Imiev battery type

[alviseven]

New here but have been following what goes on for a while. Have a lovely 89K uk spec car which now has a somewhat poorly battery but is limping on and struggling to charge some days - guess it has a few cells which are down and the BMS for that block are having a fit. However it does nearly fully charge sometimes and gets about 46 mile range. To counter this have recently bought another low mileage Imiev which is a 2010 registered car not a 2011 and amazed at the differences between the two. Really hoping that someone can confirm that the main traction batteries are the same and never changed over the production period so that if I open up both packs I can pick and choose the good cells and make on better decent unit for a bit longer? The new car has only covered about 38K km not miles (why yet not a import but seems to be more import spec). The charger is also direct to 13amp plug not via a charger box allowing both 16amp and 13amp charging?
If anyone has had the battery pack open and can confirm that batteries are the same thats one headache
If anyone knows how to number 1 to 88 in the pack where can I find this information. My basic blue tooth reader will tell me condition of each cell but how do I know which cell is which once the pack is open?
Thanks in advance.

 

[kiev]

Here's a diagram that might help,

 

[MickeyS70]

Hello and welcome
From experience swapping individual cells is a bit of a mixed bag, can be successful if it’s just one obviously bad one, but I gather in your case there are multiples. Looking at cell voltage without load is not an indicator that it’s healthy.

In the long run it’s probably best to replace the complete pack as once you start swapping a few here and there more will show up bad later on.

Your 2010 model will most likely have red CMUs and they are probably green on the newer one, these seem not to be compatible but the cells themselves are.

If the boards are different colours you need to swap all 88cells individually (or just exchange the CMUs) but if they are matching you can do them in blocks of 8/4s. Each CMUs has their own ID, make sure you don’t mix them up as @kiev diagrams can’t be used as a reference later on

It’s also important that all cell voltages are within 10mV before you put them in.

Beware it’s called a HV battery for a reason, use insulated tools to disconnect the links between the blocks.

Mickey

 

[alviseven]

That's a great starter thanks. Some really great advice there thank you and the diagram is superb.

 

[frank1]

That's a great starter thanks. Some really great advice there thank you and the diagram is superb.

my 2011 struggles to charge too, if i let it go below 1/3rd tank, i have to plug it in and out up to 5 times, pretty much behaves ok if i keep it over half full tho,
and thats with the charger box set to 6amp 10a or 13a
i,m in your neck of the woods B43

 

[MickeyS70]

my 2011 struggles to charge too, if i let it go below 1/3rd tank, i have to plug it in and out up to 5 times, pretty much behaves ok if i keep it over half full tho,
and thats with the charger box set to 6amp 10a or 13a
i,m in your neck of the woods B43

Strange, if you haven’t done this already use a different charger box (granny charger?)

Once you’re confident the problem is within the car, check and test your 12V aux, consider replacing it if it’s older than 3years and charge the new one overnight before you connect it to the car.

Are there any warning lights on the dash while attempting to charge? If there are then you might invest in an OBD dongle to read out the fault codes and post them here..

 

[alviseven]

I get the same issue with the charging especially when the battery is low - takes several attempts to get the thing to charge but once towards half way then the car usually continues to its full which is about three quarters in total.

 

[MickeyS70]

I get the same issue with the charging especially when the battery is low - takes several attempts to get the thing to charge but once towards half way then the car usually continues to its full which is about three quarters in total.

IIRC, there was a similar case, turned out that one cell dropped briefly below 3V during charge process when on a low SoC, didn’t do that once the pack was above a certain level..

 

[frank1]

I get the same issue with the charging especially when the battery is low - takes several attempts to get the thing to charge but once towards half way then the car usually continues to its full which is about three quarters in total.

i think mine has improved since regular top-ups at the 6A setting, the previous owner had done a few rapid dc charges apparently, the range meter has raised to 60miles recently too, even tho i,m still driving it hard, but that might be weather related tho

 

[tomwoodruff]

Same story here - anywhere below 15% on my 2012 and I need to reconnect, sometimes more than once. At a public charger, forget about it. Living with it though, getting up to 50 mile range, though inconsistent, with around 70k miles. I'll check/replace the 12v battery.

 

[Pastorjoe]

I am having same issues mine 2012 and it just won’t charge at all. I have tow chargers and neither one will charge it. I charged new 12v up front. Still not charging the charging lights flash on dash then goes out after 5-10 seconds. Baffled here.

 

[Gary12345]

You can order individual cells from the Cleevely EV parts desk, they have a part pack. They are based in Cheltenham...