Battery life and 93 miles to go??

[clovi]

Bought my "I" 12/27 and I already have 4100 miles on it.
I own my "I". Could not lease related to the miles I drive.
I live on Northern VA , and I work on 3 different locations, so I always need to charge. (I drive 85 to 100 miles a day)
So , I charge average 2 times a day (sometimes 3), L2 home , L1 or L2 at work.
Saw some topics about the fuel gauge and battery life came as topic.
Seems that Mitsu had put some more life savings on the battery pack , what Nissan didn't. Am I right??
Actually , this was one of the reasons that I bought the "I" instead the Leaf. Makes sense?
Low SOC and the max. SOC (full charge) seems to be very safe.
The manual says " charging may stop before full charge. This is a control for a efficient charge and not a malfunction."
So , can I full charge every day?
Another part of the manual says "full charge by regular charger every 2 weeks". This means L1 and L2 or only L1??
This means at least in 2 weeks or maximum FULL CHARGE ONLY every 2 weeks?
So , does this means that is better use the L1 charger to avoid full charge?
I'm concern now , because as I told I own the "I" and want to stay with it for long time (has been a awesome little car and almost free on gas)
Does somebody can answer ?
On L1 charging another day with better weather, I got 93 miles to go on the odometer. Did somebody got more? Which is the maximum that anyone saw?


Thanks,

 

[BillThompsonMIEV]

93 RR is very good to excellent. Highest number RR reported was by TaosEV at 103 RR.

 

[jray3]

Bought my "I" 12/27 and I already have 4100 miles on it.
Congrats- that's racking up mileage at an impressive rate.
Seems that Mitsu had put some more life savings on the battery pack , what Nissan didn't. Am I right?? YES
Actually , this was one of the reasons that I bought the "I" instead the Leaf. Makes sense? YES

So , can I full charge every day? YES, and at your heavy mileage, I'd say absolutely!
Another part of the manual says "full charge by regular charger every 2 weeks". This means L1 and L2 or only L1??
Either way is fine. L2 is still a fairly slow charge.

This means at least in 2 weeks or maximum FULL CHARGE ONLY every 2 weeks?
You can full charge every day.
So , does this means that is better use the L1 charger to avoid full charge?
With your mileage, I'd think the risks from over-discharge outweigh the risk from full charging.Does somebody can answer ?
On L1 charging another day with better weather, I got 93 miles to go on the odometer. Did somebody got more? Which is the maximum that anyone saw? You must be a real hypermiler in addition to a distance commuter. That is excellent. I rarely see over 81 RR.

Thanks,

 

[MLucas]

Outstanding! You are proving that EVs work! I fully charge every day for my 60 mile round trip commute that is mostly highway. After 9 months my mileage on the power meter is still very consistent. Another high mileage member says it best, 'just keep it swinging '.

 

[iDriver]

I'm about to turn 19k miles on my i. Had it since January of 2012.

I charge often and have seen ZERO degradation in range. It's a great car, built to run for a long time. Mitsubishi was smart about the design, yes we have less single charge range than the competition, but our underlying engineering is better than most. I expect this car will be completely useful for a very long time.

 

[iDriver]

One more thing: Our battery cells have a max voltage of 4.25, Mitsubishi limits them, allowing each of the 88 cells to only charge to 3.95. They outsmarted us. It's actually impossible to overcharge your pack. You can safely charge as much and as often as you like.

This car has been in the "real world" since 2009. Mitsubishi learned plenty.

 

[Don]

. . . . So , can I full charge every day?
Another part of the manual says "full charge by regular charger every 2 weeks". This means L1 and L2 or only L1??
This means at least in 2 weeks or maximum FULL CHARGE ONLY every 2 weeks?
So , does this means that is better use the L1 charger to avoid full charge?

Yes, you can fully charge it every day . . . . twice or three times every day if you like

From the battery's perspective, there's very little difference whether you use L1 or L2 - Neither is a very high rate of recharge. Even at maximum, the onboard charger doesn't recharge them fast enough to do them any harm

Li-Ions prefer to operate in a range of about 30% to 80% state of charge (SOC) so some folks intentionally do not fully charge (or fully discharge) them - They may get a slightly longer life using this technique. What Mitsu is telling you is to make sure you fully recharge *at least* once every two weeks, as this is necessary to keep the 88 cells in balance - The last 30 minutes or so of a full recharge is where the Battery Management Unit (BMU) does it's work, ensuring that all cells are charged equally. They would also like you to discharge to at least 2 bars remaining once every couple months

It sounds like you're going to be putting 30K or more per year on your car - We'll all be watching your progress and experience with the car. It will be very interesting to see how it does when it gets 100K or so on it! :mrgreen:

Don

 

[clovi]

Thanks all.
After see some comments about battery life , I got a bit scare.
Now I know that I took the right decision buying my "I".
With the mileage I do, I can really pay car with my "old" gas money.
Hope people see this and do the search that I did and move to the "I".
I'm seeing me on the near future traveling to the beach with a lot of fast charges on the way.
Tks one more time,

Clovi

 

[BillSF]

WOW! I'm glad to see that some are really putting these great little cars to the test. I'm with the others who would like you to please keep us posted on how this high usage affects the car, especially battery capacity. The greatest RR indication I've ever had is 83mi., but that was after a lot of downhill driving just before plugging in. Where I live, it's up and down hills, start and stop, or freeway driving; and little or no opportunity for long level straightaways at less-than-freeeway speeds. By the way, in my owners manual, there's a clause that says in effect not to keep topping it off all the time. I contacted Mitzubishi and they recommended running the battery down at least two bars from the top before plugging in.
Bill

 

[Applewins]

Interesting replies. How does one get that high of charge on the battery? My typical morning charge starts at 62 miles and immediately drops to 46 with the heat. (Yes, I do pre-heat, can't wait for warmer weather) I've had a couple of times where it read 72 miles, but that was it. Currently driving about a 1000 miles a month.

 

[Don]

The RR numbers you're seeing reported by other drivers has nothing to do with the amount of charge on the battery pack . . . . nothing at all. If you recharge fully (until the light on the EVSE goes out) then your battery is just as fully charged as any other - We all start out with 16Kwh max . . . . how we use it determines how far we can go

What a high number on the RR meter after a full recharge is telling you is how efficient you are as a driver . . . . or what conditions you drove the past 15 or 20 miles under. If you ran down the freeway at 65 or 70 MPH and went directly to your garage and recharged, your RR meter might show 40 or 45 - This tells you that if you do the same thing today (run it 65 or 70 down the freeway) you can go about that far

If, on the other hand, you drove your last 15 or 20 miles around town at 25 or 30 mph and then recharged, your RR meter might show 100 miles, or maybe even a little more. Again, this is telling you that if you do the same thing today (drive all day at 25 or 30 mph) then you might be able to go 100 miles

If you drive your EV like most people drive regular cars (lots of hard acceleration, jackrabbit starts and higher speeds) then your RR numbers after a recharge are never going to be very large. So . . . . the RR meter is telling you what kind of driver you are - You can make those numbers go up a great deal, if you concentrate on using the minimal amount of energy as you drive

Don

 

[aarond12]

Interesting replies. How does one get that high of charge on the battery?

The computer approximates your range based on your history of driving. If you are gentle on the accelerator, it learns this and gives you an approximated range a little farther than someone with a lead foot.

The heater takes a HUGE toll on the battery power, so much that it can affect total vehicle acceleration capabilities. (Hence the 20 second 0-60 numbers some reviewers posted with the i-MiEV. They likely had the heater on full.)

I live in a warmer part of the country, so I can get away without using anything but my preheater. (Yay, global warming! Oh wait... :lol: ) Because of this, I think my RR gauge is somewhere around the 75 mile mark. I also drive exclusively in the "B" mode which can help extend range.

That being said, I leave my display on the outside temperature. My drive is around 20 miles round trip each day. Range anxiety is a non-issue with me.

 

[Applewins]

The RR numbers you're seeing reported by other drivers has nothing to do with the amount of charge on the battery pack . . . . nothing at all. If you recharge fully (until the light on the EVSE goes out) then your battery is just as fully charged as any other - We all start out with 16Kwh max . . . . how we use it determines how far we can go

What a high number on the RR meter after a full recharge is telling you is how efficient you are as a driver . . . . or what conditions you drove the past 15 or 20 miles under. If you ran down the freeway at 65 or 70 MPH and went directly to your garage and recharged, your RR meter might show 40 or 45 - This tells you that if you do the same thing today (run it 65 or 70 down the freeway) you can go about that far

If, on the other hand, you drove your last 15 or 20 miles around town at 25 or 30 mph and then recharged, your RR meter might show 100 miles, or maybe even a little more. Again, this is telling you that if you do the same thing today (drive all day at 25 or 30 mph) then you might be able to go 100 miles

If you drive your EV like most people drive regular cars (lots of hard acceleration, jackrabbit starts and higher speeds) then your RR numbers after a recharge are never going to be very large. So . . . . the RR meter is telling you what kind of driver you are - You can make those numbers go up a great deal, if you concentrate on using the minimal amount of energy as you drive

Don

Thanks for the explanations. But after I read them I was feeling bad because I thought I was driving efficiently. We've had some cold temps here so I do run the heater on high often, so that would explain my starting mileage. Today was the first day in months that I didn't have to use the heater. Drove 24 actual miles and only clicked off 11 miles on the guess-o-meter.

 

[gatedad11]

I think I may have posted this elsewhere, but recently I had the RR showing 93 miles. This was a day after turtling the car, and then allowing it to fully recharge. I wonder if that had something to do with it? In truth, I try not to pay too much attention to that, instead focusing on bars used vs remaining. My commute back and forth to work is exactly 35 miles total, and I almost always use 8 bars for the trip. Regardless of how many miles the RR says(and it is typically in the low to mid 70's in the morning when I leave for work), if I am getting my 35 miles on half a battery full, I am happy...

Lou

 

[Barbagris]

My typical RR in the morning says 85... kms, about 53 mi.

My daily conmute climbs about 1.000 mts (near 3.300 ft). And Euro style is hard for this little car... climb at 105 km/h (max 120 km/h, týpical 130); in mph, 65 climbing, when legal is 75 and typical, 80 mph), very hard for the battery.

 

[fjpod]

Since winter started I get RRs of mid 70s. I do use some heat and defrost about 10% of the time. In the summer I was getting mid 90s often. I am curious to see if my RRs come back up this spring.

 

[Don]

My typical RR in the morning says 85... kms, about 53 mi.

My daily conmute climbs about 1.000 mts (near 3.300 ft).

You must be more downhill during your trip to work and then more of a climb on the way home?? If it was the other way around, you would be getting terrific RR numbers after a recharge

Don

 

[peterdambier]

Got the "Screaming Willies" again today.

Cold and windy we did preheating with our external 2 kW heater. Visited Karins visagiste and took too much time. Car was lousy cold again. Took the highway, tried to drive like a real car (130 kilomters per hour) and charged a bit at a super market. 16 kilometers took some 5 kilowatt hours at full heat.

Daring we took the highway again, grabbed a lorry at its tail and were driving some 90 kilometers per hour. Driving some total 82 kilometers felt like nothing.

After another charging a little at another super market we visited our children. The landlord was busy turning their house upside down and there was no way charging. On our way back home the city of Darmstadt took half of our charge for stop and go and heating gaining us almost no kilometers at all. Because of jammed traffic there was no way but the highway again and the wind was not our friend either. Should we exit and take a charger at a cold and windy railway parking?

We continued on the highway and the gauge continued dropping bars. Should we take the next exit at the first supermarket again - cold and windy and we were almost home. We continued on the highway. We should be able to reach my mothers home if need be.

We dared climbing up the hill finally. There is a restaurant half the way up with a three phase 400V/16A socket and the adapter to make it 230V/16A or level 2 is in our trunk.

We came rolling home down the other side and still 4 bars left or 24 kilometers. I dont know why we got "the Screaming Willies" in the first place. We did not even meet the turtle. It probably was too cold for her or she is still on winter holiday.

I have seen from 5 to 15 kilometers per bar on the RR and I have begun to prefer kilometers driven and the gauge combined with my feeling in the backside that combines weather and traffic and landscape. Not long ago on a nice spring day in winter I did see RR climbing again - oh, I still keep looking. :lol:

 

[Barbagris]

My typical RR in the morning says 85... kms, about 53 mi.

My daily conmute climbs about 1.000 mts (near 3.300 ft).

You must be more downhill during your trip to work and then more of a climb on the way home?? If it was the other way around, you would be getting terrific RR numbers after a recharge

Don

Well, about 40% rise to work, 60% to home. I have a couple of hills in middle.

 

[kps70]

The highest RR I have had is 96. Most common figure is about 76. Miles not km.