[kcfoxie]

Every year I do a test to see how the battery a capacity is holding up. I drive roughly the same route, keeping speeds under 55mph (50mph usually being the top speed) for 90% of the charge and the last 10% is done in a neighborhood at 15-25mph speeds. The last time I ran this test was around 41k miles in 2018 and got 78.3 miles on a charge in December with the top close on a 55f day. Today I did 78.1, top down on an 80f day. At what point do you see real capacity loss? I'm seriously thinking these little devils may go 12 years before there is noticable range loss.

 

[sokoloff]

That's my hope too - just watch that 12v battery. I typically get in the low 80's in the summer and low to mid 70's in what passes for winter around here.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 21,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 20,500 miles

 

[Theocat0]

Have 2013 and I get (estimate) 68 miles per full charge. Since I rarely let it go below 20% I estaimate the 20% at 14 miles (10%=7 miles) I bought it used so don't know if this is degraded or not. I do feel that I'm not seeing the efficiency I used to get as I mostly see about 60-70%. I have less than 30k on the car. Maybe the regeneration isn't working as well. No I don't drive it hard as sometimes I am trying to be as effecient as possible...sometimes I tromp it because it's soooo much fun!

 

[sokoloff]

I get low 80's in the summer and low 70's in the cooler weather. I really take it as a challenge though to get the most I can get. I pop it into "N" going down hills or when I see a stop light up ahead, etc. Of course I always make sure I'm not being an a-hole to cars behind me, etc. I probably get about ten miles more per charge than my wife does. She never accepted the "challenge."

Len
2014 EV Coupe 21,500 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 21,500 miles

 

[MB DNA]

Watch those tire pressures (especially if you haven’t checked since winter began?) as low tires can be a real drag!

 

[InjuredAgain]

As I said in the "25k mile check-in" thread, our battery degradation with Len's tester is just more than 1% with 30k miles on our ED that also sat for two years on the dealer lot before we bought it.

A few things. First, I still don't see much about people trying standard wheel alignment specs. The factory toe specs are horrendous and cause a lot of tire wear and increased drag. We got over 27k miles on the OEM Kumho Solus and it was the rears that were worn to the wear indicators. The fronts probably still had another 7-8k miles on them and the wear was even across the tread even though our smart is driven like a bat out of h#ll fairly frequently. Because our ED is rarely driven at high (actual 70+ MPH) speeds, I reduced the toe a bit further to 1/32 in on either side, and also found that the negative camber increased by 0.1 to 0.2 on both sides from the initial alignment, probably due to the springs settling down a bit.

Second, I was doing a bunch of testing during the summer and found a couple of things that increased the battery capacity reported by Len's tester. These are repeated and consistently driving the HV battery down to around 20%, and repeated and consistent full throttle, uhh, foot-to-the-floor utilization of the right pedal. Both my wife and I notice that when we drive our ED around very gently for several charge cycles, the first time we demand full power it seems to be a bit slower than typical. Subsequent applications then feel normal. But I also found that after driving it aggressively throughout the SOC range for a couple of charges in a row, that the reported battery capacity goes up. I've also noticed this seems to help stabilize our SOC meter. After a week or two of gentle driving, the SOC meter drops really slowly when being driven, but then drops a couple of percent after we stop and park the car for an hour or two. This behavior disappears when driving the car hard - the SOC drops quicker when driven but doesn't drop when parked. We end up at the same end SOC either way but I like having the SOC be a little more accurate at all times.

Hope everyone is well. I don't visit a whole lot any more since everything is working so well with our ED and there's no real plan to mod it. Will probably check back in at 40k miles. Hope everyone is well!

 

[jimsokoloff]

As I said in the "25k mile check-in" thread, our battery degradation with Len's tester is just more than 1% with 30k miles on our ED that also sat for two years on the dealer lot before we bought it.

The smart battery management is excellent overall, but even I'm surprised that you're seeing only a 1% capacity loss in 30K miles and several years. I'd expect at least that much capacity loss in age-related degradation alone, but you're not seeing that per the tester output or the range experienced, which must make you thrilled.

Ya got a good one, there; thanks for checking in!

 

[sokoloff]

As I said in the "25k mile check-in" thread, our battery degradation with Len's tester is just more than 1% with 30k miles on our ED that also sat for two years on the dealer lot before we bought it.

Thanks for reporting it as "Len's tester," but some clarification is needed here. It is Jim who builds the units. I was basically the mail room guy.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 21,500 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 21,500 miles

 

[InjuredAgain]

The smart battery management is excellent overall, but even I'm surprised that you're seeing only a 1% capacity loss in 30K miles and several years. I'd expect at least that much capacity loss in age-related degradation alone, but you're not seeing that per the tester output or the range experienced, which must make you thrilled.

Ya got a good one, there; thanks for checking in!

Yes, we are very happy with the performance and just overall reliability of our ED! If anything, the reported battery capacity is as high as it has ever been, and it really does seem to be due to using the battery capacity and battery output a bit harder than in normal driving. I know that doesn't make sense but as range conscious as my wife was at the beginning, she's more than willing to push 90 miles in city driving in the summer because we've seen four or five instances of getting 100 miles range. In that 30k mile picture, I was hooning it pretty hard as you can tell from the eco score of 26, but the combination of miles driven plus range remaining was still around 60 miles in our 40 degree F. conditions.

We really are happier by the day with the ED and can't ever see any reason to get rid of it while it is still running, which we hope will be for as long as we are still capable of driving. We're both around 60 now if as reported the battery pack is good for around 8000 charge/discharge cycles and we get even 50 miles per cycle, that's 400000 miles, which we will probably hit around 2070. I hope we're both still kicking then!

 

[InjuredAgain]

Thanks for reporting it as "Len's tester," but some clarification is needed here. It is Jim who builds the units. I was basically the mail room guy.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 21,500 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 21,500 miles

Len, you've got to take credit for all the work you did to get word out on this. You deserve it! You were really patient with helping me get it updated, and also with the initial process when you were first just getting them created. That follow-up with everyone takes effort!

 

[jimsokoloff]

Len, you've got to take credit for all the work you did to get word out on this. You deserve it! You were really patient with helping me get it updated, and also with the initial process when you were first just getting them created. That follow-up with everyone takes effort!

Agreed. That tester doesn't happen without Oddysey's original work to figure out the CAN messages and without @sokoloff being willing to do the forum communications, initial contacts, and inventory/mailing.

 

[Vincent Rapide]

as low tires can be a real drag! [MB DNA]

Returned from a month long visit to the old home and took the ED3 out for a routine 20 mile trip. I noticed what sounded like 'rust on the rotors' but figured it would wear off and not be an issue. But I started to sense that the SOC gauge was dropping quicker than normal. When I got out of the car at my destination I discovered that I had been dragging a branch from one of my Douglas Fir trees the whole 20 miles and it was jammed under the suspension rather securely. So a significant waste of energy, enough to actually show up on my SOC 'guess meter'. Reminder to self: if a strange noise is heard maybe find out what it is!!
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[DealMeIn]

Surprised someone didn't try to make you aware of your car dragging a branch for 20 miles. Around here someone is likely to at least try to point it out at a stop light/sign or as they go by the other way.

I always have some rust on the rotors noise if I haven't driven for a few days, especially if it has been humid even though my ED is in the garage. It can take quite a while to get rid of since I end up using the brakes only when I have to make a sudden or at the end of a complete stop.

 

[Vincent Rapide]

The branch was hardly showing but was jammed creating a downward force from driving forward. Thus the initial noise on 3 miles of 'coarse-sandpaper' local rough asphalt. By the time I hit city streets the branch contact area had been sanded smooth so less noise but greater contact area so still plenty of energy waste. Now I've learned how to drop my mirrors when driving around the property!

from beach forest on the North Puget Sound USA
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