Traction battery discharged

Any updates to this thread from Chuck?

Ive noticed recently that sometimes my charge is down to one or two purple bars upon start up even though I know for sure it was reading in the mid blues a few hours earlier on shut off.

Someone mentioned hot weather as a factor....I live in Miami and the temperature is consistently in the 90s and the AC always on low when driving.

 

[feelings of deja vu] Is that immediately after making ready or is that after driving a short distance archie70?

 

the SOC is low (purple range) as soon as I push the start button after car has been off anywhere from 1+ hours

 

That doesn't sound too good then. I know that each morning mine is always on exactly the same level SOC that I put it away in a garage with the previous day.

Just wondering, what happens to it if you don't drive it for a day or two? You'd think that if it drained a few bars in one hour then it would be stone cold dead after a day or two.

 

No. The car starts up without a problem even after 2 days without use. As previously stated by someone earlier on in this post and myself somewhere above, I think the "issue" has to do with the heat in some way. When my car is parked in my home garage I don't seem to experience the low SOC.

 

Question: (please answer in simple terms) What powers what? My plugin has 3 sources of power, the ICE, 12v and HV batteries. If the HV is fully charged, what powers the (a) headlight, (b) radio, (c) air conditioner, (d) heater, etc.? I know that the ICE turns on in EV mode when the windshield defroster or cabin heater is activated. The threads here suggest the HV powers the AC. I understand that the HV charges the 12v and the 12v is used to start the ICE. What else does the 12v do?

 

Nearly everything in the car that isn't the powertrain runs on 12 volts.

The heat pump compressor is a notable exception; it also runs on high voltage, like the powertrain, because the amount of power it needs would require really fat wires at 12 volts.

Everything that needs 12 volts runs from the 12 volt battery any time the car does not say READY.

When it says READY, the 12 volt system is being powered from the high voltage system, and the 12 volt battery can get recharged.

When you are plugged in, I believe both batteries can get charged.

When READY, the engine also can run to charge the traction battery (and thereby also the 12 volt battery).

 

When and where does something say READY?

 

Near the speedometer display, when you have held the brake and pushed the power button, and the car is ready to move.

 

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So when in drive or park mode, the 12v is draining voltage from the HV (because the HV is charging the 12v) ultimately reducing how far you can go in EV mode. Do I understand this correctly?

 

Well, yes, you could put it that way, but when thinking about "how far you can go" you're not just thinking of going somewhere, but of going there in a nice car. And all the things operating on the 12 volt system are parts of the car, and the power it takes to run them is part of that deal. Gotta come from somewhere, and that's ultimately either the gas tank or (if you have a plugin) the plug.