XC90 T8 2020 Battery capacity and indicator mismatch

[lfc2606]

I know there are a lot of threads of people complaining that during the winter months, the mileage available on the hybrids drops and lots of other people saying that's fine. The challenge for me, though, is why and I've come up with a hypothesis that points to a problem.

• Car charges overnight and left plugged in until driven - i.e. car is constantly supplied with electric.
• Depending on the climate, the car does kick in during the charging period to either keep it warm, cold, whatever it's intelligence decides it needs to do
• The dealer recently explained that the XC90 won't charge unless the batter drops below a certain %
• When I get in the car, the battery indicator shows FULL but there is clearly less charge available and a noticeable acceleration in drain when driving.

The issue for me is that the combination of the car NOT charging despite it being plugged in AND showing a full battery indicator IS a problem and I am certain it's not always been like this which suggests a software issue. If the battery indicator showed a drain then fair enough although it's still not great but if battery THINKS it's full even though it isn't then that feels like a fixable issue.........OR has anyone on here come across an alternative view from their own dealers?

[sk546]

See below answers to you your points:
- When your car is plugged in, yes it is supplied with electricity but it will only take charge when the charging system tells it to.
- Not really sure what you mean by 'the car kicks in' when charging. The charging system has a cooler to dissipate heat generated by the inverters and other electrical components but from my experience, nothing else 'kicks in' during the charge cycle.
- Unless the battery level drops below approx 80-85%, the charging system will not charge the car back to 100% but if this happens, the battery will not show 100% full either. E.g. if you take the car out to the local shops and only do a couple of miles on electric, the battery will not charge back to full when plugged in. Not sure why this is must be a battery charge level protection of some kind) but thats my experience over my last 2 T8's.
- How quickly the battery charge drains depends greatly on how the car is driven. Cruising at 70mph on a dual carriageway will deplete at a lot faster rate than doing 30 through a village for the same distance i.e. 1 mile at 70mph would use the same as 3 or more miles at 30mph. The battery range and level calculations are designed at more normal/sedate driving habits. If you drive outside of these (i.e. lots of full demand accelerations or high speed electric cruising) they will drop at a faster rate.

All this being said, 1.5 years after owning my first MY20 XC60 T8, the battery range dropped from 21 miles (the normal amount) to 16 miles overnight and during the summer.
I took it into the dealer and they carried out a battery calibration (had the car for 2 days as they have to do 2-3 full battery discharges and charges while plugged into the diagnostic system) which reset the range projection but didn't do anything noticeable to the battery level depletion as that, to me at least, just does what it does.

One thing to bear in mind is if you have an electric auxiliary coolant heater or a fuel powered one. If you have the elec one, during the initial drive (if you haven't pre-heated the car), the battery takes quite a hit as the heater draws current to warm things up. This accelerates the battery usage and reduces the range.
Pre-warming the car before you start driving anywhere (regardless of it being a fuel or electric powered auxiliary heater) does help battery range as the battery pack is brought to its optimal operating temps quicker and so the battery charge is more constant.

[lfc2606]

Thanks @sk546 for your response.

It's worth a clarification that part of my issue comes from me doing the exact same journey EVERY morning. This means I have built up a reasonably accurate view of battery capacity based on how far in that journey I get driving, within reason, the same each time.

I don't assume that the mileage indicator gives me an accurate view of the actual miles I can travel as I accept driving conditions will dictate this however, and this is my main point, if the battery level indicator is ALWAYS showing full, then the only measure I have of whether this is accurate is the Miles remaining.

I know that if it reads 20 I probably have (as good as) a full battery. If it is 18 or less, I don't and I won't complete my usual journey.

This morning was an example of the scenario you paint. Yesterday I used the car for a couple of local trips meaning I ran down about 10% of the battery. THis was clearly visible on the battery level reading which showed I dropped two "bars". The car was set to charge as usual overnight. When I got in the car this morning, the battery level showed FULL BUT the number of miles available was only 15 and I was left well short on my usual journey.

This proved to me that the car didn't actually charge and when checking my overnight electricity usage this is also borne out.

The final point is that this never used to happen but I cannot tell you when it changed. I used to plug the car in and it "topped" up anything that had been used. This was shown in both the mileage available and the battery level.

For me, the fact that the battery level shows full even though it hasn't accepted a charge is an issue. The fact that the battery chooses not to charge unless it drops below a certain limit is frustrating and something I'd like Volvo to explain.

[sandys]

Is this not just a case of battery indicator working just like the petrol one and adjusting itself based on historical usage and conditions?

For example driven around town my fuel range says it'll do 400miles, on a run it'll say 550-600.

[lfc2606]

Thanks sandys. As mentioned, it’s not about what the mileage remaining indicator gives me. This is about the battery seemingly having stopped maintaining a full charge (which I’m told is normal) and the battery level showing full when it isn’t. This is the petrol equivalent of using 5 litres of fuel then going to the pump, the car refusing to accept 5 litres but then showing the fuel gauge as full again

[Philip Fisher]

The issue then is simply that the car is not reliable charging then I guess.

Mine charges without issue I would say all the time, apart from when i discover afterwards that the plug isn't in properly.....

I guess this is going to be a dealer issue.

[lfc2606]

Thanks Phillip - would you say your car "tops-up" after a small amount of usage as well? I've been told a couple of times that the car won't charge unless battery is below 80-85% but I'm convinced it's not always been like that. I'm hoping other T8 XC90 users can either validate or challenge that.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by lfc2606

Thanks Phillip - would you say your car "tops-up" after a small amount of usage as well? I've been told a couple of times that the car won't charge unless battery is below 80-85% but I'm convinced it's not always been like that. I'm hoping other T8 XC90 users can either validate or challenge that.

Difficult but I am going to say no, I have not experienced the car failing to top up even when used a little bit. There was one occasion where I moved it 20yds off the drive, then back on again and when I plugged it back in it said charging complete, but other than that, no I would say it always charges up again.

[sandys]

Not sure how later cars with Google chnage over the older ones but certainly see that my car will top up, it was charged last night to 100% which finished at approx 3:15, I did not un plug or drive anywhere this morning and abiout 6 hrs later the charger fired up and topped off, only put about 0.3Kw in as it was full, so certainly nothing stopping charge above 80% on a 2023.

Checking the Volvo app it also showed as charging for a few mins.

[lfc2606]

Thanks a lot @SandyS - this is not what I'm seeing and having reached out to Volvo direct and them confirming the car should top up then I'm convinced this is an issue.

It's in the local dealer in the next couple of weeks so let's see!!