Now that it's super cold in MI, I've installed both a block heater and the foam grill blocking. However, during winter, the car sees a lot of short trips with very high blower levels, generally pushing the SOC down to 4-5 bars. One thing I've started doing is, if I'm sitting at a stoplight or otherwise idling for whatever reason, I drop the trans down to "L", which forces the battery to charge with 4 bars.

My logic is that if the engine is running anyway to try and warm up, why not also charge the battery a bit? I know it adds a touch more load to the motor (you can hear it), but that will also warm the engine up faster. My question is this: is this bad for the battery? Should I worry that I might be charging it when it's too cold?

I know that from a fuel economy perspective, this question might seem a bit dumb. But I'm mostly just asking to consider if I'm hurting the battery. This car sees a lot of short trips where it's now not ever getting up to temp. If it's going to spend ten minutes idling in a parking lot with a cold engine, why not also juice up the SOC?

Thoughts?

 

My car doesn't do forced regen in "L". Are there other conditions for this to happen? Apparently engine shouldn't need to be warm.

 

I'm going to have to try this one! My HCH2 is also a 2006. Maybe we should try for some Up-dates to the PCM's. I under-stand the newer models do regen more. What yr. is your HCH, Rob?
Cheers Hal

 

I thought the IMA battery had to be above some minimal temp (and below some maximum temp) in order for the control software to "allow" it to charge.

 

This may help warm it up sooner? H

 

I have tried it again today, and oddly enough it seems to be charging when in "L", but without displaying green bars! I have seen the state-of-charge display go from 7 to 8 bars (full) after some idling in L.

 

Is this new since your PCM up-dates? H

 

It's the behaviour after PCM update, but I don't know whether it was there before or not.

 

My car is an '08. It does the forced regen (4 bars) anytime I put it in L (warm or cold engine). The charging stops the instant the SOC reaches 8 bars.

 

here is some info on cold weather batteries:

Since the chemical reactions inside rechargeable batteries become weaker when the temperatures are extremely low, the batteries will not be able to provide their usual performance. (This is a common characteristic of all batteries.)

When using NiMH rechargeable batteries at temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit ( 4 Degrees Celsius ), we recommend charging your rechargeable batteries for 3–8 minutes to help provide the catalyst to activate the chemical process and also warming your rechargeable batteries. This will normally allow your rechargeable batteries to provide their normal performance levels, or at least until they cool off again.


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