Battery Question

bluenose1940 · April 7, 2015

Can anyone tell me please, using my car as a retired person rather than someone commuting to work on a daily basis, i.e. popping out for a 20 mile round trip, coming back and parking up, then a 4 mile round trip into town and then parking up again for possibly a couple of days before using it again, somtimes even leaving it for 4 days before staring it up again.................................

if I was to put a multimeter across my Battery, what reading should I expect to see at various times if the Battery is in a 'healthy state'? I know (at least I think I know) that it won't read a straight 12 volts.

Thank you.

Martin F · April 7, 2015

I would say somewhere between 12.5v and 13.5v, although I wouldn't have any concerns unless it was regularly reading below 12v

Hope that helps.

Steve44 · April 7, 2015

I'm guessing you are talking about the small 12v Battery in the boot which only powers the basic start up system of the car. It is charged/recharged from the main Hybrid Battery which does everything else and you don't have access too. I wouldn't worry.

bluenose1940 · April 8, 2015

Thanks chaps, very helpful. When you are looking at the 'Energy' screen, am I correct in thinking that the Battery icon you can see, is that of the Hybrid System. Mine seems to get quite low at times and I have only ever seen it 'full' i.e all bars filled in, on one occasion.

Steve44 · April 8, 2015

Yep, energy screen shows the hybrid Battery. The car systems manage all the charge and discharge of it via the engine and regeneration braking. I've only seen it completely full, all bars, on a couple of occasions. The car manages the cycles of the cells to optimise the Battery condition, so seeing it only 3/4 full or less is fine. If it needs charging, it will just run the engine.

DJP · April 8, 2015

As Steve has said, the clever systems in the car manage the hybrid Battery, and other than drive in a way to maximise use of the electric motors, and braking gently to maximise the regeneration there's nothing else to do.

I think the system is designed to stop charging at around 80% and it won't go below 20%. It can become a bit obsessive trying to keep the EV light on!