Rumors of adaptive cruise control? And more?

[Pigwich]

Some autoblog blog thing said that the 2019 Bolt had adaptive cruise and a way to set a lower top state of charge?

True? Can we get these updates on earlier years?

 

[TheCyberKnight]

Some autoblog blog thing said that the 2019 Bolt had adaptive cruise and a way to set a lower top state of charge?

True? Can we get these updates on earlier years?

I checked on the Chevrolet site and there nothing about ACC, neither have I ever heard about it.
Meanwhile, for the charge limit, yes, it is available on the 2019. It's a slider you can adjust between about 40% and 100%.

I read that GM has no intent to retrofit the feature on pre-2019 models. Whether it's just a decision about software or if something else is involved is unknown to me. For pre-2019 owners, they can always revert to the Hill-Top feature to simulate a fixed value top-off limit.

 

[Pigwich]

This is where I read it...

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/10/04/2019-chevy-volt-bolt-opinion/

Especially with the adaptive cruise control now available in both models, the question arises, far more than even in other contemporary vehicles: Who is driving and what is being driven? This is not a bad thing. It's just futuristic (still), and the future is always weird.

but nowhere else do I see it....

Go figure?

 

[like2bike]

The Target Charge Level feature is something I've been waiting for in an EV. When I heard it had been added to the 2019 I stopped considering the 2018s and even did without a car for a week while waiting to get the 2019 I wanted. This is the first I've heard of ACC. I think the author must be confused.

 

[Mug2004]

It would be great indeed if the target charge level option was made available on pre-2019 models as an update. May be as a bonus for early adopters?

 

[iletric]

Charge slider is overrated. We would never consider it as anything useful. It's a carryover from the Leaf1 days when the rumor was that not charging 100% protects battery longevity. It did not, nor it does today. In fact, one should always start with max fill so as to minimize the depth of discharge at the end of the run before refill. Now, THAT protects the battery. In other words, full discharge and recharge over and over is detrimental to the battery life in the long run more than anything else.

What I personally miss is a charge start setting for our TOU. Instead I have to estimate this and set the only thing available, which is the departure time. If anyone knows how to set charge start time (2017, and 2018 Bolts) please advise.

 

[summit]

I would disagree about the option for charge target. Lithium prefers shallow charge/discharge, ideally around 50% SOC. The worst would be to hover near 100% on very hot days. It's best to charge daily with just enough kwh for the day.

There is a TOU setting in the Energy/Charge setting

 

[WetEV]

Charge slider is overrated. We would never consider it as anything useful. It's a carryover from the Leaf1 days when the rumor was that not charging 100% protects battery longevity. It did not, nor it does today.

Source please.

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

Table 2.

 

[Lightboltman]

The Target Charge Level feature is something I've been waiting for in an EV. When I heard it had been added to the 2019 I stopped considering the 2018s and even did without a car for a week while waiting to get the 2019 I wanted. This is the first I've heard of ACC. I think the author must be confused.

I have to wait a month or more of my 2019. I could have had a 2019, but opted to wait for a 2019. The Target Charge Level.

Where I live the electric utility is giving a $2000 rebate, so there are no cars on the lot. But it is worth it.

 

[like2bike]

Charge slider is overrated. We would never consider it as anything useful. It's a carryover from the Leaf1 days when the rumor was that not charging 100% protects battery longevity. It did not, nor it does today. In fact, one should always start with max fill so as to minimize the depth of discharge at the end of the run before refill. Now, THAT protects the battery. In other words, full discharge and recharge over and over is detrimental to the battery life in the long run more than anything else.

I faithfully used the 80% setting on my 2013 LEAF and think the battery degradation was not too bad. Presently at 10 bars, 48.1 AHr, 73.6% SOH at 61K miles, 5yr 10 mo. old. I understand that my early 2013 has the 2011/12 battery chemistry and is not very good on degradation compared to some of the later LEAFs.

Hopefully, someday soon there will be more real world data on the optimum charging strategy. For now, the overwhelming consensus supports using the slider. I think the Hill Top Reserve Mode was a wink-wink-nod-nod battery preservation mode, to avoid Nissan unfortunate mistake with the 80% mode. I don't think Chevy is being responsible in avoiding the topic of battery preservation techniques.

I noticed an interesting effect in the LEAF. I usually kept the battery between 50 and 80%. When I had noticeable degradation, the SOC seemed to have the most capacity loss in that part of the SOC range. For that reason, I am trying to avoid repeating that effect while still avoiding the SOC extremes in daily driving.

I may be like the nuts that change their oil every 3K miles or so, but at least I don't have to climb under the car to do it :lol:.

 

[iletric]

Charge slider is overrated. We would never consider it as anything useful. It's a carryover from the Leaf1 days when the rumor was that not charging 100% protects battery longevity. It did not, nor it does today.

Source please.

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries.

As quoted from above link, here it is:

"Similar to a mechanical device that wears out faster with heavy use, the depth of discharge (DoD) determines the cycle count of the battery. The smaller the discharge (low DoD), the longer the battery will last. If at all possible, avoid full discharges and charge the battery more often between uses."

 

[dcrudolph9]

One of the links posted above contained the following:

The EV battery also ages and the capacity fades, but the EV manufacturer must guarantee the battery for eight years. This is done by oversizing the battery. When the battery is new, only about half of the available energy is utilized. This is done by charging the pack to only 80% instead of a full charge, and discharging to 30% when the available driving range is spent. As the battery fades, more of the battery storage is demanded. The driving range stays constant but unknown to the driver, the battery is gradually charged to a higher level and discharged deeper to compensate for the fade.

If this is what Chevy is doing, then why bother discussing all these charging strategies? When you think you're charging to 60%, you're really only charging to 48%. True, Chevy is optimizing for the tradeoff between range and battery life, but it doesn't seem clear from the links articles that we know how to do better.