[Gizzi]

I have a 2019 phev and now has 33000 on the clock. I purchased as a demo when it had 5000 on the clock so I have done 28000 in 1 year.
my actuall measured range has gone down more than 15% and using the watchdog app it agrees with my measured.
the dealer has just completed a test at the request of mitsubushi with a full battery.
they conclude a12% and consider it to be normal.

clearly I am concerned that it will be a trend and wondered what the normal expected degradation is on EV cars.
With such figures, if people were aware would they pay the high price I wonder.
I would love a full battery car now but very concerned about life of the battery.
so with my driving I can expect a 30% degradation in 2 years of ownership at say 66000.
Not good is it!

I know in Australia there are fair trading laws and wondered if anyone had gone down that route with degredation concerns?

thanks guys.

 

[richi]

Your dealer did the wrong test (probably). It's a common error.

The MY2019/20 cars have a bug in the BMU firmware. There is now an update available, but at this stage, you need to ask for it. If your dealer is unaware, tell them to check for a newsletter.

The update involves a reflash of the BMU (45 minutes), followed by a DBCAM cycle (typically run overnight).

 

[DibbyDibbyDJ]

Maybe that newsletter hasnt reached these shores yet. I have looked through updates and buletins but cant see it. Do you have a reference number for it? In Australia they are called hotline fixes

 

[richi]

Oh sorry, I'm aware of it being available in Europe (at least in Germany and the UK).

If it was my car, and I was sure that the update wasn't available and wouldn't be for the foreseeable future, I'd insist that the dealer runs the 5-step process in section A.4 here: richi.uk/phevfaq

 

[Gizzi]

Your dealer did the wrong test (probably). It's a common error.

The MY2019/20 cars have a bug in the BMU firmware. There is now an update available, but at this stage, you need to ask for it. If your dealer is unaware, tell them to check for a newsletter.

The update involves a reflash of the BMU (45 minutes), followed by a DBCAM cycle (typically run overnight).

 

[Gizzi]

Thanks for that. Is there any way I can get the version and compare to whats available?
I have the android app!

Thanks again

 

[richi]

It's dealer only. I have limited information I can share.

 

[Oscarmax]

richi,

I am assuming as my car is just over a month old it should have the bug fixed?

 

[richi]

Unlikely. A car first registered a month ago would have been assembled several months earlier, from parts binned some time before that. And the dealer PDI would have happened before the update newsletter was sent.

But unless you're seeing serious range problems, I wouldn't bother getting the update yet. The bug won't show up on a new car: True range won't noticeably drop for 6–12 months of typical ownership.

But there is a vocal minority of owners who watch their plummeting battery SoH estimates like hawks. The soft launch allows Mitsubishi to "oil those squeaky wheels" first, before probably rolling out a more streamlined version of the update as a full service campaign (that's basically what happened with the wi-fi update for early cars).

 

[Oscarmax]

Thanks Richi, the PDI was carried out on the 17th June 2020, and yes the car runs just fine at present I am finding I get slightly more than the 28 miles, on several occasions over the last month it has been nearer the 34/35 mark, it could be I drive 50/55 maximum speed and live out in the country with virtual no congestion. We also have a very good Mitsubishi dealership who have always had a good reputation for the past 20 or years we have known of them.

 

[Gizzi]

certainly my degradation was noticeable in the fist 6 months of ownership. Yes I had been measuring so that I had a baseline and thus knew where I could reach on the same journey I do to work each day.
I do about 170km each day and the reality is that I would have saved more with a normal hybrid in my current driving scenerio. I have a toyota camry hybrid before so familiar with those.
I charge overnight but my fuel costs are now about 50% higher than I had on the camry. Of course its a heavier car/suv etc so thats not a complaint - just an observation!
If I could charge at work that would be ideal of course but normally im not able.

I also went on a long trip for a few days last week and tried a charge point ran by chargefox/NRMA banner. I tried 2 units and neither gave me any charge, Even after phoning the company they said - it shows charging! It wasnt however.
So I have raised a query with them and also now with mitsubishi australia in regards to the BMU upgrade.
See what I get in reply.

Thanks again for your input

 

[Oscarmax]

Gizzi 33,000 miles, I do less than 20,000 miles in 3 years and that includes towing a caravan 4 or 5 times a year on holiday.

 

[richi]

I'll be fascinated to hear what MMAL says. Do please keep us updated if you can.

 

[Gizzi]

Gizzi 33,000 miles, I do less than 20,000 miles in 3 years and that includes towing a caravan 4 or 5 times a year on holiday.

 

[Gizzi]

28000km in a year.
Australia is a big place. I live over an hours drive from work.

 

[dk6780]

What sort of average temperatures do you have? As you say Aus is a big place, but I'd assume that the high temperatures will speed up degredation.

 

[Ralkbirdy]

I would love a full battery car now but very concerned about life of the battery.
so with my driving I can expect a 30% degradation in 2 years of ownership at say 66000.
Not good is it!

The battery on a PHEV has a different usage to a BEV, there is far greater battery capacity to accelerate and brake, less frequently cycling the battery, less draining it on BEV.

With regards battery life

We discussed this today. They checked the status on the GDS. And we're rather impressed to see the battery still at 100% SOH with 0.00 volt cell deviation.

They seemed surprised it was still like this after a 67k mile beating with lots of rapid charging

Look at this Kona EV, 67k mile and no battery degradation.

 

[Gizzi]

Not sure on the temperatures. This time of year is fairly cool. On Sunday I was in Dubbo and I can say that the temp at night was 1degree.
NSW where I live now. You can fit 3 uk in this state alone.
The phev does have a cooking system for the batteries I believe.
The phev does have a known issue with the BMU though as many have noticed

 

[dk6780]

Look at this Kona EV, 67k mile and no battery degradation.

That's not known - just that the degredation is less than the reserve above the top limit that the car was delivered with.

 

[richi]

Excess heat is bad for Li-ion cells. The Outlander pack is cooled via the car's aircon system (it has its own evaporator, but shares the refrigerant loop with the cabin system). It works fairly well, although a liquid-cooled system would have been more effective.

But it all shuts down when you turn off the car. So after driving it in hot weather, it's a good idea not to turn it off immediately: Let it sit in READY for a minute or two, to avoid the worst of the heat-soak (ideally, switch off the cabin climate control). If you listen carefully, you'll typically hear the compressor gently spool up and down, maintaining the refrigerant pressure.