Traction Battery

66 views
Skip to first unread message

Jason Geer

unread,
Mar 25, 2023, 10:06:31 PM3/25/23
to 2011 Think EV Owners - Oregon
Hello All,

I've got a 2011 that was my father's (he passed away in 2019 and left it to me). It's got 38K and is getting about 40-50mi of range. Is there anything I can do to refresh the batteries to get more range? We (the car and I) are located in southern California. 

Thank you in advance for your time!
Jason

Myles Twete

unread,
Mar 31, 2023, 11:23:25 AM3/31/23
to 2011-think-ev...@googlegroups.com
A couple things: (1) make sure your tires are pumped up to proper pressure, (2) drive in "E" instead of "D" mode and don't put your foot into it, (3) fully charge the pack until the charger shuts OFF, then plug back in again until it shuts off, repeat until it shuts off quickly.  That last step will ensure that all the cell pairs are tracking each other (at least when the pack is full).  All it takes is one cell pair not being fully charged or one pair which has lost capacity or one pair that is self-discharging (leakage, stray currents or a BMS card that is going bad) and your range will suffer.
Best of luck!
-Myles 

--

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "2011 Think EV Owners - Oregon" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to 2011-think-ev-owner...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/2011-think-ev-owners-oregon/4cd77a66-10b2-4e9b-8cfb-495c5dac04a1n%40googlegroups.com.

George Buckley

unread,
Apr 4, 2023, 11:16:52 AM4/4/23
to 2011-think-ev...@googlegroups.com
Hi Myles

Regarding „repeat until it shuts off quickly“ - are you talking about within a second or two?  

I repeated a few times and my shutoff time is 11-12 seconds. 

Btw - my usable range is similar to Jason’s:  40 to 45.  it improves with the warmer weather. 

Thanks 

George 

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 31, 2023, at 11:23 AM, Myles Twete <mat...@gmail.com> wrote:



Myles Twete

unread,
Apr 7, 2023, 10:37:54 AM4/7/23
to 2011-think-ev...@googlegroups.com
Yes, if your charge system shuts off within seconds, this means that no cell pairs (of 192 pairs) are requiring balancing.
40-50 mile range in the cold season is about right.  I've had my THINK since new and I've always seen winter range not much better (if any) than 50 miles.  My commute was then 48-50 miles and it was a bit dicey in the winter---thankfully I could recharge at work much of the time.
Summer range naturally goes up substantially.  Some folks hypermiled their thinks back in 2012/3 and claimed to reach over 100miles range.  I've only ever gone 82 miles on a charge and that was like under 40mph and "E" mode driving, etc.

Phil Hochstetler

unread,
Apr 11, 2023, 2:47:54 PM4/11/23
to 2011-think-ev...@googlegroups.com
I'll concur with the range estimates from Myles.  I think the Enerdel batteries are quite a bit better than the Nissan Leaf batteries available at the same time (as far as minimal losses as they age).  My personal record in my Red 2011 Think City was going 102.5 miles one one charge with about 5% left when going from John Day to Fossil in Oregon on a hot July day.  That was possible because there were mostly no uphills, I was driving at 40 mph on back roads, and the A/C was off.  I don't think I would try it today with the now 12 year old battery.  This was in 2015 or 2016.

Phil H.

Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages