Battery health 2014 Volt

1979 Views 13 Replies 8 Participants Last post by hellsop, 4 mo ago

billdaman

Hello, haven’t posted in years, as my Volt has been relatively trouble free over 70K miles. The Volt sat for almost two years of the COVID lockdown as I didn't need it for my commute. After we returned to work, my work location is a 2 mile drive. The battery never depletes.

From what I’m reading here it appears all Volt owners will face a day of mourning when the battery gets to EOL and battery replacements are either impractical or cost prohibitive.

My question to the group is that of all the Variables linked to battery health, has anyone uncovered a specific set of criteria other than cell voltage differences to indicate a battery entering its down hill slide? It would be great to know that sweet spot at which you should drive it to the dealer to trade. The retail values of these are still high.

I used my bidirectional scanner yesterday and this is the report. Perhaps I need to dig deeper to read the individual cells, but it appears that the software does it for you. Acceptable difference of .02V. Is there anything looking strange or do I have a very good condition battery for 9 years old?

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· #6 · 5 mo ago

The system allows for greater variation during use under certain conditions, as previously relayed by WOPOnTour, so I don't bother about data collection while driving. I collect the charged and depleted cell levels quarterly as posted here:
2017 HV Battery Cell Data (Sharing)

Some trends I've noticed to date is the highest voltage cell when fully charged has been the lowest when fully depleted. Also my actual range is noticeably reduced by ~6+ miles over the 6 year period.

At the end of the day the biggest factor will be time. I'd trade it prior to the 10 year mark, if you don't want to drive it until the battery fails.

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· #8 · 5 mo ago

billdaman said:
So if all my fully charged cells are over 4V with the greatest difference between cells is + 20mV and then the battery is run until depleted / until forced ICE start, and the discharged cells are all 3.58 +10mV, then is my battery above average condition for an 8-9 year old Volt? It’s crazy, I never even thought about any of this previously, but now that I realize new cells are no longer made I’m thinking twice about keeping it.

BTW , it’s basically a one owner garage queen, rarely driven more that 4-6 miles a day and always on a charger when it’s parked for any length of time.

I don't know what the "average" cell readings are for an 8-9 year old Volt. Neither does anyone else except GM, and they aren't sharing. I know the cell level thresholds which indicate an issue, which is in the Service Manual.

My advice to people is if you put on very few miles such as your use case, a regular gas car is the best choice, as it will have the best longevity/long-term costs. In your case I would personally either (1) sell it now while it's in good shape and buy a new regular gas car, or (2) drive it until it dies, at which point I would sell it for scrap value. Given the age, I'd go for #1 if the household finances were in good shape.

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