Yesterday the MID showed in orange a warning that the hybrid system was having an issue. I turned off the car and restarted the car, then the message went away. Today the dealer checked it out and found that the main battery was testing out to have low voltage for some reason. They charged the battery and cleared the codes and I was good to go. The theory was that since it has been so cold lately and that about 30-40% of my recent driving has been in 100% EV mode, the main battery was not being charged long enough because the alternator does not charge the battery when we are running in EV mode. The recommended solution was to run in sport mode for several miles of my travels that would otherwise have been in eco mode in which the EV would be triggered. Odds are this will eliminate the issue in the future in the extremely cold weather.

 

Interesting. Haven't run into this yet. Then again, it's been so cold around here the last few weeks that I've had really very little EV travel. Thanks for posting.

 

Alternatively, just drive the beast with a heavy foot. It's way more fun and the battery is always being charged. :-)

 

They said low voltage, is that right? That's more than a little odd. Did they mention what voltage?

This also sounds odd.

Most of us will verify that when it is cold, we are in EV mode very little, and will frequently arrive at our destination with close to 100% charge because the car has wanted to remain in FWD mode for most of the travel.

There must be something different about your daily drive, something that most of us do differently because of where we have to go.

Please keep us posted about this if it turns into an ongoing problem. As you can imagine, it would be of great interest to all of us.

No dealer has sold more than two of these, which could make for some odd conversations and longer troubleshooting sessions than normal, too.

 

"Main battery" [sic] in singular number has me worried, too. Usually when someone speaks of the 250-volt array he uses the plural, because there's more than one.

I wonder if we're just mixed up. Hell, I hope we are mixed up!

:-)

I'd be far less worried if we're in fact talking about the single 12-volt battery that is testing low voltage because the conventional 12-volt alternator is unable to charge it under certain EV conditions that apply to you more than to us.

I never thought about it before, but I suppose the 12-volt battery is an integral part of the hybrid system and might trigger the warning.

Yeah.... Stream of consciousness.... Sorry, guys.

I think it's me that's mixed up. The dealer mentioned the alternator, and the 250-volt batteries are not charged by the alternator.

 

First, let me say that I am not very knowledgeable about the inner workings of the charging system in the Sport hybrid.

My interpretation of the above description is that the problem is with the brains of the system which control the switching back and forth between the charging of the 12 volt system and the hybrid batteries. Usually as the "gas gauge" for the EV batteries gets low the gas engine comes on to power the car and charge the 12 volt battery. If for some reason the control system is out of whack so the gas engine hasn't been triggered and the car is running on the EV then eventually the EV charge will get depleted causing the message which showed up. At the same time, with the cold weather causing a strain on the 12 volt battery [heat running constantly, maybe the electric seat heaters on etc.] and not recharging the 12 volt battery is going to get run down. For me the system has run smoothly, constantly cycling on and off as needed -- however, I drive in very moderate temperatures. The coldest weather I have driven in has been in the high 40's.

 

Let me very clear, I noticed absolutely NO changes in the operation of the car at all when the light came on. I thought it was just an idiot light that sometimes can be triggered in highly computerized cars some times. George, I do not know what the voltage reading was, but they referenced it as "being lower than normal". They said that if I experience it again they would simply replace the battery as it may be defective from the battery factory who supplied it originally. That is a rare thing, but not a big deal if that ends up being the case.

Regarding my EV usage, I typically run around 30-40% of my travels in that mode when I am in local driving. When I am on highway drives, I am typically above 58 mph which would all but eliminate this issue from ever happening because the alternator is always running at those speeds. They truly think this was just in relation to the last bit of driving I did the day before and that it was outside all night in -12 temps, which is very harsh on any battery. They said emphatically that this had nothing to do with the Hybrid System, but that is how the light warns you. That did not make sense to me, but I was not going to question them at that time. I do run the seat heaters and keep the temp at 70 degrees normally. The hybrid system does not kick into EV mode until the blue light on the dash disappears, the fluids are completely warmed up and the hybrid batteries are above approximately 25% charged.

The car is running perfectly and is absolutely a kick-ass ride!