How much further can you Drive your GT when your range says 0 miles?

phil

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2021
Threads
13
Messages
3,176
Reaction score
4,221
Location
USA
Vehicles
LS400
Country flag
I agree I wouldn't drive my car to 0 either if it can be avoided.
So what battery % would you drive to? Above you had said:

"It's why you should from time to time run the battery down to a low level, the lower the better within your comfort level, then charge it back up. It gives the BMS a better idea of where the "bottom" of the pack is."

I'm interested in your recommendation. Occasionally go down to 20%? 5%? Or would you advise that it's not worth worrying about?
Sponsored

 

Vulnox

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2021
Threads
9
Messages
1,087
Reaction score
1,802
Location
Livonia, MI
Vehicles
2024 F-150 Lightning Platinum, 2025 Mach-E Premium AWD ER
Country flag
So what battery % would you drive to? Above you had said:

"It's why you should from time to time run the battery down to a low level, the lower the better within your comfort level, then charge it back up. It gives the BMS a better idea of where the "bottom" of the pack is."

I'm interested in your recommendation. Occasionally go down to 20%? 5%? Or would you advise that it's not worth worrying about?
I think if you aren't concerned about going to the limit and having the most accurate BMS possible, then 10% or so is fine. most people wouldn't go much below that on a road trip. It is potentially damaging to go too low, and if you do go below 5% be easy on the throttle until you can get to a charging station.

The key thing is, even if the BMS calibration is off, that won't stop you from driving if the vehicle displays 0% battery (assuming you have charge below 0%, which most should). So the calibration is mainly about being able to see a more accurate state of charge from the vehicle, either through the dash display or OBD reader.

Kyle from OOS motoring talks about this on almost every range test he does and is a far better source for a lot of this deep dive technical stuff. He talks about battery calibration and how the BMS can have the wrong idea of the total available battery capacity if you don't give it some low percentage values on occasion. He will run the vehicles for miles below 0, but also says he doesn't recommend doing that with your personal EV, and I am saying the same.

But if you do maybe once a year or so let it get down to 5 or 10%, in a situation where you can drive it gently in that situation, like sub 60 MPH and no hard accelerations, that will result in better BMS calibration than someone that never goes below 50%.
 
 







Top