Traction battery performance - summer vs winter

[Ray B]

I found this article (https://www.gs-yuasa.com/jp/deepstory/vol5.htmlhttps://www.gs-yuasa.com/jp/deepstory/vol5.html) on the previous generation of lithium battery made by the battery source which is likely also used in the Clarity. The Google auto-translation works pretty well, but could not translate the chart which showed the performance at 25 C vs -10 C, so I used Google translate and some painstaking Japanese calligraphy to get this into English:

This helps me to better understand the varying regen braking performance as a function of the temperature and the battery SoC. In the summer/fall, the regen was not very robust unless the battery was depleted at least 25-30%, and now in winter it is pretty limited unless the battery is down to the last 30-40%.

Again, this chart was from the battery technology in 2009, so the current Clarity battery may be a generation newer than this one, and so the chart may not be directly applicable, but I think the general performance trends are probably similar.

 

[ClarityBill]

I have been suffering through winter, with dreams of warmer weather: Longer EV range, better mpg, unicorns, and lolipops...

Then I tried to charge Clarity after it sat in the hot sun all day, and it did not work...

Left it in the parking lot at work for 8 hours of sun on 65F day. Plugged into a level 2 Chinese charger: Full charge, finished charging about an hour before I hopped in car.

Drove 10 miles to restaurant and plugged into a ChargePoint charger to top off vehicle from 26 miles EV (full about 36 now): Charger said waiting for vehicle, the green light never came on the Clarity charge port. I tried the other plug on the ChargPoint station, then restarted the original plug: Still no green light, and waiting for vehicle. I left it plugged in while I ate, and never got any charge. Came out an hour later, and restarted the charge, and it worked fine. I walked a half hour, and had gotten 6 miles of charge.

Is charging a hot-car battery a problem?
Was this too hot?

 

[Robert_Alabama]

I believe this is a ChargePoint thing. We have the dual ChargePoint stations at my work location. There are a couple of the stations that are really bad about the "waiting for vehicle" problem, but all of them are subject to it. It is a problem with not just the Clarity, as I've seen a BMW and a model 3 struggling with it. If you disconnect the charger from the car and then reconnect it 2 or 3 times, sometimes it will wake up and the green light will kick on, sometimes not. So I believe this is not a fault of the car, just the aggravating ChargePoint EVSEs.

 

[KentuckyKen]

Could be the EVSE, could be a finicky car charger/inverter (especially if SB 18-097 not installed), or could be due to BMS protecting a hot battery.
No way to know since Honda is so inscrutable about giving us any behind the scenes info.

 

[Robert_Alabama]

Could be the EVSE, could be a finicky car charger/inverter (especially if SB 18-097 not installed), or could be due to BMS protecting a hot battery.
No way to know since Honda is so inscrutable about giving us any behind the scenes info.

I'm pretty sure this message is due to ChargePoint, not a hot battery. I have even walked back down to the parking deck hours after parking when ChargePoint was throwing this message, and still no luck. When they are being particularily painful with the "waiting for Vehicle" message, only moving to another charger or waiting to charge tomorrow is an option...

 

[AnthonyW]

I have been suffering through winter, with dreams of warmer weather: Longer EV range, better mpg, unicorns, and lolipops...

Then I tried to charge Clarity after it sat in the hot sun all day, and it did not work...

Left it in the parking lot at work for 8 hours of sun on 65F day. Plugged into a level 2 Chinese charger: Full charge, finished charging about an hour before I hopped in car.

Drove 10 miles to restaurant and plugged into a ChargePoint charger to top off vehicle from 26 miles EV (full about 36 now): Charger said waiting for vehicle, the green light never came on the Clarity charge port. I tried the other plug on the ChargPoint station, then restarted the original plug: Still no green light, and waiting for vehicle. I left it plugged in while I ate, and never got any charge. Came out an hour later, and restarted the charge, and it worked fine. I walked a half hour, and had gotten 6 miles of charge.

Is charging a hot-car battery a problem?
Was this too hot?

99% sure it’s not a hot battery. The target temp is 77 to 95. With ambient at 65 even in full sun it would not reach 95 in 8 hours. It’s likely related to the SB related to this.


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