jlsoaz
Well-known member
My dashboard display of efficiency reads 3.8 miles/kWh and every six months my dealer technician and I discuss a variety of things. He indicates that while my battery checkup is fine, the efficiency I am getting is at the low end of what he tends to see. He asks if I tend to drive in D mode and I say no. I indicated to him the low efficiency seems logical to me since I use the vehicle to drive around the county as I do my gasoline car, but that means a lot of trips of about 10 miles each way at 65-75 mph.
Setting aside the probably-inevitable criticisms from some but perhaps not all of the efficiency-focused folks, the reason I am mentioning all of this is that it got me to wondering whether there is a link between driving fast and hard over time, and battery degradation. Maybe it is hard to say what correlates to what.... I do live in a hot Arizona climate (though not as hot as Phoenix) and my battery has degraded a decent amount (about 187 gids showing at 80% charge).
Anyway, I don't recall if or to what extent, during the earlier degradation discussions, it was examined as to whether there might be a correlation between drivers who might average lower dashboard reported efficiency (whether due to climate or high speeds or what-have-you) and worse degradation over time.
I guess on a related note, I think the 8 bar/5-year solution to the battery warranty questions, as well as the battery replacement terms that were issued, were certainly better than not having clear answers, but were perhaps somewhat unrealistic in terms of really addressing the customer-satisfaction quandry faced by folks who have lost 2 or 3 bars and are trying to make good use of the car prior to lease end, or who are concerned with car valuation if they have purchased. Well, it's hopefully only a small percent of drivers who have to really concern themselves with these issues.
Setting aside the probably-inevitable criticisms from some but perhaps not all of the efficiency-focused folks, the reason I am mentioning all of this is that it got me to wondering whether there is a link between driving fast and hard over time, and battery degradation. Maybe it is hard to say what correlates to what.... I do live in a hot Arizona climate (though not as hot as Phoenix) and my battery has degraded a decent amount (about 187 gids showing at 80% charge).
Anyway, I don't recall if or to what extent, during the earlier degradation discussions, it was examined as to whether there might be a correlation between drivers who might average lower dashboard reported efficiency (whether due to climate or high speeds or what-have-you) and worse degradation over time.
I guess on a related note, I think the 8 bar/5-year solution to the battery warranty questions, as well as the battery replacement terms that were issued, were certainly better than not having clear answers, but were perhaps somewhat unrealistic in terms of really addressing the customer-satisfaction quandry faced by folks who have lost 2 or 3 bars and are trying to make good use of the car prior to lease end, or who are concerned with car valuation if they have purchased. Well, it's hopefully only a small percent of drivers who have to really concern themselves with these issues.