Jump to content

Medium term vehicle storage


stephengoldberger
 Share

Recommended Posts

Over the period of a month or two, what needs to be done to maintain the lithium battery?  I gather that the vehicle has a conventional starter driven by the 12 volt battery, and I am familiar with the exercise of attaching a float charger to maintain that one.  Does the lithium battery self discharge to a dangerously low level and, if so, how long would that take at typical summer time garage temperatures?  Should one install exhaust fans to keep the garage temperatures down?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 I gather that the vehicle has a conventional starter driven by the 12 volt battery, and I am familiar with the exercise of attaching a float charger to maintain that one.  Does the lithium battery self discharge to a dangerously low level and, if so, how long would that take at typical summer time garage temperatures?  Should one install exhaust fans to keep the garage temperatures down?

 The 12v battery is strictly for the computer, relays, control circuits and some other things like the radio.  The CMAX has no conventional starter.  Instead one of the motor generators in the transaxle functions as the starter and it is powered by the high voltage battery.

 

"Starting" the CMAX is primarily a  process of connecting the high voltage battery via relays powered by the 12v battery.

 

The owners manual has a section addressing medium/long term storage and talks about maintaining the 12 v battery but does not address the high voltage battery.  that suggests to me that the high voltage battery discharges very slowly but I suggest you read the section and form your own conclusions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unlike NiMH batteries, most Lithium chemistries have a negligible self-discharge rate. They can probably sit for years safely, as long as they are disconnected from any parasitic load. People have had problems with the Tesla when left sitting empty for months, but it only has the one lithium battery and there are some electronics that draw from it. For our cars, there's a relay to disconnect the high voltage battery, so you are probably best just attending to the 12v one as usual.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks to all who replied.  I guess the concern I have is that lithium batteries in small devices (like bluetooth earsets) seem to go flat over a month or two.  Perhaps the ratio between capacity of the battery vs. the energy needed to restart the car is large enough that it can tolerate a substantial self discharge and still work fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 years later...

My C-Max Energi is in standby since nealy 2 years now.

What are the consequences on HVB properties/capacities ?

Is it loosing performancies if not used ? ... what is the shelflife on storage procedure?

Anyone have datasheets/manual on fomoco HVB ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...