New Owner - Ben got an iMiEV - Again!

[Phximiev]

I really would like to see what you do with your garage and the PV stuff. Perhaps a different thread tho.

The concrete link that I provided was thought provoking - self-healing concrete and asphalt, great ideas actually, think of it every time I hit a pothole.

 

[JoeS]

I moved the last three posts into this (Ben's) thread from the heater thread.

Ben, urge you on to get solar soon, as having EVs sure helps reduce the amortization timeframe. Although California no longer offers subsidies (at least in my area), the Feds still do and many states have great incentive programs.

 

[PV1]

Funny and sad moments at the same time, only Ben can appreciate the depths of despair...

Flooded Tesla Repair: How to

This is a good read. I'm on page 64.

It's surprising how vulnerable some of the components are, but the body is designed pretty well.

 

[bennelson]

The other day, I used the car for a trip. When I got back home, I didn't recharge it, as I was working on repairing a shot Chevy Volt charger that was given me. I was planning to fix the Volt Level 1 EVSE, and then test it by recharging the car.

In the early evening, I got a call from a friend, who had sort of a last minute emergency/"help a brother out". I needed to deliver some equipment to him to help him out.

I had to drive to meet him. Not a terribly far distance, but there and back on less than half a battery pack WHILE running the heat would most likely have been a problem!

I headed out and fired up the "parking heater". It kept me warm just fine. I also ended up having to wait for a little while in a cold parking lot to meet my friend. While I waited, I just kept the heat running. If I had done that on electric, I would have simply been running down the battery pack for an unknown amount of time while I waited.

On the drive back home, I kept the parking heater running until a couple miles from my house.

Using the parking heater (and burning a small amount of E85 fuel) I was able to use the iMiEV instead of:
A) Being really cold and possibly having safety/visibility issues from fogging of windshield
B) Actually getting real range anxiety
C) Taking a gasoline car

Had I done level 2 charging right away after my trip earlier in the day, it would have also not been an issue, as I would have had plenty of battery power for both the range of the trip and electric heat.

Having the parking heater allowed the car to be more flexible it its use than it otherwise would have been. Also, I've really only used the parking heater about 3 times so far this winter. I'm coming to realize that it's one of those things that's NICE to have even when you DON'T use it.

My wife feels this way about central air conditioning in our house. (She doesn't handle summer heat well, and gets heat-sick easy.) The fact that we HAVE air conditioning allows her to feel less stressed-out about it. We use the AC when it gets really hot. It's good for her to know she CAN use it, if she wants/needs to use it.

Likewise, it's nice to have the parking heater available. I don't use it often, but just having it makes the car more useful.

 

[PV1]

See, lack of planning and you had to half-gas it :lol: . Well, not quite half-gas since you run E85 .

Just kidding. I usually don't charge over the weekend unless I plan on using the car, so I'd likely have been in a similar situation, except I'd have to brave the cold. My problem isn't fogging windows (most of the time), but rather cold hands. I leave my vents set to put all air to the windshield with the fan off. While moving, there is enough air coming through to keep the windshield clear. If that isn't enough, I turn the fan on one click without heat or AC. Works like a charm.

 

[jray3]

I want a parking heater, to be sure, but IMHO many of us have over-thought our charging regimens, including Yours Truly. Now that we're several years in, what evidence is there that cars which sit at high SOC are experiencing appreciably greater capacity loss or performance loss?
I used to try to delay recharging when practical, but wound up forgetting to plug in at all or coming up short and having to "full gas" the next trip. (The remote timer does not work with our SPX/Bosch Power XPress EVSE)

Now our rule is: when you get home- plug it in! The only times that I delay charging are at work when I'm sure of the evening's agenda, don't want to ICE a station for extra hours, or wanna save a coupla bucks on public EVSE fees.

When leaving town for more than a day or two, we leave MR BEAN at 40-50% SOC if I can't EV-angelize by having a friend use the car during our absence in return for airport delivery and pickup! That scheme has resulted in at least two EV purchases by fence-sitters.

 

[bennelson]

As a rule of thumb, I just plug-in when I'm done driving the car. It's simple. No messing around with timers, what may or may not happen, etc. I use the car every day, so I may as well have it charged.

The other day, that was UNUSUAL that it wasn't charged, and that was very specifically for testing the charger I was working on.

For using the remote, I have found that my GE Watt Station (Level 2 EVSE) disconnects the main contractor (in the EVSE) when the car is done charging. If I want to pre-heat the car in the morning (because it is still cold and winter here right now) I can ping it with the remote. On the remote, it will say that it's NOT plugged in, but just sending the signal makes the EVSE wake up. So, basically, I just tell it to remote heat TWICE and everything is fine.

I really haven't tried the charge delay timer feature with the Watt Station. It seems problematic. All I do is just plug the car in.

The one time that I was concerned with "Time of Day" or "Off-Peak Charging", I just wrote a note to myself and made sure to plug the car in before I went to bed.

 

[JoeS]

...Now that we're several years in, what evidence is there that cars which sit at high SOC are experiencing appreciably greater capacity loss or performance loss?...

Anecdotally, I'm convinced that my used i-MiEV's cell failure was the result of the previous owner plugging in the car during the day and leaving it fully charged in the hot Bakersfield summer sun. There was also an Arizona i-MiEV that had a battery failure after the owner left it plugged in for a few weeks with the car sitting outside in the summer heat. jray3, in your mild Washington climate, I doubt that it's a problem.

Best inkling we have is that Dalhousie University Jeff Dahn presentation, summarized here: http://powercartel.com/2014/11/notes-from-why-do-li-ion-batteries-die-lecture/

My own charging regimen is changing again due to my new very convoluted Time Of Use rate structure...

 

[PV1]

I plug the car in when I get home, but it doesn't charge since I have a switch on my EVSE. Before I go to bed or earlier if the pack is low, I go out to the garage and flip the switch to start charging. Yes I could use the remote, but so far I haven't forgotten to charge.

If nothing else, I can charge at work or use the local quick charger.

To chip in, Bear's cell failure was a week after a long trip of quick charging, high temperatures, and highway hill climbing.

 

[Viperboy423]

My question in regards to charging is that if you are charging indoors (as in a garage) so that the vehicle is not in direct sunlight, why does it matter if the charger is left plugged in when the SOC is full? My experience with my i-miev is that when the vehicle is done charging, the charging light goes out and it isn't charging anymore. So wouldn't it only be bad if the vehicle kept charging?

 

[wmcbrine]

My question in regards to charging is that if you are charging indoors (as in a garage) so that the vehicle is not in direct sunlight, why does it matter if the charger is left plugged in when the SOC is full? My experience with my i-miev is that when the vehicle is done charging, the charging light goes out and it isn't charging anymore. So wouldn't it only be bad if the vehicle kept charging?

I don't think it's bad overnight, but I wouldn't leave it plugged in for a few weeks at a time, if for no other reason than that there could be a lightning strike or something.

I've found that my i-MiEV does some kind of "microcharging" if I leave it plugged in for long enough after a full charge. That is, it does a very brief charge, just enough to reset the "last charge" stats on my OpenEVSE, but the new charge shows up as all zeroes. I assume it will continue doing this periodically as long as it's plugged in.

 

[bennelson]

There's nothing wrong with leaving the car plugged in. Once it's charged, the charger turns off, and it's not using power from the wall.

In the winter, I want to make sure it's left in after charging so that I can use the Pre-Heat feature from the remote.

Now if you are talking about something like plugging the car in and leaving it plugged in for months at a time, for example, that's a slightly different thing. In that case, there are a few things you might want to do different, but I'm not the right guy to answer that question.

 

[PV1]

Lithium ion degrades faster at high state of charge. Plus, cars that have the MiEV remote will activate the EVSE and High Voltage system every 6 hours while plugged in. Both of these add up to decreased calendar life for the battery.

Laptops keep the battery fully charged when plugged in, which is why they only last a couple of years. Of course, laptops overcharge their battery, so that doesn't help, either.

In short, leaving the car plugged in after it is full for a day (maybe two) isn't necessarily bad, but I wouldn't do it for much longer than that. Proper storage is leaving the battery around 5 bars and the car unplugged. One member had to have the battery replaced after leaving the car plugged in for a week.

 

[JoeS]

...One member had to have the battery replaced after leaving the car plugged in for a week.

Actually, it was plugged-in while sitting outside for two weeks in the burning-hot (like 117degF ambient) summer Arizona sun. Ref: http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=2301

Also anecdotally, my used i-MiEV needed a pack replacement when a cell failed, and that car had also been repeatedly fully charged and left standing daily while sitting in the hot Bakersfield CA summer climate.

By now it's pretty well established that leaving a vehicle standing with a full charge + high temperatures is unhealthy for Lithium, but not much of a problem if you fully charge it and then drive it right away. Even Tesla, with their liquid temperature-controlled battery environment, suggests only charging above 80% when needed for a long trip {"Range Charge"). Mitsubishi attempted to address this by leaving a margin at the top whereby 'fully charged' is still a bit below cell maximum voltage.

 

[Viperboy423]

Ok, just wanted to make sure that leaving it on for that amount of time would be ok because I like to use the heat or cool feature for the remote too. We only use about a half charge a day, but we use it 5-6 days a week. Hoping to rack up some miles on this thing, its pretty cool.

 

[bennelson]

I just got new tires on the car. Dunlop Enasaves. The same as what was already on the car.

I did notice that they are marked as 51 PSI max sidewall. I'm almost positive that the same tires just taken OFF the car were only rated for 44 PSI. I know that's what I was running those tires at.

I've also noticed that the ride is smoother. I did see that the old front left tire had a little bit of a bulge in it. I think that was creating a wub-wub-wub vibration. Glad to have some good treads on the car now.

Total cost was $588 installed, balanced, and old tires disposed of. I looked around for the best deals in mail order, the membership stores, etc. In the end, I just went to my local full-service tire store and asked for a quote and had them order in the tires.

 

[BillThompsonMIEV]

I just got new tires on the car. Dunlop Enasaves. The same as what was already on the car.

I did notice that they are marked as 51 PSI max sidewall. I'm almost positive that the same tires just taken OFF the car were only rated for 44 PSI. I know that's what I was running those tires at.

New OEM tires on my 2012 model had 51PSI on sidewall. I ran them at 44PSI.

 

[JoeS]

Ben, I also noticed that the Enasaves run quieter than the Yokos that I gladly got rid of. 51psi has been the max sidewall for the Enasaves, but ever since I had the problems with the Yokohamas at 60psi I've been running 44psi. The price of those tires does make one think twice about throwing the car full-tilt into curves or freeway on/off ramps, even though it is sooo satisfying to run away from those tailgaters.

 

[bennelson]

I just got back for the evening for the first time taking the car on the freeway since getting the new tires.

The ride is noticeably smoother!

The car really needed new tires from the time I got it, which has been almost 6 months now. Glad to have some good tread. Good ride and I'll be much more ready for this coming winter!

 

[tigger19687]

Ouch on the price. I will go get the Continentals at Walmat for $78 each and have my local guy install them.
The side edges seem to just melt on these cars, almost on all types of tires. So I figure if I go through them every year due to just the way the car is (YES, I corner this car kinda bad and I drive it like I stole it.. because it is FUN ! ).
I read through all the tire posts and just decided to go this way. I almost didn't pass inspection this year because of that, so I will buy and hold them until these are completely gone