Charging stops at 52 miles

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jklinken

Member
Joined
May 14, 2021
Messages
9
I’m having an issue with the drive battery on my 2015 Chevy Spark EV with 16,736 miles. On May 12, I had charged it like I always do using my Clipper Creek 240v charger and it showed 72 miles available. I drove it a few miles and stopped and it showed 61 miles. Then I drove a few more miles and stopped, and it showed 45 miles. It took it home and tried to charge it again and it wouldn’t charge over 52 miles but the display said it was fully charged. To rule out a problem with the 240v charger, I tried using the 120v charger that comes with the car and it still won’t charge over 52 miles. I tested the 12 volt battery and it is showing fully charged at 13.5 volts.

This has never happened before and I don’t know if the drive motor battery is failing or if this is a software glitch. I hesitate to drive it because I’m afraid it might fail completely and leave me stranded. I feel like the car could use a “reboot” (using computer terms).

Any thoughts on what I can try before taking it to the dealer?

Thank you

Jerry
 
You might try a hard reboot by disconnecting the Neg 12V battery lead for a minute.

But you will have to drive it at least below 50% SOC to get a decent reading from the display on kWh and % used, so you can calculate the packs capacity.
If you have access to Torque Pro you can get numbers from that.

Good luck.
 
Thank you for that information. I just ordered a Bluetooth ODB2 scanner and I'll install the app and give it a try. I really appreciate your help.
 
I got the BAFX ODBII reader and connected it successfully to the Torque lite app. But I'm not seeing anything in the data showing battery capacity. Apparently there is more I need to do, or do I just need to get Torque pro? Where is a good source of information for getting drive battery data for my Spark?
Thanks
 
Yes, you will need Torque Pro, not the lite version. You will also need to download custom PIDs. I am not aware of any instructions specific to the Spark EV, but you can use the Bolt PIDs. The Bolt, like the Spark EV, has 96 cell groups. Instructions can be found at allev.info. I found that site via the chevybolt.org forum, which has extensive discussion of the OBD-II PIDs. Beyond that, I'm not the best one to ask. I'm still using the PID list before it was updated in Dec 2020.

Edit: discussion and link to PIDs in the Bolt forum: https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/chevrolet-bolt-obd2-pids.26666
 
If I'm reading this right, my battery capacity is showing 9.3. New it's 19kwh. Now I just need to find out if I can display individual cells.
 
jklinken said:
If I'm reading this right, my battery capacity is showing 9.3. New it's 19kwh. Now I just need to find out if I can display individual cells.
The PIDS for the Bolt and what I use for my 2014 and 2016 Spark EVs show you might be able to get a measurement for Average Cell Voltage in the range of 2.5 V min to 4.2 V max. It also looks like there are 96 individual PIDS for Battery Cell Voltage in the range of 2.5 volts min to 4.2 volts max. However, I do not know if these work for a Spark EV.
 
MrDRMorgan said:
jklinken said:
If I'm reading this right, my battery capacity is showing 9.3. New it's 19kwh. Now I just need to find out if I can display individual cells.
The PIDS for the Bolt and what I use for my 2014 and 2016 Spark EVs show you might be able to get a measurement for Average Cell Voltage in the range of 2.5 V min to 4.2 V max. It also looks like there are 96 individual PIDS for Battery Cell Voltage in the range of 2.5 volts min to 4.2 volts max. However, I do not know if these work for a Spark EV.

It appears your HV battery may have lost a number of cells and you should get a dealer involved to see if you can get a replacement for your HV battery.
 
There are only 96 PIDs for cell voltages. What is actually being measured are the voltages for cells grouped two in parallel. For the Bolt they are three in parallel.

I don't know what's going on with the capacity. I would have guessed a bad cell, but it looks like the voltages are consistent. This might mean a warranty replacement. I did have a sudden drop in measured capacity earlier this year (down to 13.6 kWh), but it seems to be coming back.

(I had to delay responding. I was away for my mother's birthday, then when I came home the power went out, and my internet was out until just now.)
 
Thank you so much for that information. Now I have a much better understanding. At least it looks like the cells are ok. I'm wondering if there is some sort of control module or computer problem. I'm getting the dealer involved at this point and I'll post the result.

The internet has been slow here recently in Maryland (Verizon).

Thanks again.
 
Very interested in hearing how your battery replacement is going, did you get a new battery pack or a refurbished, a 2014 or 2016 pack?
 
The battery was replaced with a new one according to the dealer. I don't know what year but I've read that chevy only has 2016s. My estimated mileage is slowly increasing (61 yesterday), but my battery capacity is still only showing 10.2. I guess I need to give it more time to recalibrate. But it makes me nervous not knowing how many miles I can actually drive.
 
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