Range drop by a few miles - normal?

[Cricketer007]

Hi All. So I am an extra careful charger. Mostly slow charges and try to balance frequently. Never had any BMS issues or anything like that. Car always charges to 163 miles on normal and voltage is always 449/450v.

After charging last night, I notified the range when I reset the accumulator has gone down to 161 miles in normal. Voltage is still 449v.

Is this due to just the cold weather or something expected due to battery life? The car has done about 5000 miles since new.

Thanks

 

[Mr H]

Hi All. So I am an extra careful charger. Mostly slow charges and try to balance frequently. Never had any BMS issues or anything like that. Car always charges to 163 miles on normal and voltage is always 449/450v.

After charging last night, I notified the range when I reset the accumulator has gone down to 161 miles in normal. Voltage is still 449v.

Is this due to just the cold weather or something expected due to battery life? The car has done about 5000 miles since new.

Thanks

Over the last year I've been driving mine as I would an ICE. Air con on all the time in normal mode. In winter I get 133 miles and in summer it goes up to 144 miles.

 

[Whiskery]

Over the last year I've been driving mine as I would an ICE. Air con on all the time in normal mode. In winter I get 133 miles and in summer it goes up to 144 miles.

Excellent, that's what I will be doing too.

 

[JodyS21]

Hi All. So I am an extra careful charger. Mostly slow charges and try to balance frequently. Never had any BMS issues or anything like that. Car always charges to 163 miles on normal and voltage is always 449/450v.

After charging last night, I notified the range when I reset the accumulator has gone down to 161 miles in normal. Voltage is still 449v.

Is this due to just the cold weather or something expected due to battery life? The car has done about 5000 miles since new.

Thanks

That does normally indicate that the SOH has gone down slightly, but it's happened very soon at 5000 miles, so unlikely.
The temperature doesn't usually make any difference to the calculation - as long as you've definitely fully AC charged it and reset the trips, which is sounds like you are doing.

If it is your SOH gone <100%, you will get that range every time now. Don't worry about it too much, just see what happens over the next few full charges that you do in case it was a "blip".

 

[Lovemyev]

Never had any BMS issues or anything like that. Car always charges to 163 miles on normal and voltage is always 449/450v.

You don't give the age of your car or say if your car was upgraded from the original factory BMS to the latest Jan 15th 2021 update.
It has covered only 5,000 miles, so assume it if a recent purchase or a low usage car.
If you returned 163 miles after a full charge and balance from day one, then your car was already supplied with the NEW update already applied.
Well done that dealer !.
You appear to be carrying out a full charge and balance cycle correctly and resetting your trips to get a more accurate GOM reading.
I can feel that you have already checked that you do not have ANYTHING running in the back ground, at the time you are checking your readings of course ?.
I think what you are reporting is fairly conducive to what other owners are witnessing.
@JodyS21 has huge majority of the information compiled regarding battery behaviour etc.
Lower ambient temperature DO effect a number of things, like range and the power of Regen and the speed of the charge entering the pack etc.
But I don't think it should reduce how much capacity you can get into the HV battery ?.
Other factors at play I think.
My guess would be here, that the return figures you are seeing now, will become the new norm in most cases.
My car had the update on almost the same day as the update was released, 15th Jan 2021 !.
When returned, the car reported 449 - 450 volts and 162 - 163 miles of predicted range after a full charge and balance.
After about six months (ish) it now returns about 148 - 149 volts on the pack, with a predicted GOM mileage of 155 miles.
Other owners who have covered similar mileages ( 16,000 miles over nearly two years ) are now seeing similar results.
That reminds me, I do need to carry out another full charge and balance, to see if there has been any shift in these figures.
I just don't like charging to 100% if I don't have a big enough trip planned, in order to use the high capacity stored in the battery.
I not a big fan of charging to 100% and then leaving the battery sitting bursting at the seams with no place to go !.

 

[Cricketer007]

Many thanks for this detailed response. I bought the car brand new in Feb 21 so coming upto 10 months old now. I charged again overnight having driven the car down to 15% of battery and it’s showing a GOM in normal against KERS 3 of 162 miles with trip reset. If it’s just a 1 mile drop after 5000 miles, then that’s something I am pleased about.

One of the best cars I have driven. Just need to sort the relay switch clicking in the glove box every time I use the wipers or the rear window de-foggier !!!

 

[Mg5van]

My transit tipper rattle's like hell it's hard to have a conversation with the person next to you. But every time I use the wiper I hear the relay behind the glovebox and it drives me mad.

 

[Tim Falkiner]

You don't give the age of your car or say if your car was upgraded from the original factory BMS to the latest Jan 15th 2021 update.
It has covered only 5,000 miles, so assume it if a recent purchase or a low usage car.
If you returned 163 miles after a full charge and balance from day one, then your car was already supplied with the NEW update already applied.
Well done that dealer !.
You appear to be carrying out a full charge and balance cycle correctly and resetting your trips to get a more accurate GOM reading.
I can feel that you have already checked that you do not have ANYTHING running in the back ground, at the time you are checking your readings of course ?.
I think what you are reporting is fairly conducive to what other owners are witnessing.
@JodyS21 has huge majority of the information compiled regarding battery behaviour etc.
Lower ambient temperature DO effect a number of things, like range and the power of Regen and the speed of the charge entering the pack etc.
But I don't think it should reduce how much capacity you can get into the HV battery ?.
Other factors at play I think.
My guess would be here, that the return figures you are seeing now, will become the new norm in most cases.
My car had the update on almost the same day as the update was released, 15th Jan 2021 !.
When returned, the car reported 449 - 450 volts and 162 - 163 miles of predicted range after a full charge and balance.
After about six months (ish) it now returns about 148 - 149 volts on the pack, with a predicted GOM mileage of 155 miles.
Other owners who have covered similar mileages ( 16,000 miles over nearly two years ) are now seeing similar results.
That reminds me, I do need to carry out another full charge and balance, to see if there has been any shift in these figures.
I just don't like charging to 100% if I don't have a big enough trip planned, in order to use the high capacity stored in the battery.
I not a big fan of charging to 100% and then leaving the battery sitting bursting at the seams with no place to go !.

The big thing is not to charge the car to full each night like some of the early Leaf owners did. I only charge when I need to (ideally between 80 km and 190 km) which is about once a week and it will be about twenty years before my battery drops 20%.

 

[Lovemyev]

The big thing is not to charge the car to full each night like some of the early Leaf owners did. I only charge when I need to (ideally between 80 km and 190 km) which is about once a week and it will be about twenty years before my battery drops 20%.

Same here, I have always charged to about 80% unless I have a big journey to make, then I charge to 100% of course.
The car has only received a “Splash & Dash” three times over two years.
I have tried to be kind to my battery, but I can see some degradation.
Other owners have seen similar figures as more mileage / charges are performed.

 

[Dr Dave]

It's a car, and the purpose of my MG is to transport me when required. I always charge to 100% the car battery already has a buffer built in (make sure you have the latest BMS to fully benefit). Pointless charging to 80% reducing the potential range. In EV's range is 'King' usually the more range the more you pay for the car, I don't restrict my range and always charge to 100%.