one battery showing red and lower than the rest

[wzkied]

Hi I'm new here and looking for opinions

I am trying to buy a 2016 with 167,000 kms so out of warranty. I ran a SoulSpy with a dongle and got the image as attached. This was showing up while the battery was at 35-40kms left. It drove fine, but I did not run it hard also, just local roads at 30-60 km/h.

It's probably too late to back out now as I have signed a purchase agreement already, but would like to know what might be the longevity of this one, given the battery condition or if there's a chance the battery will last, or will get better over time?

The dealer told me the range is about 120-140kms.

Is there a way for example to keep the battery charge level at a certain percentage and not get this one battery on red, for example keeping it 80% charged all the time? I need some advice.

Also two recalls are still outstanding, RC180 and RC193, which I plan to do as soon as I get hold of the car.

One last question: has anybody here had replaced out of warranty battery, either from a third party or from the dealer?

I know it's plenty of questions, but I am leaning onto the knowledge from all of you who knows more about this car than I do. TIA.

 

[IanL]

Try recharging the battery to 100% and having another look. The BMS balances the cells at the end of a 100% charge by feeding current to individual cells, and, if there is nothing wrong with the cell in question, the imbalance will be reduced or not reappear.

I would have a look at the SOH (State of Health) value shown by Spy. If it is below or even near 70%, that could give you cause to escape the contract.

 

[JejuSoul]

... It drove fine, but I did not run it hard also, just local roads at 30-60 km/h....

The best way to test the car is to drive it up a steep hill. No need to drive fast. Just watch what happens when you accelerate on the way up, or even better watch what happens when you decelerate on the way down.

I assume you are in Canada, probably BC. RC180 is a recall that only applies to a replacement battery with E400 cells. Hence this car has a new battery. That one cell is already faulty suggests that this is a re-manufactured pack.
I wouldn't buy this car.

Something else to check before you buy is whether this car has a battery heater. If this car was originally from California it does not. These cars would not be suitable for the Canadian winter outside of Vancouver itself.

 

[wzkied]

Try recharging the battery to 100% and having another look. The BMS balances the cells at the end of a 100% charge by feeding current to individual cells, and, if there is nothing wrong with the cell in question, the imbalance will be reduced or not reappear.

I would have a look at the SOH (State of Health) value shown by Spy. If it is below or even near 70%, that could give you cause to escape the contract.

This is good to know. I will try to charge it and see if that cell will get back to a level at par with the rest

Thanks for this suggestion.

Also, the SOH shown is 106% so I don't think Soulspy is showing the correct information?

 

[wzkied]

The best way to test the car is to drive it up a steep hill. No need to drive fast. Just watch what happens when you accelerate on the way up, or even better watch what happens when you decelerate on the way down.

I assume you are in Canada, probably BC. RC180 is a recall that only applies to a replacement battery with E400 cells. Hence this car has a new battery. That one cell is already faulty suggests that this is a re-manufactured pack.
I wouldn't buy this car.

Something else to check before you buy is whether this car has a battery heater. If this car was originally from California it does not. These cars would not be suitable for the Canadian winter outside of Vancouver itself.

What am I expecting when driving up or down? Would i see sudden changes in the battery voltage?

Also SoulSpy shows it has 96 cells. Would this tell me the battery type, i.e E400, if ever SoulSpy is even reporting it correctly.

btw I am in the east coast, Toronto, so definitely colder weather.

And how am I going to check for a battery heater. Thanks for your reply.

 

[JejuSoul]

What am I expecting when driving up or down? Would i see sudden changes in the battery voltage?

Going up the car will not be able to sustain acceleration. Power will drop off. The car may turtle.
Going down the car will not be able to sustain regeneration. Power will drop off. The physical brakes will take over.

Also SoulSpy shows it has 96 cells. Would this tell me the battery type, i.e E400, if ever SoulSpy is even reporting it correctly.

No. SoulSpy has no way of knowing the cell chemistry of the cells. For the 2016 model only cars with a replacement battery with E400 cells are subject to the BMS fire-safety recall.

And how am I going to check for a battery heater. Thanks for your reply.

Cars originally sold in Eastern Canada will have a battery heater.
For now your only option is to ask where the car was first sold.
In future you could watch the battery temperatures and work out when the battery heater was active.
Maybe SoulSpy has a value for the battery heater but I strongly doubt it would be reliable.

 

[wzkied]

Going up the car will not be able to sustain acceleration. Power will drop off. The car may turtle.
Going down the car will not be able to sustain regeneration. Power will drop off. The physical brakes will take over.

No. SoulSpy has no way of knowing the cell chemistry of the cells. For the 2016 model only cars with a replacement battery with E400 cells are subject to the BMS fire-safety recall.

Cars originally sold in Eastern Canada will have a battery heater.
For now your only option is to ask where the car was first sold.
In future you could watch the battery temperatures and work out when the battery heater was active.
Maybe SoulSpy has a value for the battery heater but I strongly doubt it would be reliable.

@JejuSoul thanks for all your responses,

i am looking at Carfax and the first owner reported to be in Ontario, Canada, so most likely it has the heater

not many hills close to me but i will test the uphill and downhill at some point

when you said, physical brake will take over from regeneration on downhill, i assume there is some indication on the dashboard to tell this is happening

 

[JejuSoul]

There is a display on the dash that shows how much power is going in/out of the battery.