[nedfunnell]

I am ordering one and will let you know.

 

[spaycace]

In my 2013 Volt, my work commute is 120 miles round trip, 4 days a week. Having read some of the horror stories about 12v battery failures and what can happen when it gets too low on an EV, I'm curious as to when I should think of replacing my 12v battery? Will mine be better off since I drive 120 miles/day and only have the ability to use EV for half my round trip? I'm able to charge fully at home with my L2 charger, but no charging at work unfortunately. Also, last summer, I was able to get my '13 to provide 60 miles of EV range during the drives to/from work, and now it's only charging me up to 41 or 42 miles of range. Could this be related to the 12v battery at all? I know the EV range is adjusted and calculated from previous drive cycles, but the amount of EV miles used to increase by about 3-4 miles per day until I reached 60, and now it only creeps up 1-2 miles of range per day, even though my EV miles driven usually exceeds the expected range by 8-10 miles per day. Is there a software patch that may have changed my charging? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cord]

watch the voltage as long at it is a normal slow death ( loss of amp hrs ) you can get some idea.

Keep in mind it will not get better going into cold winter.

 

[spaycace]

Well, I had my 12v battery tested on Friday, August 24th. The battery required 53 minutes of charging before they could run their cyclical test on it. Before recharging, the battery status printout said it was at 12.3v, which should have been okay. The fact that it had to be charged for 53 minutes has me wondering if the battery is being charged the way it's supposed to be, and if I need to look into the alternator functioning properly, since my car is driven more on the ICE than EV. I went ahead and just replaced the battery myself today, avoiding a possible stranding situation, especially since my daughter will start driving the car soon enough. The Volt technician also tested all 96 cells in the T-battery pack, and they were all within .1 volts of each other, and all were at the higher end of acceptable levels, so I feel comfortable that the EV pack isn't the cause of my reduced range capabilities compared to last summer. I realize that the "memory" of the expected range is derived in part from previous drive cycles. Last summer, I was able to charge my '13 and get 60 miles of expected range by the end of my 8-day work rotation. It would drop to 44 miles by the time my next rotation started, then back up to 60 by day 8. This summer, I have driven the same way I always do. Today, the '13 was charged completely and showed only 28 miles of EV range, so I will keep track of it closely again and see if the range climbs each day the way it normally did last summer now that the 12v battery has been replaced. It would normally gain 3-4 miles of range per day, but the last few months, it's only gone up 1 or sometimes if I'm lucky, 2 miles of range per day. Hopefully it gets back to normal, because it's a LOT nicer to make 1/2 my round trip on EV as opposed to only 1/3 or less. Fingers crossed ...

 

[jcanoe]

Regardless of what the estimated EV range shows you should be able to drive the usual distance on battery that you normally would. The estimated range will fluctuate up and down depending on speed, driving conditions, climate control and outside temperature. Any differences in actual range would be attributed to seasonal temperatures and use of climate control. Pay attention to the state of charge display. If you have 10.8 kWh of usable battery capacity and typically achieve at least 3.7 miles per kWh you should be able to travel ~40 miles on battery on any given trip.

 

[flyingsherpa]

... The fact that it had to be charged for 53 minutes has me wondering if the battery is being charged the way it's supposed to be, and if I need to look into the alternator functioning properly, since my car is driven more on the ICE than EV. .

FYI, there is no alternator, there is only an APM (Aux power module), which is a big DC-to-DC converter that takes in traction pack voltage (350V-ish) and outputs 12V-ish to the 12V system as needed. It functions the same whether the car is running pure EV or ICE.

 

[spaycace]

After replacing my 12v battery this week with another OE battery from my local Chevy dealer ... paid $169, I installed the battery myself in about 20 minutes or less. In the 2 days driving since then, my estimated range has gone from 28 miles on Monday, 31 miles on Tuesday, and 34 miles Wednesday, which seems more inline with how the car's estimated range was increasing last summer during my 8 days in a row of driving to/from work. I've driven at least 49 miles on EV each of those days and will hopefully get 50 or more out of my 34 miles of estimated range. I was always amazed last year when I would get 60 miles of range on a charge, drive 2-3 miles, and still have 60 miles of range on a car that's supposed to get me 38 miles on EV.

I've also never really been "deep" into the car's EV range as to determine how many actual kWh I was using each trip, nor how many kWh are actually available for use, but I would like to obtain new knowledge as to how I can monitor this more closely now, and pay more attention to it since the car is 5 years old with 74k miles on the EV battery pack. Perhaps one of you "engineer" types can PM me and get me started down the right path to enlightenment.

 

[Cord]

thread is about 12 volt battery

Dealer changed mine at 172 for the battery labor was 25 and 7.50 battery waste fees

and total cost of 218.89

So almost 7 years and old battery was showing 12.1 to 12.2 after shutdown 10 min window in summer
and hit 11.9 as a low back in feb.

New battery 12.8 + after shutdown


I did make sure parts had the new 12 Volt battery.

 

[kc75]

can someone confirm for me whether or not this is the correct battery for my 2013 before i order it?

https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-47AGM-Professional-Automotive-Battery/dp/B010GLMYEW

Just curious if this does work just fine in a 2013? I'm in the same boat. I see some comments that says this fits fine in Gen 1 Volts, so I'm inclined to think it's okay.

 

[JuneBug]

I just saw that Sam's Club has the Duracell AGM battery for only $129 until September 16. And it's simple to change yourself:

https://www.samsclub.com/sams/auto-group-47-h5-agm-36-mo-free/prod9510084.ip?xid=plp_product_1_7

 

[spaycace]

Just curious if this does work just fine in a 2013? I'm in the same boat. I see some comments that says this fits fine in Gen 1 Volts, so I'm inclined to think it's okay.

That battery in the link from crackers8199 looks very similar to the AC Delco battery I purchased from my local dealership ... but mine has a carrying handle on the top of the battery, so I'd be cautious about this one as it may be a Chinese knock-off that looks like the OE battery (not to mention it shows a different part number than the battery I purchased from my Chevy dealer). Wish I had a photo of my battery to post. I too looked at that battery, but became "concerned" when it didn't look exactly the same as the one my dealer had available, nor the one in the car already. I guess in my eyes, I'd rather spend a little more for a battery I KNOW is correct when I'm dealing with my daily driver that takes me 120 miles round trip. I figure, is it worth saving $10-20 dollars if you're at risk of being stranded if it's not the right part? To me, it wasn't ... especially when my daughter will be driving it soon, and it's not worth taking a chance of her being stranded somewhere at a very inopportune time in this day and age.

 

[Cord]

Take the time to show any new Volt driver how to jump start a Volt or at least where in the front they can find the terminals.

You will find from reading these posts that many road side services and tow drivers are clue less and MANY get a tow to dealer when not needed.

I still think a Power port plug in 12 volt digital meter needs to be in every glove box.

 

[pianocaddie]

That battery in the link from crackers8199 looks very similar to the AC Delco battery I purchased from my local dealership ... but mine has a carrying handle on the top of the battery, so I'd be cautious about this one as it may be a Chinese knock-off that looks like the OE battery (not to mention it shows a different part number than the battery I purchased from my Chevy dealer). Wish I had a photo of my battery to post. I too looked at that battery, but became "concerned" when it didn't look exactly the same as the one my dealer had available, nor the one in the car already. I guess in my eyes, I'd rather spend a little more for a battery I KNOW is correct when I'm dealing with my daily driver that takes me 120 miles round trip. I figure, is it worth saving $10-20 dollars if you're at risk of being stranded if it's not the right part? To me, it wasn't ... especially when my daughter will be driving it soon, and it's not worth taking a chance of her being stranded somewhere at a very inopportune time in this day and age.

Amortize that $20, or $30...or $50 over the lifespan of a battery (4-6 years) and the savings becomes virtually meaningless.

 

[JuneBug]

can someone confirm for me whether or not this is the correct battery for my 2013 before i order it?

https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-47AGM-Professional-Automotive-Battery/dp/B010GLMYEW

Just curious if this does work just fine in a 2013? I'm in the same boat. I see some comments that says this fits fine in Gen 1 Volts, so I'm inclined to think it's okay.

I read the reviews for that battery on Amazon. One of them is from a Gen1 owner who says it fit perfectly. And another reviewer says the battery was made in Germany.

 

[crackers8199]

just get the Duracell from Sam's. that's what I ended up doing and it was an easy swap..

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

 

[spaycace]

Take the time to show any new Volt driver how to jump start a Volt or at least where in the front they can find the terminals.

You will find from reading these posts that many road side services and tow drivers are clue less and MANY get a tow to dealer when not needed.

I still think a Power port plug in 12 volt digital meter needs to be in every glove box.

And also make sure all Volt owners are aware that the terminals in the ICE compartment are only for jumpstarting the Volt. If you're trying to jump-start someone else's car with your Volt, you have to use the actual battery terminals in the BACK of the car! If you don't, you could possibly cause electrical issues with your vehicle that won't be covered under warranty.

 

[Cord]

I have a general not going to jump start your car with my VOLT logic. ( the battery in my car is 360 VOLT and will burn yours out )


BUT I will get you help and will even use one of the 3 road side services we all seems to collect.

 

[jcanoe]

If you want to be a good Samaritan and be able to help someone who needs a jump start carry a jump starter pack in your vehicle. That way there is no risk to the electrical system of you vehicle. Jumper cables are obsolete for this purpose in all modern vehicles (not just vehicles such as the Volt) as you risk damaging diodes and other components in your vehicle's charging system. Alternator repairs are expensive.

 

[hellsop]

If you want to be a good Samaritan and be able to help someone who needs a jump start carry a jump starter pack in your vehicle. That way there is no risk to the electrical system of you vehicle. Jumper cables are obsolete for this purpose in all modern vehicles (not just vehicles such as the Volt) as you risk damaging diodes and other components in your vehicle's charging system. Alternator repairs are expensive.

Volt has no alternator.

 

[jcanoe]

Agreed the Volt does not have an alternator but most other vehicles do have alternators. Today's alternators frequently include the voltage regulator components within the alternator. If you blow the diodes in the voltage regulator you will have to replace the alternator, not just the diodes. Replacement cost can easily be ~$800 USD.