I just found that my new Hyundai Kona EV has a Utility Mode. Basically you can put the car into this mode if you are going to leave it for a while and it basically tells the traction battery to power all the internal electric which normally drain the 12v battery. This mode is switched off as soon as you next press the Start button but it sounds great for times such as leaving the car in an airport car park.
Hyundai has some good tech. My Tucson HEV has a reset button on the dash that you can push to charge up the 12 V from the traction battery if it is drained. The 12V isn't a separate battery, it is actually contained in the main traction battery compartment.
the manual at page 23 says: - Intelligent Charging - The 12V battery SOC (State Of Charge) is constantly monitored, when the vehicle is power OFF it is possible, under certain conditions, that the HV battery will automatically charge the 12V battery to ensure the vehicle starts. This function will activate and switch off automatically. Note: The system will suspend intelligent charging if a fault is present, when starting or the vehicle is being charged by an external device. Note: The driving range will be reduced after intelligent charging. Note: The intelligent charging function is suspended when the high voltage battery is in a low SOC.
You beat me to it Bjorn; I've been wanting to make the same video about the Nissan Leaf 40. I run out battery on my driveway after having left the lights on all night. I discovered that there are two methods to charge the Leaf's 12V battery. One being a level 2 charger and the other, turning on the heating or cooling remotely ( preconditioning). Apparently, the leaf does charge the 12v battery when off at some intervals, but people have still experience flat 12v batteries. With Leaf Spy, I was able to determine that the 12v battery was being charged by being within the Bluetooth distance communication of the obd dongle, as it indicated a battery voltage of 14.v and nearly 70 amps charging. BTW, if the 12v battery is completely flat none of the above works and only a jump start will do the trick. I now keep a NOCO 40 Lithium ion batt jump start in the boot to mitigate against this eventuality.
I would like just to add that, the reason you can't precondition when the 12v battery is completely dead, (when below 11.75v), the relays that connect the high volts battery to DC-DC converter cannot function. Similarly, the start button cannot work either and only a jump start will work. You might ask then, will a level 2 charger work?; I have found it not to work either, as the safety relay that prevents the car being in the ready state, when charging can also not function and relies on the 12v being above 12.25 v.
How did you manage to leave you lights on all night? My 2016 and 2019 leaf shut off all lights after 20 seconds. I so often forget to turn them off that when I start the car in the morning I've to check everything before driving not to drive with my high beams on. Also leave the car plunged in the charger monitor the 12 volts battery and will recharge it when needed.
I manually turned on the lights to enable me to see the charger port on my wall; I mistakenly thought that because I had plugged in the car, the 12v battery would remain charged. I have set my leaf not to charge during the day and only between 0100 hrs and 0700hrs. So, despite my HV battery being at a hundred 100%, the lights drained the 12v battery as I did not use the car until about 3pm the following day.
I would suggest not keeping your jump starter in the boot due to the fact the boot can only be opened when there is power in the 12v battery. Storing it under the bonnet makes it easier as you can open the drivers door with the physical key and release the bonnet manually.
I bought a small solar panel from my local auto store approx 14" X 4" and plug in my 12V outlet when leaving the car parked for extended periods of time. Works even on cloudy days! Place it on the dashboard and provides a trickle charge to keep your 12V battery happy 😊
@@manuelschallar1122 you can connect it directly to the 12v battery if the cigarette plug power goes out. When you buy the kit you get both but I was scared to use it on my EV so now I know I can thanks
In the VW ID app I found a setting to allow the use of the high voltage battery for app functionality. It was turned off by default and has a warning that it impacts range. Both seem stupid to me, because if the 12V runs empty, the range of the car is 0 because it isn't going anywhere
I have a 2013 Leaf that I only drive every 2 weeks. I have to turn on the heat remotely twice a week or I risk a dead battery. Another annoyance is when you start the Leaf it doesn’t enable a connection to the big battery till the car is completely started which takes almost 30 seconds. So a lot of those portable jumpstart packs don’t help because they pulse the energy 10 seconds on 10 seconds off. So the computer never starts completely.
A tip I saw on a youtube channel reviewing a Toyota BZ4 which had a low charged 12 V battery is to start the car in neutral and fasten the seatbelt. Of course this was after manually unlocking the door and using jump cables. In my case, I have installed permanent charging cables to the battery which, when needed, are fast connected to a CETECH charger. The bonnet is closed and the charger placed at on the bonnet by the wind screen. This setup is especially useful when the car is not used for some time. The CETECH delivers trickle current thereby maintaining the battery, All EV owners should have this setup especially when the car is left for extended periods. Also, battery life will be extended. Search youtube for the CETECH tutorials.
On the Zoe, if you get the error "ELEC System (something)" it means that the 12V battery is low. To charge it up park it and let it unlocked for some time (at least 15mins). If it's unlocked the DC-DC converter will charge up the 12v battery. So yeah, hope this helps somebody!
I thank you very much for your advice because your idea worked on my Nissan Leaf Plus remote climate control. A big battery started to kicked in to the heater inside the car. That means electricity went to the small battery also.
Works on Hyundai Ioniq 5! The Ioniq 5 do also check the 12v system, but not continuously. Only at specific times, perhaps ever 4 hour. Then, if the 12v battery is bellow a threshold (12,6), the dc-dc converter kicks in for an hour IF the main battery is above 30%SOC. Also, it the car needs to do this more than (perhaps) 3 times in a row, then the top-up will stop, assuming there is a fault somewhere.
In the Ioniq 5 the check is called "Aux. Battery Saver+". The Aux. Battery Saver+ activates maximum of 20 minutes. If the Aux. Battery Saver+ function activates more than 10 times consecutively, in the Automatic Mode the function will stop activating, judging that there is a problem with the auxiliary battery. (from the 2022 Ioniq 5 Owners Manual).
The charging of the 12v should be automatic. Why did they made it so you have a big battery full and can not use your car because a small battery is low? Sabotaging the EV like that... Shame!
Because you don't want the DC-DC converter to be draining the traction battery on a smaller EV if there's some vampire drain in the 12v system.. having HV and LV separated is also a safe feeling when the car is parked in the garage next to your house. The HV battery should imho be completely disconnected when not charging or driving. What does suck however is that many car makers include 12v batteries that are too small, or DC-DC converters that aren't powerful enough to charge the battery when the car is driving with lights on, radio on, ventilation system on and so on, so that it can't actually charge the 12v battery while driving.
@@esenel92 They can put a jump starter or they could make a switch to manually enable the DC-DC converter so you can start your car when 12V battery is low. There are options. And they just don't care. Except Tesla.
First the Model Y was planned to ditch the 12V battery, but the final version will have it again. What a shame, was hoping to get rid of that thing finally.
When you check the 12V battery voltage when the car is on, you're actually checking the 12V system which will report 14 or so volts most of the time because the DC-to-DC system will report its maximum voltage, whereas if you check it with the car off then the 12V system is powered entirely by the battery only. That's why that number changed so quickly when you checked it with the car on and then off. On this note, there is a valuable thing you can do with both electric and gas cars with one of those volt meters that plugs into your cigarette lighter (if your car has one):* Turn the car on to 'ACC' without starting it. This is the actual voltage from the battery. If it's below about 12 volts then you should probably consider having your 12V battery tested and/or replaced soon. If it's higher than that then your battery is probably fine. Now, if you then start the car the voltage read from the device will show what your charging system is putting out, either an alternator (gas and diesel cars) or DC-to-DC device. It should read 13.5 to 15 volts generally. If it's less than that (or higher) then you might need to have that looked at because it could mean your alternator/DC-to-DC is not working up to spec. * If not, you can hardwire one into your electrical system. Search Amazon or google for 'hardwired car charging system analyzer'.
@@JustUr101Person It would be nice if this feature was built into all cars. It would be very inexpensive and easy to do but would have great benefits. Some cars, back in the old days, actually did have something like this though not necessarily as standard.
It's normal that the voltage will drop as soon as you draw any current from a 12V battery. But when you stop drawing current, the voltage will slowly get back up to the 'normal' voltage for its SoC. Likewise when you charge a 12V battery, the voltage will immediately go up to the level of the charger. But when you stop charging, the voltage will again slowly go down to the 'normal' voltage for its SoC. So its not a lack in the dc-dc converter.
A 6S Lead Acid battery at rest: 12.8V = 100% SOC 12.6V = 75% SOC 12.3V = 50% SOC. Never let a lead acid bettery go under 50% . BTW, my EV also charges the 12V when the car is charging. I would assume that most EV turns on the 12V charger while preheating due to the high power usage of the fan. BTW, this is not a EV problem, all the 12V equipment like car alarm and remote unlock uses power. People I know working at oil rigs have installed PV in their ICE car to prevent the battery from draining while offshore..
@@Newzchspy As I understand, Tesla switches the 12 V charger on and off while parked. So the are wired for the charger to work while the car is off. But yes, for other cars if they are going to be parked for a long time, you can connect a 12V charger to the 12V battery, but that's only practical at home, not at the airport..
I use my ICE car only from time to time, because I use the E Bike mostly. So I connect it to a 12 V charger (a model for vintage cars etc) to maintain the SOC and prevent damage to the battery. The last battery was damaged because of a very low SOC in winter.
For cars built on E-GMP platform (Ioniq 5 & 6, EV6, Genesis GV60 etc) and equipped with the V2L adapter, a suitable trick to top up your 12V battery is to plug that V2L adapter in. No need to power it up and use it to run some external devices. This might seem quite odd, but it definitely does the trick. Sadly, at least Kia Connect app doesn't display the voltage of the 12V battery. On more general level, I'm still keeping up hopes that the 12V batteries in EVs cease to exist at some point. While basically everything inside the car uses 12V voltage, surely this doesn't mean that a very old invention like lead-acid battery must be used to provide that voltage.
@@alexwong402012 The car itself doesn't provide any information about this to the user. The easiest way is to measure the battery voltage with a multimeter an see that the voltage is around ~14 volts telling that it's charging. For daily use, it is advisable to purchase a car monitor which tracks the 12V battery voltage as well.
You would think this is something that could be fixed in all EVs with software updates. If there is already a system to charge the 12v from the main battery then a software update could be implemented.
No, not everything can be solved with software update. If the 12V charger is on the other side of the high voltage relay that disconnecting the HV battery, no software update will help with rewiring..
@@MichaelEricMenk What do you mean on the other side? The 12v battery must always be connected with the EV battery because otherwise otherwise the 12v battery would never charge, no?
@@nitelite78 no. All EV have a power switch (contactor) to turn on and off the high voltage system, the switch is turned on by using 12V. On some EV you can hear them turn on when you start the car. If this main switch is turned off, the DC to DC converter do not get power. I do not know how all the cars are made, but changing it retroactive may not be easy on all cars. BTW, on my car this switch is also disconnected if the airbags deploy, to protect the rescue team. So ALL high volt power usage is one the one side of this switch, and the battery on the other side. My car have 5 connectors, 2 on the negative side and 3 on the positive side.
I own Nissan e-NV200, it recharges 12V battery itself once in a while. First I'm getting an email saying 12C battery voltage critical, with voltage in the brackets, and then later I'm getting another email with higher voltage already, saying 12V voltage been restored. When DC-DC recharging 12V battery - 3rd LED is flashing on the dash, not first one, but third one. I'm also using OVMS to see battery stats and precondition the van.
Great video! I have a Kona and there is a setting to allow the car to monitor the 12v battery to keep it topped up. Why its not just on permanently is silly.
What model year is that? The Kona I know of has the 12V charging on always and a small LED light in the front is lit when charging the 12V battery! The previous generation Ioniq has a setting in the instrument cluster that turns it on or off.
Thanks Bjorn This is a running topic in the 1st gen Ioniq section of Speak EV that I have contributed a few posts. I have concluded that the problem is a poor charging algorithm exposed by an even poorer OEM 12 V battery. Replacing the OEM battery is the only practical way round it as I can't rewrite the algorithm and your "trick" isn't really a long term fix. Keep up the great videos.
The 12 volt battery management of any EV is by software. Owners do not need to do anything to “avoid low 12 v battery status.” What can happen is battery cells can go bad. This has happened to an ICE car I own. The variable factor is outside conditions:high heat, very cold temperatures; not using the car & having low charge on the traction battery, etc. No trick required. 2011 Nissan Leaf 76,000 miles factory battery replaced 2017. Thanks.
10-20 minutes of charging doesn’t do much good for a 12V battery. Worst case could be 12-24 hours before the battery is fully charged. Battery characteristics and properties for 12V AGM/lead-battery is completely different from high voltage lithium batteries in EVs.
Hyundai removed the option to disable the Battery management system on all Kona's EV. I still have had a dead 12V battery for no reason I can figure out. The issue might be the BMS falls behind on keeping the 12V battery charged and if you have a bad sulfated 12V battery, the BMS will stop trying after so may attempts. Tesla is working to solve this issue with new accessories that will be 50V DC, like what Lucent uses for 5 ESS switches (phones). They want to get rid of the lead acid and use a 50V LiPo batery instead, smart thinking.
The Ford hybrids that I have owned including Ford Fusion plug-in hybrid chew through batteries, even deep discharge ones because of this reason. I never thought of using the preconditioning to remedy it when my car sits for a long time. Thanks Bjorn! Don't worry I'll get that Tesla one day😉
Solution for the Ford Hybrid for me was a solar panel on the dash and back deck. Also, true deep cycle batteries work better, but the DC-DC converter for Ford was set at the float voltage which is not best for long battery life.
I have the leaf 8 years old and never get 12v battery problem, it gets down to 12.16v or even lower but there is no problem to start the car. Easy way to deplete 12v battery is to turn on lights and get windows down and up again. But if you have problems anyway you must simply change the 12v battery
My OBD single displays the 12v battery voltage using Car Scanner. I had my first battery problem this weekend. When camping with my EV6I left the boot/trunk open for a few hours. The car wouldn't start and the screen and interior lights were flashing. Fortunately I was prepared with a jump start battery which worked perfectly. Check out EV Odyssey.
I think all the VAG cars, Skoda, CUPRA etc has a low voltage protection option in the app. It’s confusingly named “High Voltage Battery Protection” but actually is protecting the 12V. ABOUT HIGH VOLTAGE BATTERY PROTECTION Power of the low-voltage battery is saved by turning off non-necessary functionalities. This extends the availability of online services. Other important services, such as emergency services, are also guaranteed for as long as possible. HOWIT WORKS The HV battery can be set to provide more power and ensure the minimum basic functionalities of the vehicle. Its use may affect the range.
In my Leaf when only the 3rd blue light on top of the dash blinks, the 12v battery is being charged automatically by the Li-ion battery, when parked for an extended period.
This „Trick“ also works on an i3. Against all the others the i3 has no Vampire loss of Energy. If you never change the 12V Battery on a Tesla, you will have the same. Remember IKEA Oslo, in the middle of the Night ? It was a Tesla, when you need the Yellow Man ! Cheers Nick !
I enabled the “Use cellphone As A Key” feature in my Ford Mach E. With the car parked in my garage. While I worked on projects (my cell phone in my pocket) the Mach E would “wake up” many times as I entered the garage or stayed working in the garage. When I drive to the airport (SLOW traffic about 1 hour) the 12v system failed (red battery icon. After a few tries and me verbally threatening to post the 12v failure on FB and Twitter the car suddenly was able to start. The problem has not reoccurred since I turned off the “cellphone as Key” feature. The Mack E no longer lights up to greet me however.
Get a solar trickle charger, place it on the dash and hook it up to the 12 volt battery and it will maintain the voltage when the car is parked for long periods. I use one in my van all the time and it works well as I only use the van on the weekends. When not used, it is stuffed into the driver side door pocket. 10 watt panel is usually good enough.
@@tucsonor , true, but using a even larger panel for charging even in cloudy skies or a little sun light will get you a little bit of charge which is better than none at all.
And I mean active management even while the car is off. Probably because of OnStar which is constantly connected. The Volt is the best car GM has ever made by far.
Good work around (I used scheduled preconditioning to get past the intial Mach E 12V problems), but note that regular preconditioning can be over 5 kWh per session, while a 12V trickle/maintainer is some Wh. If you are balancing an annual solar array budget, used regularly, this plan can do in your solar credits.
I’ve seen videos on problems with the Tesla 12 v battery. Before the latest updates it was a huge issue. Worse than most EVs because you had to pull huge parts out of the way to even access the 12v
Couldn't he also have just double pressed the power button without the brake to get the car into ON? Then you'd be able to use everything except driving the car.
It's actually the telematics and remote entry that sucks the power with key off. How else do you think you can check the car's status with an app? The battery, by the way, is pipsqueak in size.
Ive only had one EV so far (Ioniq) and hadn't realised this was even an issue as it automatically charges the 12v from the traction battery when the car is off.
See, this is why all EVs should have some solar panels. Not to charge the main traction battery but to charge the 12V battery and run the electronics, and keep the main battery from being drained just to keep the car "alive" while it isn't in active use. We should be able to park any EV for six months and come back to everything still working perfectly instead of a dead car. Any fossil car can do this no problem with a bit of fuel stabilizer in the tank and a solar battery maintainer.
That's not why you *need* a 12V battery. The 400-800V of the high voltage battery pack can be fairly easily stepped down to provide a nominal 12V supply for anything that needs it. In fact, every EV has such a converter in it to provide such a nominal 12V supply (more likely somewhere round 14.5V) to both run the accessories while the ignition is on and also recharge the 12V battery. The reason you *need* a 12V battery or some other low power source of energy is the main contactor. When not in use, the high voltage battery is completely isolated from everything by the main contactor, which is an electrically controlled switch. Something needs to provide the power to close the main contactor for both system operation (eg. driving, climate control, LV battery charging, utility mode, etc) and for charging. This is the reason that you *need* a 12V battery. Without that requirement it would be easier and cheaper to just use the buck converter that provides your stepped-down nominal 12V supply directly from the traction battery. You would avoid the cost of the battery as well as the cost of developing and maintaining 12V charging logic in the car's systems.
This trick SHOULD work on any EV that supports preconditioning. But so should leaving it plugged into the charger, or doing anything else that leaves the HV contractors closed so high voltage can flow in or out of the HV battery. But I wasn't born yesterday so I wouldn't put it past SOME manufacturer out there to do something stupid because it saves a tenth of a penny.
We don’t need 12V anymore - a french car dealer modified my eSoul 64 kWh to get the Energy from the big batterie instead.😮 Bevore, We had 4 new 12V and stranded 7 times in 4 Years because of empty 12V. We did not dare to activate cabin light or close and open the door to often eg while camping. Last 12V in November- breakdown in Mai , during our Holidays in france although i put the car in Utility mode for a few minutes zu charge 12 V
So, in Thailand many EVs will not have heater, because it is not needed? Fossils have it as standard i guess? Teslas probably will have it too if they sell it officially? It should also be mentioned if you have low 12V battery in a Tesla, don't drive it below 10%, because then the 12V isn't charged any more. The EV ambassador has a very cool video about ít.
@@matty8920 Unless you live in the hills in the North, where it can get very cold - well, below comfy, anyway. But you do need AC here and I don't think there is a car now that doesn't have it.
Just curious about the size of the 12V battery in the MG. Is it a typical 45AH like in a normal mid-size gas car? Because I reckon a small motorbike-size automotive battery would do fine if you were ever replacing it. As it does not have an engine to start it has a very easy life in an EV, just doing the lights, wipers etc. Car makers are inclined to use Lead-acid stuff for the 12V system to keep down the cost of Li but they are very heavy in weight. You could even use an UltraCapacitor which is cool.
FYI: I heard this in another video, not sure if it's entirely true. But: A normal car battery isn't suited for an electric car. In an electric car the battery is charged en discharged gradually and used continuously. In an ICE car the battery is used to start the motor (single big burst of energy) and after the car is started the lights etc are powered by the alternator, NOT the battery. Because of this reason they built these batteries differently to accommodate for the correct use case.
This also works in my bmw 225xe, it's a plug in hybrid, I enable precondition sometimes so that the 12v port inside the car stays on and I can continue to charge my phone for a while or keep the dashcam running (I have a 12v USB charger)
I believe some of those running out on 12 V, do many short trips, and don't care to plug in every time, and heating/cooling drain more from 12 V than the DC-DC will deliver to charge.
Nope - If the car sits for a long time, standby loads (that's how you can check the car with your app) drag the 12V battery down into deep discharge. If there's one thing that destroys a lead-acid battery it's full discharge.
Nope, I plug EVERY trip (PHEV, VAG brand) and still, on short trips I have to monitor the 12V system on an advanced 12V to USB converter with a Volt-meter display. My car does not (ever) turn on the DC-to-DC converter during a charge. Only during a drive (and short drives won't help) the 12V SOC is checked. This is bad design from the start. The SOC of the 12V system SHOULD be monitored AND maintained during each charge event. (in my opinion)
@@smijas yes som brands have crappy management for 12V. Some legacy brands still have a fossilmdesign. They are used to charge 12V while engine us running while driving. I sometimes hear a (distant) "klonk" from the contactors in my car, when I'm in inside my house. That's just to kick in the DC-DC-converter to charge the 12V. But Tesla don't have the legacy if making fossil cars, they have a pure EV mindset from the beginning.
My Kona has a serious problem with 12V - New battery and Latest battery update software no difference still goes flat and Dealer can't find anything wrong.
My FF hobby / spare car and bike I keep the battery on trickle charge, if I had a electric car Id'e hook up the 12 volt battery for charge when I connected the main charger
Wiring the 400VDC around in the car and replacing the 12V would be super expensive as safety requirement of a 12V system and a 400V system is two different worlds. The car would be somewhere from 2 to 5 times as expensive to manufacture. (if 400V lights, wiper motor, fan motor, windows motors ++ have existed)
It should be possible to have a dc/dc converter with high enough current capacity to supply 12 V and eliminate the 12 V batter. This will reduce weight considerably.
12 volt battery is required for safety. Emergency flashers have to work even if the main fuse on the traction battery has blown. For safety, the high voltage battery is disconnected automatically in the event of any airbag deployment as well
The 12V system disconnects the HV systems in crashes and other situations. Cars will depend on 12V systems (ABS pump, Safety systems like airbags, steering aids, too many to mention) for a long time coming. What really needs to change is that software needs to monitor the SOC of the 12V system on a timed interval, and then, at the next possible charge, immediately turns on the DC-to-DC converter to charge the system. And, if below 11,8 (or 11,6) automatically (periodic) turn on the DC-to-DC converter (charging or not). Tesla does it right now,... the others will follow.
My Ioniq 12 V battery still runs flat if I don't drive it in a week or two, because the Aux battery saver feature doesn't charge the 12 V often enough or long enough :P
This is more a problem if the cat is sitting weeks without use. The key fob receiver uses 12V power, so all new cars will use 12V. How long the car can sit without recharging 12V battery differs from car model to car model.
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Outlander PHEV charges the 12V battery every day at 14:00 even if you do not use your car.
so normally when the 12v battery is still good, how many volts the DC-DC converter out put to charge the 12v battery ? can you check it at the 12v batt terminals when the vehicle is running.
Hi Bjørn! I have a question for you. You say in the video that in Kona i need to enable it. The user manual says: "The Aux. Battery Saver+ function will be ON when the vehicle is delivered." Is there something else what i need to enable? Here in Hungary are several owners whom 12V battery last just a year. :(
Unfortunately, the UK model will not have to app support. Nissan LEAF I seem to remember used to have an option on the 24 and 30kWh models for a small Solar Panel integrated into the rear spoiler above the rear window. for the purpose of trickle charging the 12V battery. Maybe it is possible to either fit something similar to the MG or at least use one of those aftermarket 12v solar panels sold to trickle charge boat batteries when on their moorings - it could be laid on the top of the dash while the MG is parked and plugged into a permanent live 12v outlet if the MG has one. Has anyone tried this?
Top: Never shut your car when you are sitting/ chilling/ waiting in the car for longer than 5 minutes. Otherwise it will use your small 12 volt battery, of course it will rapidly drain the battery. If your EV car is on it will use normally the bigger high voltage batterij. Simpel as that!
Looks like a very nice App!! And the car on the App and inside it seems to give you lots of info too. I didn’t know that about the 12V battery issues. I have had a brand new i3 for 2 years and no problems. Is it older i3 cars? But I use it daily for around 40-60miles in total and in winter, precondition every morning..., so maybe the reason why no problems? Also older cars (EVs or ICE) with older batteries (6-7y+) tend to need a new 12V battery anyway, so maybe that would help some with older EVs as the battery will keep charge for longer... 🤔
BMW I3 is the one of the worst EV on this planet, unintuitive interior, poor range, weird door design, but this is the best car I ever tested. The best thing is of course, this is EV.
Can you just get a small 12v solar panel and plug it into a 12v outlet? Or is the 12v outlet not live when the car is off. Or could you just run the lead straight to the 12v battery.
You can do this. Some models of the leaf have a solar panel for this purpose, but you obviously need to park your leaf with the panel in the sun. The leaf panel also has thick plastic covering it so I'm pretty sure that plastic prevents the panel from getting as much sun.
My only guess why the batt showed 14 volts when you used the AC us thee HV batt had to enegize to run the AC unit when it did it boosted the 12 v batt?
0:55 Maybe the small Battery is an advantage as well in cold start situations. When the main battery is too cold in winter the small and more cold resistant battery could heat up the main battery first.
nichts angehen Not even close, but good on you for trying to think outside the box. An automotive 12 volt battery only holds about 50 watt hours of charge. The high voltage battery heater in cars like Tesla that have them draw about 7 kW at several hundred volts. A car battery trying to supply that power wouldn't last a minute.
@@babybirdhome In theory it depends on the mass of the cooling fluid material and the efficiency of the heater. Let's assume it is about 5 Litres of cooling fluid. If you use a very efficient heat pump in combination with the small car battery, it should be possible. Of course it depends on the temperature of the environment. A minute would be enough to heat up the main battery to its operational temperature range. And this is just a bit above zero.
I just found that my new Hyundai Kona EV has a Utility Mode. Basically you can put the car into this mode if you are going to leave it for a while and it basically tells the traction battery to power all the internal electric which normally drain the 12v battery. This mode is switched off as soon as you next press the Start button but it sounds great for times such as leaving the car in an airport car park.
Hyundai has some good tech. My Tucson HEV has a reset button on the dash that you can push to charge up the 12 V from the traction battery if it is drained. The 12V isn't a separate battery, it is actually contained in the main traction battery compartment.
Thank You for posting. I just got a Kona EV and didn't know that! Thanks!!!
the manual at page 23 says:
- Intelligent Charging -
The 12V battery SOC (State Of Charge) is constantly
monitored, when the vehicle is power OFF it is possible,
under certain conditions, that the HV battery will
automatically charge the 12V battery to ensure the
vehicle starts. This function will activate and switch off
automatically.
Note: The system will suspend intelligent charging if a
fault is present, when starting or the vehicle is being
charged by an external device.
Note: The driving range will be reduced after
intelligent charging.
Note: The intelligent charging function is suspended
when the high voltage battery is in a low SOC.
I didn’t think MG had an app for the car. Good to see one working.
There’s no app for my UK spec ZS EV. Maybe it’ll be available in the future.
You beat me to it Bjorn; I've been wanting to make the same video about the Nissan Leaf 40. I run out battery on my driveway after having left the lights on all night. I discovered that there are two methods to charge the Leaf's 12V battery. One being a level 2 charger and the other, turning on the heating or cooling remotely ( preconditioning). Apparently, the leaf does charge the 12v battery when off at some intervals, but people have still experience flat 12v batteries. With Leaf Spy, I was able to determine that the 12v battery was being charged by being within the Bluetooth distance communication of the obd dongle, as it indicated a battery voltage of 14.v and nearly 70 amps charging. BTW, if the 12v battery is completely flat none of the above works and only a jump start will do the trick. I now keep a NOCO 40 Lithium ion batt jump start in the boot to mitigate against this eventuality.
I would like just to add that, the reason you can't precondition when the 12v battery is completely dead, (when below 11.75v), the relays that connect the high volts battery to DC-DC converter cannot function. Similarly, the start button cannot work either and only a jump start will work. You might ask then, will a level 2 charger work?; I have found it not to work either, as the safety relay that prevents the car being in the ready state, when charging can also not function and relies on the 12v being above 12.25 v.
How did you manage to leave you lights on all night? My 2016 and 2019 leaf shut off all lights after 20 seconds. I so often forget to turn them off that when I start the car in the morning I've to check everything before driving not to drive with my high beams on.
Also leave the car plunged in the charger monitor the 12 volts battery and will recharge it when needed.
I manually turned on the lights to enable me to see the charger port on my wall; I mistakenly thought that because I had plugged in the car, the 12v battery would remain charged. I have set my leaf not to charge during the day and only between 0100 hrs and 0700hrs. So, despite my HV battery being at a hundred 100%, the lights drained the 12v battery as I did not use the car until about 3pm the following day.
I would suggest not keeping your jump starter in the boot due to the fact the boot can only be opened when there is power in the 12v battery. Storing it under the bonnet makes it easier as you can open the drivers door with the physical key and release the bonnet manually.
Hi David ,
I came back from hoidays and started the mgev but didn’t start. The battery shows 8v. How can I charge the 12v battery automatically?
I bought a small solar panel from my local auto store approx
14" X 4" and plug in my 12V outlet when leaving the car parked for extended periods of time. Works even on cloudy days! Place it on the dashboard and provides a trickle charge to keep your 12V battery happy 😊
Wont work in all cars, as many cars disconnect the 12V outlet once they are turned off.
@@manuelschallar1122 you can connect it directly to the 12v battery if the cigarette plug power goes out.
When you buy the kit you get both but I was scared to use it on my EV so now I know I can thanks
The early Leafs had a small solar panel ate the rear purely to charge the 12 volt battery.
In the VW ID app I found a setting to allow the use of the high voltage battery for app functionality. It was turned off by default and has a warning that it impacts range. Both seem stupid to me, because if the 12V runs empty, the range of the car is 0 because it isn't going anywhere
Scanmytesla now shows 12V battery voltage 👍
CyperCharged TMSpy does this for long.....
App not compatible with iphone
I know. I had to buy a cheap Android only for this...
I have a 2013 Leaf that I only drive every 2 weeks. I have to turn on the heat remotely twice a week or I risk a dead battery. Another annoyance is when you start the Leaf it doesn’t enable a connection to the big battery till the car is completely started which takes almost 30 seconds. So a lot of those portable jumpstart packs don’t help because they pulse the energy 10 seconds on 10 seconds off. So the computer never starts completely.
Can't you just hook up a trickle charger to the 12V battery?
Hou know, just like Mandy motorcyclist do even they park their bike for winter storage.
Just leave it plug in. The charger monitor the 12 volts battery and will recharge it when needed. The third status light will blink when this happens.
If your leaf is taking 30 seconds to close the contactor's of the traction battery there is something wrong.
A tip I saw on a youtube channel reviewing a Toyota BZ4 which had a low charged 12 V battery is to start the car in neutral and fasten the seatbelt. Of course this was after manually unlocking the door and using jump cables. In my case, I have installed permanent charging cables to the battery which, when needed, are fast connected to a CETECH charger. The bonnet is closed and the charger placed at on the bonnet by the wind screen. This setup is especially useful when the car is not used for some time. The CETECH delivers trickle current thereby maintaining the battery, All EV owners should have this setup especially when the car is left for extended periods. Also, battery life will be extended. Search youtube for the CETECH tutorials.
On the Zoe, if you get the error "ELEC System (something)" it means that the 12V battery is low. To charge it up park it and let it unlocked for some time (at least 15mins). If it's unlocked the DC-DC converter will charge up the 12v battery. So yeah, hope this helps somebody!
I thank you very much for your advice because your idea worked on my Nissan Leaf Plus remote climate control.
A big battery started to kicked in to the heater inside the car. That means electricity went to the small battery also.
Dang man, thats a really awesome trick. I didn’t even know about the pre cooling, sometimes i have to park my MG in the hot sun.
Oh man, you got me with the door.
Thanks for the trick. It works also for the Nissan Leaf 40kwh. The dc-dc starts at the same time at the Air conditioning.
Teslabjørn opens the front left side door to enter the car and then "Oh sheeet, wrong side. I forgot I'm in Thailand LOL :-)
Works on Hyundai Ioniq 5!
The Ioniq 5 do also check the 12v system, but not continuously. Only at specific times, perhaps ever 4 hour. Then, if the 12v battery is bellow a threshold (12,6), the dc-dc converter kicks in for an hour IF the main battery is above 30%SOC. Also, it the car needs to do this more than (perhaps) 3 times in a row, then the top-up will stop, assuming there is a fault somewhere.
In the Ioniq 5 the check is called "Aux. Battery Saver+". The Aux. Battery Saver+ activates maximum of 20 minutes. If the Aux. Battery Saver+ function activates more than 10 times consecutively, in the Automatic Mode the function will stop activating, judging that there is a problem with the auxiliary battery. (from the 2022 Ioniq 5 Owners Manual).
Tesla always had trouble with its 12V battery in the first few years. It was a big problem. I think they improved it a bit.
The charging of the 12v should be automatic. Why did they made it so you have a big battery full and can not use your car because a small battery is low? Sabotaging the EV like that... Shame!
Because you don't want the DC-DC converter to be draining the traction battery on a smaller EV if there's some vampire drain in the 12v system.. having HV and LV separated is also a safe feeling when the car is parked in the garage next to your house. The HV battery should imho be completely disconnected when not charging or driving.
What does suck however is that many car makers include 12v batteries that are too small, or DC-DC converters that aren't powerful enough to charge the battery when the car is driving with lights on, radio on, ventilation system on and so on, so that it can't actually charge the 12v battery while driving.
@@esenel92 They can put a jump starter or they could make a switch to manually enable the DC-DC converter so you can start your car when 12V battery is low. There are options. And they just don't care. Except Tesla.
First the Model Y was planned to ditch the 12V battery, but the final version will have it again. What a shame, was hoping to get rid of that thing finally.
@@AlexJPetrov Like the 12v battery reset button the ioniq has you mean? ;)
@@esenel92 Yes, that is an option. Automatic is better of course.
When you check the 12V battery voltage when the car is on, you're actually checking the 12V system which will report 14 or so volts most of the time because the DC-to-DC system will report its maximum voltage, whereas if you check it with the car off then the 12V system is powered entirely by the battery only. That's why that number changed so quickly when you checked it with the car on and then off.
On this note, there is a valuable thing you can do with both electric and gas cars with one of those volt meters that plugs into your cigarette lighter (if your car has one):* Turn the car on to 'ACC' without starting it. This is the actual voltage from the battery. If it's below about 12 volts then you should probably consider having your 12V battery tested and/or replaced soon. If it's higher than that then your battery is probably fine. Now, if you then start the car the voltage read from the device will show what your charging system is putting out, either an alternator (gas and diesel cars) or DC-to-DC device. It should read 13.5 to 15 volts generally. If it's less than that (or higher) then you might need to have that looked at because it could mean your alternator/DC-to-DC is not working up to spec.
* If not, you can hardwire one into your electrical system. Search Amazon or google for 'hardwired car charging system analyzer'.
Pretty cool! I think that’s the problem.
@@JustUr101Person It would be nice if this feature was built into all cars. It would be very inexpensive and easy to do but would have great benefits. Some cars, back in the old days, actually did have something like this though not necessarily as standard.
That MG seems really nice! Lets hope it holds up over time..
It's normal that the voltage will drop as soon as you draw any current from a 12V battery. But when you stop drawing current, the voltage will slowly get back up to the 'normal' voltage for its SoC.
Likewise when you charge a 12V battery, the voltage will immediately go up to the level of the charger. But when you stop charging, the voltage will again slowly go down to the 'normal' voltage for its SoC. So its not a lack in the dc-dc converter.
A 6S Lead Acid battery at rest:
12.8V = 100% SOC
12.6V = 75% SOC
12.3V = 50% SOC.
Never let a lead acid bettery go under 50% .
BTW, my EV also charges the 12V when the car is charging.
I would assume that most EV turns on the 12V charger while preheating due to the high power usage of the fan.
BTW, this is not a EV problem, all the 12V equipment like car alarm and remote unlock uses power. People I know working at oil rigs have installed PV in their ICE car to prevent the battery from draining while offshore..
Michael Eric Menk curious,but can you put a trickle or separate 12v charger on your Tesla for example to keep the 12v battery at full soc?
@@Newzchspy As I understand, Tesla switches the 12 V charger on and off while parked. So the are wired for the charger to work while the car is off.
But yes, for other cars if they are going to be parked for a long time, you can connect a 12V charger to the 12V battery, but that's only practical at home, not at the airport..
I use my ICE car only from time to time, because I use the E Bike mostly. So I connect it to a 12 V charger (a model for vintage cars etc) to maintain the SOC and prevent damage to the battery.
The last battery was damaged because of a very low SOC in winter.
what's "PV"?
@@ivok9846 PV = Photovoltaic
Electrical solar panels...
Volkswagen/Audi --> enable DC to DC converter > start either the rear-window heater or one of the seat-heaters. THEN the 12V system will recharge.
For cars built on E-GMP platform (Ioniq 5 & 6, EV6, Genesis GV60 etc) and equipped with the V2L adapter, a suitable trick to top up your 12V battery is to plug that V2L adapter in. No need to power it up and use it to run some external devices. This might seem quite odd, but it definitely does the trick. Sadly, at least Kia Connect app doesn't display the voltage of the 12V battery.
On more general level, I'm still keeping up hopes that the 12V batteries in EVs cease to exist at some point. While basically everything inside the car uses 12V voltage, surely this doesn't mean that a very old invention like lead-acid battery must be used to provide that voltage.
How do you know it is charging 12V battery when you plug the V2L adapter in
@@alexwong402012 The car itself doesn't provide any information about this to the user. The easiest way is to measure the battery voltage with a multimeter an see that the voltage is around ~14 volts telling that it's charging. For daily use, it is advisable to purchase a car monitor which tracks the 12V battery voltage as well.
You would think this is something that could be fixed in all EVs with software updates. If there is already a system to charge the 12v from the main battery then a software update could be implemented.
No, not everything can be solved with software update.
If the 12V charger is on the other side of the high voltage relay that disconnecting the HV battery, no software update will help with rewiring..
@@ulwur HEHE. Spelling error, Dyslectic + auto complete. Rewriting to use other words.
@@MichaelEricMenk What do you mean on the other side? The 12v battery must always be connected with the EV battery because otherwise otherwise the 12v battery would never charge, no?
@@nitelite78 no.
All EV have a power switch (contactor) to turn on and off the high voltage system, the switch is turned on by using 12V. On some EV you can hear them turn on when you start the car.
If this main switch is turned off, the DC to DC converter do not get power.
I do not know how all the cars are made, but changing it retroactive may not be easy on all cars.
BTW, on my car this switch is also disconnected if the airbags deploy, to protect the rescue team. So ALL high volt power usage is one the one side of this switch, and the battery on the other side.
My car have 5 connectors, 2 on the negative side and 3 on the positive side.
@@mjk8019 that's not easy getting the CAN codes...
Great tip thanks. 2013 LEAF
According to WeberAuto, Newer Tesla's now have a 16v Li special Battery ilo 12v Lead acid 😢
3:30 Sheeeeeeet!
I own Nissan e-NV200, it recharges 12V battery itself once in a while. First I'm getting an email saying 12C battery voltage critical, with voltage in the brackets, and then later I'm getting another email with higher voltage already, saying 12V voltage been restored.
When DC-DC recharging 12V battery - 3rd LED is flashing on the dash, not first one, but third one.
I'm also using OVMS to see battery stats and precondition the van.
I'm impressed by the 12V battery information given by the app. Even Tesla doesn't provide this information thus far.
Because it's irrelevant for Tesla. The 12 V battery is being taken care of all the time.
Great video! I have a Kona and there is a setting to allow the car to monitor the 12v battery to keep it topped up. Why its not just on permanently is silly.
What model year is that? The Kona I know of has the 12V charging on always and a small LED light in the front is lit when charging the 12V battery! The previous generation Ioniq has a setting in the instrument cluster that turns it on or off.
Thanks Bjorn This is a running topic in the 1st gen Ioniq section of Speak EV that I have contributed a few posts. I have concluded that the problem is a poor charging algorithm exposed by an even poorer OEM 12 V battery. Replacing the OEM battery is the only practical way round it as I can't rewrite the algorithm and your "trick" isn't really a long term fix. Keep up the great videos.
The 12 volt battery management of any EV is by software. Owners do not need to do anything to “avoid low 12 v battery status.” What can happen is battery cells can go bad. This has happened to an ICE car I own. The variable factor is outside conditions:high heat, very cold temperatures; not using the car & having low charge on the traction battery, etc. No trick required. 2011 Nissan Leaf 76,000 miles factory battery replaced 2017. Thanks.
10-20 minutes of charging doesn’t do much good for a 12V battery. Worst case could be 12-24 hours before the battery is fully charged. Battery characteristics and properties for 12V AGM/lead-battery is completely different from high voltage lithium batteries in EVs.
This is not a way to charge from 0-100%. It’s a way to prevent loosing voltage in long term.
It’s insane that the converter don’t kick in when car is connected and charging🤯🤯🤯
So true! For ALL brands, makes and models! The SOC of the low-voltage system should be checked EVERY TIME A CHARGE IS OFFERED TO AN EV ( or PHEV)
Hyundai removed the option to disable the Battery management system on all Kona's EV. I still have had a dead 12V battery for no reason I can figure out. The issue might be the BMS falls behind on keeping the 12V battery charged and if you have a bad sulfated 12V battery, the BMS will stop trying after so may attempts. Tesla is working to solve this issue with new accessories that will be 50V DC, like what Lucent uses for 5 ESS switches (phones). They want to get rid of the lead acid and use a 50V LiPo batery instead, smart thinking.
The Ford hybrids that I have owned including Ford Fusion plug-in hybrid chew through batteries, even deep discharge ones because of this reason. I never thought of using the preconditioning to remedy it when my car sits for a long time. Thanks Bjorn! Don't worry I'll get that Tesla one day😉
Solution for the Ford Hybrid for me was a solar panel on the dash and back deck. Also, true deep cycle batteries work better, but the DC-DC converter for Ford was set at the float voltage which is not best for long battery life.
I have the leaf 8 years old and never get 12v battery problem, it gets down to 12.16v or even lower but there is no problem to start the car. Easy way to deplete 12v battery is to turn on lights and get windows down and up again. But if you have problems anyway you must simply change the 12v battery
My OBD single displays the 12v battery voltage using Car Scanner. I had my first battery problem this weekend. When camping with my EV6I left the boot/trunk open for a few hours. The car wouldn't start and the screen and interior lights were flashing. Fortunately I was prepared with a jump start battery which worked perfectly. Check out EV Odyssey.
If you have a VTL just plug it into the car and 12v will start charging ….without anything plugged in to the board
I think all the VAG cars, Skoda, CUPRA etc has a low voltage protection option in the app. It’s confusingly named “High Voltage Battery Protection” but actually is protecting the 12V.
ABOUT HIGH VOLTAGE
BATTERY PROTECTION
Power of the low-voltage battery is saved by turning off non-necessary functionalities. This extends the availability of online services. Other important services, such as emergency services, are also guaranteed for as long as possible.
HOWIT WORKS
The HV battery can be set to provide more power and ensure the minimum basic functionalities of the vehicle.
Its use may affect the range.
Nice video, thanks. Just wondering how fast the 12V battery drains when the MG is not in use (parked)
In my Leaf when only the 3rd blue light on top of the dash blinks, the 12v battery is being charged automatically by the Li-ion battery, when parked for an extended period.
This „Trick“ also works on an i3. Against all the others the i3 has no Vampire loss of Energy. If you never change the 12V Battery on a Tesla, you will have the same. Remember IKEA Oslo, in the middle of the Night ? It was a Tesla, when you need the Yellow Man ! Cheers Nick !
That's a different problem. It was due to weak 12 V battery and low SoC cutting DC-DC converter.
I enabled the “Use cellphone As A Key” feature in my Ford Mach E. With the car parked in my garage. While I worked on projects (my cell phone in my pocket) the Mach E would “wake up” many times as I entered the garage or stayed working in the garage. When I drive to the airport (SLOW traffic about 1 hour) the 12v system failed (red battery icon. After a few tries and me verbally threatening to post the 12v failure on FB and Twitter the car suddenly was able to start. The problem has not reoccurred since I turned off the “cellphone as Key” feature. The Mack E no longer lights up to greet me however.
Get a solar trickle charger, place it on the dash and hook it up to the 12 volt battery and it will maintain the voltage when the car is parked for long periods. I use one in my van all the time and it works well as I only use the van on the weekends. When not used, it is stuffed into the driver side door pocket. 10 watt panel is usually good enough.
Works were the sun shine. Howerver not during winter here in Norway, as almost no sun.
@@tucsonor , true, but using a even larger panel for charging even in cloudy skies or a little sun light will get you a little bit of charge which is better than none at all.
See my post about CETECH charger wich also gives trickle charging. A great product.
My 2017 Chevrolet Volt seems to manage the 12V just like my 2018 Model 3 as well. Phew!
And I mean active management even while the car is off. Probably because of OnStar which is constantly connected. The Volt is the best car GM has ever made by far.
@@matthewlibanio8227 My 2013 model year Volt only charges 12 V if on the EVSE. Wakes as needed to top up the 12 V. I love mine too.
The warning. Light. I kept it on for 1h, and my 12v is dead
Good work around (I used scheduled preconditioning to get past the intial Mach E 12V problems), but note that regular preconditioning can be over 5 kWh per session, while a 12V trickle/maintainer is some Wh. If you are balancing an annual solar array budget, used regularly, this plan can do in your solar credits.
I’ve seen videos on problems with the Tesla 12 v battery. Before the latest updates it was a huge issue. Worse than most EVs because you had to pull huge parts out of the way to even access the 12v
What type of vehicle should I choose between electric/petrol/diesel varient on 2020 ?
Hazard indicators and interior lights will work while key off to drain battery 🔋👍
Couldn't he also have just double pressed the power button without the brake to get the car into ON? Then you'd be able to use everything except driving the car.
That would take "forever" to drain battery.
Lights (low/high-beam) and fan, possibly windows too draw much more.
Wiper and window motors also need a lot of power
It's actually the telematics and remote entry that sucks the power with key off. How else do you think you can check the car's status with an app? The battery, by the way, is pipsqueak in size.
@@vidznstuff1 yes, but Bjørn is talking about intentially drain the battery.
Ive only had one EV so far (Ioniq) and hadn't realised this was even an issue as it automatically charges the 12v from the traction battery when the car is off.
See, this is why all EVs should have some solar panels. Not to charge the main traction battery but to charge the 12V battery and run the electronics, and keep the main battery from being drained just to keep the car "alive" while it isn't in active use. We should be able to park any EV for six months and come back to everything still working perfectly instead of a dead car. Any fossil car can do this no problem with a bit of fuel stabilizer in the tank and a solar battery maintainer.
RedBearAK - the gen 1 Nissan Leaf has solar in the roof - I believe it’s only on higher cost versions. Perhaps this is needed on all cars these days?
Except a solar panel won’t help if the car is in a garage, or covered up, which is a good thing to do if the car will be left outside for a long time.
That's not why you *need* a 12V battery. The 400-800V of the high voltage battery pack can be fairly easily stepped down to provide a nominal 12V supply for anything that needs it. In fact, every EV has such a converter in it to provide such a nominal 12V supply (more likely somewhere round 14.5V) to both run the accessories while the ignition is on and also recharge the 12V battery. The reason you *need* a 12V battery or some other low power source of energy is the main contactor. When not in use, the high voltage battery is completely isolated from everything by the main contactor, which is an electrically controlled switch. Something needs to provide the power to close the main contactor for both system operation (eg. driving, climate control, LV battery charging, utility mode, etc) and for charging. This is the reason that you *need* a 12V battery. Without that requirement it would be easier and cheaper to just use the buck converter that provides your stepped-down nominal 12V supply directly from the traction battery. You would avoid the cost of the battery as well as the cost of developing and maintaining 12V charging logic in the car's systems.
This trick SHOULD work on any EV that supports preconditioning. But so should leaving it plugged into the charger, or doing anything else that leaves the HV contractors closed so high voltage can flow in or out of the HV battery. But I wasn't born yesterday so I wouldn't put it past SOME manufacturer out there to do something stupid because it saves a tenth of a penny.
We don’t need 12V anymore - a french car dealer modified my eSoul 64 kWh to get the Energy from the big batterie instead.😮
Bevore, We had 4 new 12V and stranded 7 times in 4 Years because of empty 12V. We did not dare to activate cabin light or close and open the door to often eg while camping. Last 12V in November- breakdown in Mai , during our Holidays in france although i put the car in Utility mode for a few minutes zu charge 12 V
Have you considered adding a remote battery kill switch (used in old petrol cars having parasitic battery drain)
On Ioniq 2020 this feature comes enabled from the start.
So, in Thailand many EVs will not have heater, because it is not needed? Fossils have it as standard i guess? Teslas probably will have it too if they sell it officially?
It should also be mentioned if you have low 12V battery in a Tesla, don't drive it below 10%, because then the 12V isn't charged any more. The EV ambassador has a very cool video about ít.
@@matty8920 Saving some weight and resources, it is actually a good thing. Thx for the info.
@@matty8920 Unless you live in the hills in the North, where it can get very cold - well, below comfy, anyway. But you do need AC here and I don't think there is a car now that doesn't have it.
The Honda Civic doesn't have heated neither.
@@matty8920 lol - the girls in Thailand wear winter parkas on cold December nights...when it dips to 18C, lol.
Is this "rope" on the steering wheel the standard equipment of MG's cars?
Car was blessed. Check earlier episodes.
Yes, whats with the cord?
Buda power baby!
@@bjornnyland Sorry, I am a noob.
Just curious about the size of the 12V battery in the MG. Is it a typical 45AH like in a normal mid-size gas car? Because I reckon a small motorbike-size automotive battery would do fine if you were ever replacing it. As it does not have an engine to start it has a very easy life in an EV, just doing the lights, wipers etc. Car makers are inclined to use Lead-acid stuff for the 12V system to keep down the cost of Li but they are very heavy in weight. You could even use an UltraCapacitor which is cool.
FYI: I heard this in another video, not sure if it's entirely true.
But: A normal car battery isn't suited for an electric car. In an electric car the battery is charged en discharged gradually and used continuously. In an ICE car the battery is used to start the motor (single big burst of energy) and after the car is started the lights etc are powered by the alternator, NOT the battery. Because of this reason they built these batteries differently to accommodate for the correct use case.
This also works in my bmw 225xe, it's a plug in hybrid, I enable precondition sometimes so that the 12v port inside the car stays on and I can continue to charge my phone for a while or keep the dashcam running (I have a 12v USB charger)
what happened with the steering wheel? was it hurt, because of the bandage?
Watch the first video of the MG were a munk bless the car. That is when this "bandage" is installed.
I believe some of those running out on 12 V, do many short trips, and don't care to plug in every time, and heating/cooling drain more from 12 V than the DC-DC will deliver to charge.
Nope - If the car sits for a long time, standby loads (that's how you can check the car with your app) drag the 12V battery down into deep discharge. If there's one thing that destroys a lead-acid battery it's full discharge.
Nope, I plug EVERY trip (PHEV, VAG brand) and still, on short trips I have to monitor the 12V system on an advanced 12V to USB converter with a Volt-meter display. My car does not (ever) turn on the DC-to-DC converter during a charge. Only during a drive (and short drives won't help) the 12V SOC is checked. This is bad design from the start. The SOC of the 12V system SHOULD be monitored AND maintained during each charge event. (in my opinion)
@@smijas yes som brands have crappy management for 12V. Some legacy brands still have a fossilmdesign. They are used to charge 12V while engine us running while driving.
I sometimes hear a (distant) "klonk" from the contactors in my car, when I'm in inside my house. That's just to kick in the DC-DC-converter to charge the 12V. But Tesla don't have the legacy if making fossil cars, they have a pure EV mindset from the beginning.
@@vidznstuff1 different brands have different approaches on how to maintain 12V charge. Some are good, some are just OK, som at out right terrible.
Another useful vid. Is there anything you don't know about EV's!! When you get home, do you think you'll be getting in on the right side? Lol!
Good information mate
My Kona has a serious problem with 12V - New battery and Latest battery update software no difference still goes flat and Dealer can't find anything wrong.
My FF hobby / spare car and bike I keep the battery on trickle charge, if I had a electric car Id'e hook up the 12 volt battery for charge when I connected the main charger
hi,
just came back from holiday 14 days and cannot start my Mgev. shows red and yellow battery sign on dashboard. what shall i do next ?
The car name is Doraemon! How cute
Wiring the 400VDC around in the car and replacing the 12V would be super expensive as safety requirement of a 12V system and a 400V system is two different worlds. The car would be somewhere from 2 to 5 times as expensive to manufacture. (if 400V lights, wiper motor, fan motor, windows motors ++ have existed)
Level 1 charging also will charge the 12 volt battery in some cars.
hi,
just came back from holiday 14 days and cannot start my Mgev. shows red and yellow battery sign on dashboard. what shall i do next ?
It should be possible to have a dc/dc converter with high enough current capacity to supply 12 V and eliminate the 12 V batter. This will reduce weight considerably.
12 volt battery is required for safety. Emergency flashers have to work even if the main fuse on the traction battery has blown. For safety, the high voltage battery is disconnected automatically in the event of any airbag deployment as well
@@jimmurphy5355 Interesting, I hadn't thought of that.
The 12V system disconnects the HV systems in crashes and other situations. Cars will depend on 12V systems (ABS pump, Safety systems like airbags, steering aids, too many to mention) for a long time coming. What really needs to change is that software needs to monitor the SOC of the 12V system on a timed interval, and then, at the next possible charge, immediately turns on the DC-to-DC converter to charge the system. And, if below 11,8 (or 11,6) automatically (periodic) turn on the DC-to-DC converter (charging or not). Tesla does it right now,... the others will follow.
Millennium Falcon for the 12v win 😊
I hope they bring the app to Europe/UK.
3:47 WAHT? Really? You're not going to talk about the white-string elephant in the room? SOTP now and get out :P
Ioniq automatically recharges the 12V battery from the big one.
My Ioniq 12 V battery still runs flat if I don't drive it in a week or two, because the Aux battery saver feature doesn't charge the 12 V often enough or long enough :P
@@GlenwingThink New firmware fixed this issue.
@@DerBlauzahn That is good to hear :)
So the point is, dont use 12V stuff when the car isn't on or you'll drain the 12V battery.
This is more a problem if the cat is sitting weeks without use.
The key fob receiver uses 12V power, so all new cars will use 12V.
How long the car can sit without recharging 12V battery differs from car model to car model.
Outlander PHEV charges the 12V battery every day at 14:00 even if you do not use your car.
so normally when the 12v battery is still good, how many volts the DC-DC converter out put to charge the 12v battery ? can you check it at the 12v batt terminals when the vehicle is running.
Does it have 12V outlet?
Should be the fastest way to deplete the battery assuming you have som suitable load of course
vulgarsonic you mean deplete?? I hope my seats never depleat.
@@Newzchspy exactly, edited
hi,
just came back from holiday 14 days and cannot start my Mgev. shows red and yellow battery sign on dashboard. what shall i do next ?
@@jantukaur charge it with a 12v battery charger. You can buy them at any auto parts shop.
Can we add 2nd auxiliary battery parallel to 1st battery 12v?????
What about lithium-ion 12v battery? They last much longer than lead.
And they are lighter so you get more range.
Bad idea. Li-ion dont like 100% of charge. Car 12v battery love 100%.
They're not very heavy to begin with, so there weight you save would be about the same as skipping dessert once a week.
As Salamu alaykum brother Salem, Li-Io looses much energy at low temperatures in comparison to starter batteries.
Someone said replace it with a heavy camping or marine 12v battery.
Bit more expensive but last longer
Hi
Bjørn! I have a question for you. You say in the video that in Kona i need to enable it. The user manual says: "The Aux. Battery Saver+ function will
be ON when the vehicle is delivered." Is there something else what i need to enable? Here in Hungary are several owners whom 12V battery last just a year. :(
I have the same question . Kona ev with flat 12v. Second time in a couple of months. Have had the care for 18 months.
As far as I'm aware, UK spec MGs don't have preheat
Unfortunately, the UK model will not have to app support. Nissan LEAF I seem to remember used to have an option on the 24 and 30kWh models for a small Solar Panel integrated into the rear spoiler above the rear window. for the purpose of trickle charging the 12V battery. Maybe it is possible to either fit something similar to the MG or at least use one of those aftermarket 12v solar panels sold to trickle charge boat batteries when on their moorings - it could be laid on the top of the dash while the MG is parked and plugged into a permanent live 12v outlet if the MG has one. Has anyone tried this?
Top: Never shut your car when you are sitting/ chilling/ waiting in the car for longer than 5 minutes. Otherwise it will use your small 12 volt battery, of course it will rapidly drain the battery. If your EV car is on it will use normally the bigger high voltage batterij.
Simpel as that!
I have never had a 12v battery problem with my BMW i3
Why is there only an app in Thailand for the MG?
Looks like a very nice App!! And the car on the App and inside it seems to give you lots of info too.
I didn’t know that about the 12V battery issues. I have had a brand new i3 for 2 years and no problems. Is it older i3 cars?
But I use it daily for around 40-60miles in total and in winter, precondition every morning..., so maybe the reason why no problems?
Also older cars (EVs or ICE) with older batteries (6-7y+) tend to need a new 12V battery anyway, so maybe that would help some with older EVs as the battery will keep charge for longer... 🤔
turn your headlights on to drain the 12v?
So does your ZS also have a open steeringcollum just like here in The Netherlands!??
Doh - no app and preconditioning for MG ZS EV in the UK 😞
Can someone please tell me if you can sit in the car with the aircon running while you are charging the car.
BMW I3 is the one of the worst EV on this planet, unintuitive interior, poor range, weird door design, but this is the best car I ever tested. The best thing is of course, this is EV.
worst EV stays better than majority of cars! ;-)
jacus you forgot Extremely expensive... Would rather buy 2 zoes instead of on over charged BMW
@@TiagoWolf that's true. I just can't believe there is a demand for this car.
Just replacing the 12 volt battery every 5 years on the i3 makes 12 volt related problems to not appear :-)
Can you just get a small 12v solar panel and plug it into a 12v outlet? Or is the 12v outlet not live when the car is off. Or could you just run the lead straight to the 12v battery.
You can do this. Some models of the leaf have a solar panel for this purpose, but you obviously need to park your leaf with the panel in the sun. The leaf panel also has thick plastic covering it so I'm pretty sure that plastic prevents the panel from getting as much sun.
My only guess why the batt showed 14 volts when you used the AC us thee HV batt had to enegize to run the AC unit when it did it boosted the 12 v batt?
0:55 Maybe the small Battery is an advantage as well in cold start situations. When the main battery is too cold in winter the small and more cold resistant battery could heat up the main battery first.
nichts angehen Not even close, but good on you for trying to think outside the box. An automotive 12 volt battery only holds about 50 watt hours of charge. The high voltage battery heater in cars like Tesla that have them draw about 7 kW at several hundred volts. A car battery trying to supply that power wouldn't last a minute.
@@babybirdhome In theory it depends on the mass of the cooling fluid material and the efficiency of the heater. Let's assume it is about 5 Litres of cooling fluid. If you use a very efficient heat pump in combination with the small car battery, it should be possible. Of course it depends on the temperature of the environment. A minute would be enough to heat up the main battery to its operational temperature range. And this is just a bit above zero.
@@babybirdhome 50Wh of charge would indicate that the 12v battery is just over 4Ah in size that is far too small!
@@aladdin8623 No it takes a lot of energy to heat up the main drive battery from cold, thats why a 7kW heater is used.
Maybe this is the problem on the ID3. And hopefully can be fixed with an update in Q1 2021.
So I have to start the car and turn on ac high?