As I was driving on the highway this morning I noticed the battery gauge dropping rapidly. I was actually about to get off on my exit and let off the accelerator- and as I'm slowing down and going into the turn-off it just keeps dropping. The car is regenerative braking at this point- no accelerator, no heat on- and it lost about 6% in 15 seconds. Now usually the battery does not go down when you are actively regenerative braking so this is really weird.
I've noticed this rapid battery gauge loss at other times, when the car is getting low on charge, and at other times when it's cold out. The gauge is not reliable at any low charge in my opinion and I've noticed it dropping down percentages even at stop lights. I figured it was my imagination since people talk about "range anxiety" - but this is actually happening with this battery gauge not being as reliable as I think it should be. This morning is colder than usual, in the 40's and I was taking a 40-mile round trip at highway speeds it I started off at about 90% battery. Usually that would take the battery down to 35-40%. Today I'm getting home with 12% battery as the gauge was dropping so fast in the last 10 minutes of my commute. My only guess is that it could have been wind chill even though if that's the reason then it's rather unexpected at almost 45 degrees. Or perhaps the top-end of the battery is mis-calibrated and reporting more charge than it actually has.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced the gauge dropping for no reason or much more rapidly than it should be?
Assuming there's a theoretical "fix"- I'm a firm believer that we should not be engaging in self-fixes for this car. The 500e should be programmed in such a way to not report false information, including current charge level, and should not require constant user-interaction, fixes, or 3rd party tools. It should be doing what it's designed to do.
I've noticed this rapid battery gauge loss at other times, when the car is getting low on charge, and at other times when it's cold out. The gauge is not reliable at any low charge in my opinion and I've noticed it dropping down percentages even at stop lights. I figured it was my imagination since people talk about "range anxiety" - but this is actually happening with this battery gauge not being as reliable as I think it should be. This morning is colder than usual, in the 40's and I was taking a 40-mile round trip at highway speeds it I started off at about 90% battery. Usually that would take the battery down to 35-40%. Today I'm getting home with 12% battery as the gauge was dropping so fast in the last 10 minutes of my commute. My only guess is that it could have been wind chill even though if that's the reason then it's rather unexpected at almost 45 degrees. Or perhaps the top-end of the battery is mis-calibrated and reporting more charge than it actually has.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced the gauge dropping for no reason or much more rapidly than it should be?
Assuming there's a theoretical "fix"- I'm a firm believer that we should not be engaging in self-fixes for this car. The 500e should be programmed in such a way to not report false information, including current charge level, and should not require constant user-interaction, fixes, or 3rd party tools. It should be doing what it's designed to do.
