500e Battery Degradation?

[PLP]

Update on the ScanGauge.
So it seems the regular one will work just fine, it just needs the newest firmware or programmed in X-gauges.

For now they could not get the speed reported to get the energy consumption (like instant fuel economy) working.

All the above I listed work fine. So if any of you had the ScanGauge, you can ask LinearLogic for info on how to get the parameters displayed on yours.

[ga2500ev]

So seeking clarity on ScanGauge. They are sold retail at the big box auto parts stores. So if I pick up a Scangauge II and plug it into my 2014 Fiat 500e, then I can get the realtime battery information you listed in your other post?

At $140 for the unit, I'd want to be sure before purchasing.

TIA for any info.

ga2500ev

[PLP]

So seeking clarity on ScanGauge. They are sold retail at the big box auto parts stores. So if I pick up a Scangauge II and plug it into my 2014 Fiat 500e, then I can get the realtime battery information you listed in your other post?

At $140 for the unit, I'd want to be sure before purchasing.

TIA for any info.

ga2500ev

Reach out to them to ask for firmware upgrade or if not, I can give you the list of X-gauges to code them in.
service@linear-logic.com

https://www.scangauge.com/support/x-...commands/fiat/

they did not list 500e yet

[ga2500ev]

I did reach out to LinearLogic. They are still beta testing, which is why nothing for the 500e is posted yet. They asked me to participate. Unit works well with a couple of glitches.

It almost instantly confirmed that I likely have a bad battery. State of health was 11.8 (ouch!). Full amp hours is 42.0, well short of the 63 original capacity. SOH capacity is showing at 64% and SOH-R is 71.

Any posted numbers for these parameters for comparison would be greatly appreciated.

Once the glitches are worked out and Scangauge officially supports the 500e, I would recommend any 500e owner to get one. Real time battery and temperature info can really be helpful.

ga2500ev

[PLP]

State of health was 11.8 (ouch!)

Does it change with charge level or temp?
Mine does, although I do not recall being this low. I think I saw it maybe at 90-ish and would go back to 100.

Mine reads 49.4 Ah, what is funny, because initially (based on SC) I had 48.2 Ah. Somehow battery got better? This it not noticeable at all, though.
I heard that using Level 1 can cause battery loosing capacity (too little charging current), while Level 2 is preferable. So maybe there is something on it...

Kenzie said you joined them and will be doing some more testing.
Good luck.

And you can use ScanGauge on any other OBD2 car. It shows relatively quick and real time data.

[Jiri GrandPa]

;Based on Level 2, full 6.6 kW,
If you plug it in to start immediate charging, it will kick in about 2 kW heater to warm up the battery if the battery is below 64-66 deg F. Once the temp is reached, it will turn off. Before the temp is reached, as you expected, the battery is being charged with about 4 kW only.
However, if ignition is on - it will use about 6-8 kW heater to quickly increase the temp. Hence, until the temp is reached no charging is taking place. Yes, it hits above charger capacity. I could see current flow from the battery when plugged in and charging. I could read 6.8 kW load on my charger monitor, while battery was supplying another 300-600 W.
.

When you say ignition ON did you have heating off? Because that would those additional 4 kW easily.
Do you really see much faster battery heating?
Because using energy from battery to heat when car is on charger doesn’t make much sense to me.

[PLP]

When you say ignition ON did you have heating off? Because that would those additional 4 kW easily.
Do you really see much faster battery heating?
Because using energy from battery to heat when car is on charger doesn’t make much sense to me.

No, I really mean battery heating. All accessories were off (even radio).
That comes from OBD scanner/reader that I have mentioned before here (ScanGauge II).
It would show much faster temperature increase of the heating loop coolant when ignition was left on vs off. When OFF - temps would go to about 80-90 F, with ON, it would quickly go to 120 F or even above. That is for the battery that was at abut 45 F or sometimes even below.
Then, if I was to turn ignition OFF, the charging current would increase right away.

To give you more details - the charging current at SOC of about 10% and Battery Voltage being roughly 340 V, it would be 17-18 A. When battery was cold, the current would drop to about 10-12 A. Then, you turn the ignition on - charging current shown by the gauge would be 0, or even pull from the battery up to 2 A. Also, I could hear cracking (like the heater was really working fast and hard).

[Jiri GrandPa]

Wow. Thank you for this detailed information. This is really good to know. Warm battery obviously improves range in winter.
i use my500e Modul allowing me to start heating up the car. I will try to pass this knowledge to developers, maybe they can turn on this battery heating mode without need of key in ON position.

[PLP]

turn on this battery heating mode without need of key in ON position.

I'd say do not.
For normal driving it makes no significant enough difference and you will get enough range from cold battery anyway.
The only thing I notice was lower power output, say instead of 85 kW it would put down 70-75 kW - depending how cold it would be and how much heater was pulling.
Other than that - it works same way. You could get maybe extra 5-10%. And this is maybe.

In my personal opinion it is pointless to preheat the car, unless it is plugged in. Otherwise you are wasting energy. It heats up very quickly (Bolt is fast as well, but way slower than Fiat - Chevy has a heater core filled with coolant in about 2 L loop, so there is some delay).

But this is just mine opinion on it.

[Jiri GrandPa]

Fully agree. Only preheat battery when plugged in.
Although Tesla preheats battery also when car is not on cable. But I never invested time to find out what the range difference it may have. With Tesla it improves regen power but Fiat regens pretty quickly after taking off so that benefit is probably not significant for 500e.
But energy wasted for battery heating never comes back from regen IMHO.