[jamminhammin]

It's time to ask how many of you have had a 12 volt battery problem on your I-Pace! What was the problem and what was the fix?

I am simply flabbergasted that various different manufacturer's seem to have 12V problems. I have also noticed 12V batteries on ICE cars don't last as long as they used to. Have we forgotten how to make a good 12V battery? Is it to save $40??? And why don't we have a manual way to start the DC-DC converter so the traction battery can charge the 12V battery when it's in a low state? Right now, all the systems have to turn on successfully for that to happen. Or, perhaps the battery system should turn on first and then determine if other systems should turn on. That would prevent the car from "draining itself" like it does when the 12V gets too low.

Anyway, let's hear about your 12V issues so we can have a thread for future reference.

 

[Ayepace]

Battery Poll!

Seems to be a lot of bad batteries which makes me want to slowly back away before getting in too deep. Completely unscientific, but it would be nice to compile some data in one place. Doesn't look like this forum can do a proper embedded poll, so I'll ask for an old-fashioned reply post and...

www.i-paceforum.com

 

[Qtown charger]

Just a thought but having the 12v batteries continually being refreshed by the main traction battery would open the vehicle up to damaging drain on the main traction battery - which would be much more expensive and serious from a safety perspective. Much easier to switch out a small 12v battery than the main battery pack.

 

[kkemp]

Re: the idea that modern 12v batteries are inferior to old ones. When was the last time you had to open up your 12V battery to test the electrolyte or refill it, or had it explode or leak? Modern cars are definitely harder on their 12V batteries than older cars with all of the additional electrical load put on them, but the batteries themselves are undeniably better than what was available not too far in the past.

I don't point this out as a criticism, but more to suggest that positive changes often go unappreciated when they allow us to think less often about something. We don't have to pay attention to automotive 12v batteries the way we used to, which makes the problems we do have with them seem more onerous when in reality the opposite is true.

 

[jamminhammin]

Re: the idea that modern 12v batteries are inferior to old ones. When was the last time you had to open up your 12V battery to test the electrolyte or refill it, or had it explode or leak? Modern cars are definitely harder on their 12V batteries than older cars with all of the additional electrical load put on them, but the batteries themselves are undeniably better than what was available not too far in the past.

I don't point this out as a criticism, but more to suggest that positive changes often go unappreciated when they allow us to think less often about something. We don't have to pay attention to automotive 12v batteries the way we used to, which makes the problems we do have with them seem more onerous when in reality the opposite is true.

Don't get me wrong. I was really thinking back just a few years. If I look at my batteries in the 1996-2008 range, I don't remember ever having to change a sealed battery before 4+ years, but after that it seems like none of my batteries would even make it three years in my ICE cars. I went through quite a few used cars back then and still hardly ever needed to change out batteries. I was really satisfied with the early Diehard sealed batteries. Am I just remembering wrong or did we have better sealed batteries just 10-20 years ago??? My colleagues at work seemed to agree with me or they might have just been nodding their heads... I don't even think the warranties on batteries at AutoZone, Advanced, and other retail parts stores are as long as they used to be.

 

[dernotte]

I had some issue with the 12v last summer, that triggered some weird messages on the dash. Hopefully it was always on my driveway, and I was able to fill up manually the 12v to clear the message. When I told that to the dealer, they have upgraded the BMS and the gateway module. Since then, no issue at all.

 

[Ayepace]

I agree with you, jamminhammin. The battery in my RR didn't make it to the end of the warranty (4 years/50K miles) and had to be replaced. I actually let it go for about 10 months until just before the warranty ran out. The sign of weakness was the stop/start feature had stopped working. It's an H8 AGM battery. I've had to replace batteries in my other ICE vehicles about every 3 years too.

The irritating part of the I-PACE 12V batteries is the special sizes. They might be easy to get in the UK, but you won't readily find them in the US except at a JLR dealer. We'll all need replacements someday.