocked off their range, the driver doesn't care the reason.
- A significant pressure from sales and advertising on engineers to push the cars. This was the interesting article I mentioned: It covered the case that back in 2012ish when EV's were being properly marketed the engineers used to set the cars to the 80% SoC unless the driver opted to add the extra juice to full nominal charge (lets say that 95% mark). But the sales brochures showed the full charge range. So the advertising watchdogs said that if the 80% charge is what you want drivers to go to normally, that's all the range you can advertise. So the engineers are under increasing pressure to remove the setting if it looked bad on advertising. And with the Outlander PHEV being a short EV mode, you can imagine what knocking 20-30% off the range would look like.
- So I have no disrespect to the Mitsubishi engineers, the product is a technical and mechanical marvel, and right up our geek-street and green credentials. But unless Yuasa developed a new type of LE40 that defies all the other Li-Ion chemistries and allows the battery to charge to the apparent 95% without the usual degradation at that level, it will, in my honest opinion, lead to increased battery degradation that would, mile for mile, be greatly reduced by only charging to 80-85%.
- In response to this 95% charge, I think the engineers have set software that is overly pessimistic when the car is driven in certain ways, certain conditions and the battery treated in certain ways. All I have to date is circumstantial I know, such as Andy's experience in Australia in hot conditions and lots of faster driving, in contrast to the experiences of Gary in sub-zero Canadian driving around town.

But that is why I am here. What is the truth (as best we can ascertain), is there an issue, can it be fixed, can we use them a little differently to avoid possible issues or is it all a panic about nothing and I should 'Just Drive'?

Why should I be bothered: This is a once in a lifetime chance where I have the money to buy a nearly new car with a nearly new battery that I want to last the warranty without needing it. Like the '04 Prius.

So I will wait in interest to see what you can find out from the MMC engineers.

Now I really must get that car, especially as this got a little longer than I anticipated!

Cheers,

Tytalus.

P.S. The last specialist machinery I think I built was a working K-9 to take to charity events as Tom Baker :lol:
 
HHL said:
elm70 said:
Tytalus said:
PS: The video from Andy are very interesting .... yes he does not know what is really going on in his PHEV battery, but the side effect are very well documented .. and based on these video I think people can get a decent idea about the limitations of our PHEV BMU
And those of Andy :D

I missed some s in VideoS ... Andy did a lot of Videos ... so he provided us a lot of data and references that are very valuable

For example, because of him, we know that some dealers instead of making the real "battery smoothing", they can reset the BMU to force a 100% SOH .. something scaring, since via properly asking a Mitsubishi dealer , anybody can cheat the PHEV SOH when it is time to sell it.

As well, thanks to Andy (and others too), people in Australia got a better warranty over the battery replacement.
 
Tytalus said:
Trex said:
Hi again Tytalus, :)

Just writing this here in my lunch break on a Friday so do not have very long to reply. I own and manage a smallish business that mainly designs and builds specialised machinery.

Now I just want to say this in as nice a way as I can but I think you, and others, are making too big an assumption about the supposedly 95% SOC the drive battery is charged to. I am actually in communication with MMC Japan to try and get answers to these sort of questions right at the moment.

Will let you and all others know how I go.

Now as for this:

"The more I look into this battery and how Mitsubishi have programmed its use, the more concerned I'm getting."

Other have said this sort of thing before and I am not sure why these people buy the PHEV or even keep it but I have far more faith in Mitsubishi's engineers.

Hell, for a very new product (first mass produced PHEV 4x4 or SUV) there have been IMO only some very minor recalls so far (touch wood). :cool: Probably just gave it bad luck by saying that. :lol: If something bad goes wrong with the PHEV now, everyone can blame me. ;)

Got to go.

Regards Trex.

Ps There was problem with an assembly process from memory of the drive battery early on in 2013 which held up release of the PHEV to the rest of the world after the PHEV was released in Japan.

Hi Trex,

Similarly, not long to write; about to head off to South London and pick up my newish PHEV :D

Why am I buying a PHEV, and particularly, an Outlander? Here's are my list of requirements/wants/nices to have, and although now a mute point (as I should hopefully be driving back in one by the time you read this) I hope you'll come to the same conclusion as us:
- We've driven Prius's for over 10 years. Others were doubters of battery tech and saying things like: "You'll have to change the battery in 5 years, they cost more to make, they aren't as green as they say, the performance is terrible, you'll regret it." So my wife (also an electronics engineer) looked at what Toyota had done and realised it was the best of all the worlds at that moment in time (2008): Economy of a diesel without the rubbish (how people ever got convinced otherwise, I never will understand), size and price of an equivalent spec/age Ford Focus C-Max, geeky. :)
- 10 years later and apart from a terrible run in with 2 Toyota sales staff (the service staff were great) the cars have been great, especially the '04 plate we had for 8 years. Twice the economy of the V40 Volvo we used to own.
- We then started looking elsewhere for a newer car, especially as the Prius's don't like town driving in the cold (35mpg max, although on a good 40 mile run we got 70.1 mpg), each time we go anywhere (about 250 miles every couple of months, or camping in the summer) the Prius is packed and we cant take 3 bikes due to the limits put on the hatch.
- We've got 4kW solar on the house and 3kWh battery storage, so we could go full EV, and this would do us 90% of the time, but what of the bikes and those regular further trips?
- 80% of our journeys are fetching and carrying around town in the evenings after work (I either Work from Home or are on the train) or usual town/family stuff at the weekend, so the car's sat outside the garage anyway during the day.

The Outlander PHEV therefore ticks all the boxes, and quite frankly, at the price point, I can't see anything else that matches it. And with the tow-bar being fitted with a tow-rack for the bikes, it's just about perfect.

So to date (and in the 6 months before buying) I've been grateful for these forums and those on the Interweb and Tubes for all the useful stuff and I feel I know what I'm buying into.

The Prius was a 'Just Drive' car, infact, it says those exact words in the handbook. Yes you can 'hypermile' or press the nearly-pointless EV button, but frankly, you just drive.

However, the post MY16 Outlanders + Watchdog give the likes of you and me much greater control of what's going on. Between mains charging, battery saving, petrol charging, B levels, states of charge, states of health, etc, there is so much more scope. I was just looking for guidance on making the best of it all.

So when I started seeing comments about battery degradation, it peaked my interest as I had got over such comments 10 years previous. Hence why I came and registered here. To date I have:

- Got back up to speed on the latest battery tech
- Reviewed both technical and interest led articles on EV's uses of such batteries.
- Clarified with Daniel what the Watchdog does
- Looked for evidence of Watchdog reports to see if they stack up to what others are saying
- Stumbled across some interesting articles about other pressures on the EV industry, which I will get to in a moment.
- Spoke to an expert in this theatre, purely through timing as I was only aware of the EV Drive-train talk through my Institutes mail-shot last week.
- Got you upset somehow, for which I apologise, I'm just trying to follow a train of thought that I hoped others had followed. Which appears you have.
- Looking to see if there really is an issue, and if so, how to simply fix it with all of the tools at our disposal.

So, to date we have:

- Evidence of battery replacements under warranty due to low Capacities, and at least 2 that I know of. To put this in context, in Roger's talk (Ford EV) he said that there had only been 3 Nissan Leaf battery replacements under warranty in total.
- Lot's of other PHEVs on the Watchdog with worrying SoC/SoH's being reported. Now, I know it takes a lot of work to fully test a battery pack properly, these reports are guesstimates by the BMS and maybe a S/W issue, but when the driver is seeing 10-20km knocked off their range, the driver doesn't care the reason.
- A significant pressure from sales and advertising on engineers to push the cars. This was the interesting article I mentioned: It covered the case that back in 2012ish when EV's were being properly marketed the engineers used to set the cars to the 80% SoC unless the driver opted to add the extra juice to full nominal charge (lets say that 95% mark). But the sales brochures showed the full charge range. So the advertising watchdogs said that if the 80% charge is what you want drivers to go to normally, that's all the range you can advertise. So the engineers are under increasing pressure to remove the setting if it looked bad on advertising. And with the Outlander PHEV being a short EV mode, you can imagine what knocking 20-30% off the range would look like.
- So I have no disrespect to the Mitsubishi engineers, the product is a technical and mechanical marvel, and right up our geek-street and green credentials. But unless Yuasa developed a new type of LE40 that defies all the other Li-Ion chemistries and allows the battery to charge to the apparent 95% without the usual degradation at that level, it will, in my honest opinion, lead to increased battery degradation that would, mile for mile, be greatly reduced by only charging to 80-85%.
- In response to this 95% charge, I think the engineers have set software that is overly pessimistic when the car is driven in certain ways, certain conditions and the battery treated in certain ways. All I have to date is circumstantial I know, such as Andy's experience in Australia in hot conditions and lots of faster driving, in contrast to the experiences of Gary in sub-zero Canadian driving around town.

But that is why I am here. What is the truth (as best we can ascertain), is there an issue, can it be fixed, can we use them a little differently to avoid possible issues or is it all a panic about nothing and I should 'Just Drive'?

Why should I be bothered: This is a once in a lifetime chance where I have the money to buy a nearly new car with a nearly new battery that I want to last the warranty without needing it. Like the '04 Prius.

So I will wait in interest to see what you can find out from the MMC engineers.

Now I really must get that car, especially as this got a little longer than I anticipated!

Cheers,

Tytalus.

P.S. The last specialist machinery I think I built was a working K-9 to take to charity events as Tom Baker :lol:
Hi Tytalus,

To save taking this thread mostly "off topic" I will answer this post over in http://www.myoutlanderphev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4111&start=80 when I get the chance.
 
I read quite a few threads and posts but not all, tried the search and haven't found exactly what i'm looking for and members will probably be more helpful...

Brand new 2018 PHEV, 545km. Installed PHEV watchdog and SOC was stating 98.2%. Does this mean as I read at a few places that there's already a degradation on the battery? Is there a way to prevent that? Would charging in 8A vs 12A helps? It's my girlfriends SUV and she's not like me who like to change every 1-2 years, she keeps her vehicle for like 10 years.

She does 60km for work (3km secondary roads, 20km on the highway, 7km in the city, she can't charge at work). She forces the use of the battery from here to highway (EV), hit save on the highway (SAVE), then forces the battery (EV) on the last 7km and then when she leaves, she forces again the use of the battery (EV) until empty and that the IC starts. Suggestions? Suggestions of things to monitor in the watchdog app?

Other than that, so far so good! :)
 
CoOlSlY said:
I read quite a few threads and posts but not all, tried the search and haven't found exactly what i'm looking for and members will probably be more helpful...

Brand new 2018 PHEV, 545km. Installed PHEV watchdog and SOC was stating 98.2%. Does this mean as I read at a few places that there's already a degradation on the battery? Is there a way to prevent that? Would charging in 8A vs 12A helps? It's my girlfriends SUV and she's not like me who like to change every 1-2 years, she keeps her vehicle for like 10 years.

She does 60km for work (3km secondary roads, 20km on the highway, 7km in the city, she can't charge at work). She forces the use of the battery from here to highway (EV), hit save on the highway (SAVE), then forces the battery (EV) on the last 7km and then when she leaves, she forces again the use of the battery (EV) until empty and that the IC starts. Suggestions? Suggestions of things to monitor in the watchdog app?

Other than that, so far so good! :)

Welcome! (But that’s one newbie to another! :lol: )

I can’t argue with the method of use: the EV mode is best for town/city driving and the ICE/hybrid best for highway speeds. My newest find was actually those paddles: I thought to myself “the car knows what it’s doing, leave them alone” then started trying out B0. These Oulanders coast lovely without artificial engine-breaking you get in Drive (similar to B2) and it’s much more economical to coast than use Dino-juice to keep going a speed.

As for what to look out for on the Dog? It’s really that you’re watching a set of parameters artificially degrading the SOH of the battery (a new find), the BMU doesn’t actually check or care how carefully you drive or charge. As the ICE is used a lot, you’ll possibly get slower degradation per km than us who rarely use the ICE. So until the car hits warranty levels, it’s a “just drive” car.

However, Some have found out some interesting ‘issues’ that may, or may not, lead to an improvement in how the car’s BMU treats the traction battery, so keep tuned as the result maybe better EV range.

Drive EV,

Tytalus
 
I'm not sure if I understand properly the values in the watchdog. I mean, we had SOC 99.1% the first day. A few days later, 98.7%, after 545km 98.2% and today, 900km 97.9%. Does this mean the battery degradation already began? If that's the case, at this rate of ~2%/1000km, we won't use the battery for very long... Can somebody explain a bit how it works and if the battery is already degrading and if it's normal to see those values so soon in ownership?!?

Edit: Additional infos on one page of the Watchdog: 97.9 -> 37.2, 2nd line 98.1% 36.5
 
CoOlSlY said:
I'm not sure if I understand properly the values in the watchdog. I mean, we had SOC 99.1% the first day. A few days later, 98.7%, after 545km 98.2% and today, 900km 97.9%. Does this mean the battery degradation already began? If that's the case, at this rate of ~2%/1000km, we won't use the battery for very long... Can somebody explain a bit how it works and if the battery is already degrading and if it's normal to see those values so soon in ownership?!?

Edit: Additional infos on one page of the Watchdog: 97.9 -> 37.2, 2nd line 98.1% 36.5

Battery degradation is visible in SOH (State Of Health) ... SOC (State of Charge) does change every time, even after two similar full charge process, the SOC could be slightly different

In the WatchDog application you can click on battery condition menu, and you get a list of cards for each update in the change of SOH
 
My bad, all my SOC reading should read SOH (a meter with a heart). We are at 97.9 already, now at 976km exactly. Suggestions or normal situation? :|
 
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