Battery drainage while parked for a while… any solution?

[ipcrss]

Same issue: my battery could lose up to 10% overnight.... Frequently getting under 50% with warning messages.
Was not able to have it at more than 70% even after a 6 hours trip.
I think it is linked to the intial 2 months on the dealer parking before delivery

Had to change it and it's better but still wondering why I still have random drains
Dealer has planned to make measurements

Hello Dok.

I had almost identical issues with my battery and it was swapped for another good battery. The problems "appeared" to improve for a while. This did not actually cure the problem. I agree that some people perhaps do have bad batteries from prolonged discharge periods during pre sales storage. I see from your other posts you also had the expansion bottle leak that I also had along with several of the other faults that we have both had and some that you did not have. My agent found damage to 2 wiring looms/connectors (from the leaking coolant) under the expansion bottle leak. It has hoped that this was the cause of the battery issues. New parts were ordered and various tests have been carried out without showing or proving or confirming any fault. This is my 4th week without my only business vehicle. I am keen to know what if anything is found about your battery/charging/discharging/monitoring problems as they appear to be identical to my problems. I see that you have taken yours to be looked at. Regards

 

[Dok]

Hello Dok.

I had almost identical issues with my battery and it was swapped for another good battery. The problems "appeared" to improve for a while. This did not actually cure the problem. I agree that some people perhaps do have bad batteries from prolonged discharge periods during pre sales storage. I see from your other posts you also had the expansion bottle leak that I also had along with several of the other faults that we have both had and some that you did not have. My agent found damage to 2 wiring looms/connectors (from the leaking coolant) under the expansion bottle leak. It has hoped that this was the cause of the battery issues. New parts were ordered and various tests have been carried out without showing or proving or confirming any fault. This is my 4th week without my only business vehicle. I am keen to know what if anything is found about your battery/charging/discharging/monitoring problems as they appear to be identical to my problems. I see that you have taken yours to be looked at. Regards

Well... Nothing to be fixed anytime soon... Just got an email this evening telling me they found that the battery charge remained constant from evening to early morning. They've done one single test and their conclusion is "everything is fine" while I'm telling them it is random. Same for diffs, buttons, interface, etc.

The good news is that after 18 months explaining that my air-conditioning was working perfectly (and that it was therefore my fault that it wasn't), they finally realized that there was a problem.

The bad news ? Their answer: "Engineers are working on the problem, but unfortunately no solution has yet been found".

 

[ipcrss]

Well... Nothing to be fixed anytime soon... Just got an email this evening telling me they found that the battery charge remained constant from evening to early morning. They've done one single test and their conclusion is "everything is fine" while I'm telling them it is random. Same for diffs, buttons, interface, etc.

The good news is that after 18 months explaining that my air-conditioning was working perfectly (and that it was therefore my fault that it wasn't), they finally realized that there was a problem.

The bad news ? Their answer: "Engineers are working on the problem, but unfortunately no solution has yet been found".

Many thanks for the update. I have had similar replies regarding the battery/charging etc even though it was often below 50% and like you the problem appears to be random. I am hoping the coolant leak was causing the problem.. Until I get the truck back it is hard to tell......

 

[Dok]

Many thanks for the update. I have had similar replies regarding the battery/charging etc even though it was often below 50% and like you the problem appears to be random. I am hoping the coolant leak was causing the problem.. Until I get the truck back it is hard to tell......

My plan is to add a switch to "cut everything but doors+alarm+bare minimum".
I just don't have time to spend days on the wiring...

 

[ipcrss]

My plan is to add a switch to "cut everything but doors+alarm+bare minimum".
I just don't have time to spend days on the wiring...

Yes that was my plan as well if the battery issue continues. Howeverit is not ideal on a brand new car

 

[Dok]

Yes that was my plan as well if the battery issue continues. Howeverit is not ideal on a brand new car

You're right... But it's hard to get ineos teams to admit that there's a problem, whatever it may be. Their systematic reaction is “move along, there's nothing to see” rather than “thanks for your feedback, we'll look into it”.

If I tell them I have a random problem with the battery, they reply with 1 try and tell me they haven't found anything.
The same goes for differentials... And every random problem reported.

At the risk of rambling, I never expected to have no problems with a new car and a new brand... But I never imagined beta testing in such conditions.

Instead of being in contact with customers and getting as much feedback as possible, they're burying their heads in the sand, closing their eyes to avoid problems and hoping they'll go away.

A bug always comes back eventually

 

[ipcrss]

You're right... But it's hard to get ineos teams to admit that there's a problem, whatever it may be. Their systematic reaction is “move along, there's nothing to see” rather than “thanks for your feedback, we'll look into it”.

If I tell them I have a random problem with the battery, they reply with 1 try and tell me they haven't found anything.
The same goes for differentials... And every random problem reported.

At the risk of rambling, I never expected to have no problems with a new car and a new brand... But I never imagined beta testing in such conditions.

Instead of being in contact with customers and getting as much feedback as possible, they're burying their heads in the sand, closing their eyes to avoid problems and hoping they'll go away.

A bug always comes back eventually

Yes, my thoughts and experience exactly. I am not convinced there are engineers looking at this problem beyond relatively trivial checks. My truck has been in 4 times already for the battery issue an each time I am without my only vehicle an my business vehicle for days or weeks. My courtesy car is a clean new family saloon and so I cannot work in it. I expected some issues but not the lack of a functional aftermarket problem solving team. The agents have no knowledge and have little to no support from Ineos. It takes weeks to carry out inconclusive tests, gain approval for parts ordering, have them delivered and then replaced. TI bought this truck based on the promises of improve reliability and and less reliance on electronic control/ECUS so I would have far fewer trips to get things looked at.
I have a 2 seater without the second battery , diesel. I have had it for about a year

 

[Baron von Teuchter]

I hook my trickle charger up through the 13 pin tow plug at the back. Ctek mxs10 adapters to tow socket online. Works well for me.

Great idea!!

 

[Skydance]

Yes, my thoughts and experience exactly. I am not convinced there are engineers looking at this problem beyond relatively trivial checks. My truck has been in 4 times already for the battery issue an each time I am without my only vehicle an my business vehicle for days or weeks. My courtesy car is a clean new family saloon and so I cannot work in it. I expected some issues but not the lack of a functional aftermarket problem solving team. The agents have no knowledge and have little to no support from Ineos. It takes weeks to carry out inconclusive tests, gain approval for parts ordering, have them delivered and then replaced. TI bought this truck based on the promises of improve reliability and and less reliance on electronic control/ECUS so I would have far fewer trips to get things looked at.
I have a 2 seater without the second battery , diesel. I have had it for about a year

Yes, my thoughts and experience exactly. I am not convinced there are engineers looking at this problem beyond relatively trivial checks. My truck has been in 4 times already for the battery issue an each time I am without my only vehicle an my business vehicle for days or weeks. My courtesy car is a clean new family saloon and so I cannot work in it. I expected some issues but not the lack of a functional aftermarket problem solving team. The agents have no knowledge and have little to no support from Ineos. It takes weeks to carry out inconclusive tests, gain approval for parts ordering, have them delivered and then replaced. TI bought this truck based on the promises of improve reliability and and less reliance on electronic control/ECUS so I would have far fewer trips to get things looked at.
I have a 2 seater without the second battery , diesel. I have had it for about a year

Do you mind me asking if your auto stop/start works? I had the same config as yours purchased May 2023.

 

[Quartermaster]

I also have randomly discharge. If that occurs, i can hear a very quiet whine. Something does not shut. It is the same regardless of locking or shutting the doors or not. What has helped everytime (tried it about 30 times) was after parking turning on the ignition short and then back off. No whine, no discharge.

Nevertheless, my car is at the dealer at he moment (for three weeks now) and is getting a new battery. The old one "does not take enough charge, it it broken". The mechanic told me, that a broken battery can make electronics stay alive .....

We will see, when someday I get my car back.

 

[ipcrss]

Do you mind me asking if your auto stop/start works? I had the same config as yours purchased May 2023.

It works when the battery is sufficiently charged up but not when it is indicating low. Perhaps above and below approx 70%, but I do not want stop start draining extra power so switch it off if it is actually working.

 

[tnkatoy]

I can add my name to the battery discharge issues, after sitting locked for 7 days over the Christmas period with no activity (ie the doors weren't opened or anything to cause the car to power up), it didn't even turn over, just several loud bongs and the instrument cluster lit up. We were going out overnight, so when we got back the next day it didn't even unlock with the FOB, needed the key. After being on charge for most of the day it did start with 40% charge and an array of warning lights and bongs, the battery was being charged at 160A. The dealer has disconnected the second battery from the Ctek and apparently the problem is being looked at in UK .... this is something I didn't expect with over 200A of batteries on board, just another another concern about going anywhere remote with this car.

 

[Michael H.]

I can add my name to the battery discharge issues, after sitting locked for 7 days over the Christmas period with no activity (ie the doors weren't opened or anything to cause the car to power up), it didn't even turn over, just several loud bongs and the instrument cluster lit up. We were going out overnight, so when we got back the next day it didn't even unlock with the FOB, needed the key. After being on charge for most of the day it did start with 40% charge and an array of warning lights and bongs, the battery was being charged at 160A. The dealer has disconnected the second battery from the Ctek and apparently the problem is being looked at in UK .... this is something I didn't expect with over 200A of batteries on board, just another another concern about going anywhere remote with this car.

Just checking ... you didn't leave the PWR switch on?

 

[Clark Kent]

Just checking ... you didn't leave the PWR switch on?

Good question @Michael H.
Also, was a key (incl. the spare) anywhere near the vehicle over the 7 days? Some speculation in the forum about the vehicle waking up if it senses a key nearby (proximity key).

 

[MTNDOG]

Good question @Michael H.
Also, was a key (incl. the spare) anywhere near the vehicle over the 7 days? Some speculation in the forum about the vehicle waking up if it senses a key nearby (proximity key).

This is a definite, mine bonged at me from the driveway when I stepped out on the porch to let me know it was time for gas.

 

[tnkatoy]

The PWR overhead switches are rarely on, only when testing new connections and camping, ie they were off, and the keys are over were 20 meters away and not attached to the other car keys, so stayed in the house pretty much all the time.

The engine light eventually went off when the battery hit 60%, but the dealer had to hook up the car to cancel the airbag warning light.

The dealer has seen it before and aren't sure why the batteries aren't charging correctly, and it's happening often enough to be 'hand-balled' to the UK for a fix, but they have found the work-around of disconnecting the second battery from the Ctek seems to keep the main battery charged. They did note that the signal cable for the smart alternator connection to the Ctek isn't connected, which may or may not be part of the problem.

Either way I'd much prefer the install to be a crank/house battery setup, rather than the dual (backup) battery setup this comes with. Much safer to isolate the main/crank battery to ensure it always maintains enough power to start the car (like boats do), especially when remote, after all, that's what this car is designed for, and to be honest, I don't want to end up feeling like a Defender owner - again .

Ineos got a lot right and have built a really good car, but then there are a number of areas where they could have done so much better, and made a good car, brilliant.

 

[Michael H.]

The PWR overhead switches are rarely on, only when testing new connections and camping, ie they were off, and the keys are over were 20 meters away and not attached to the other car keys, so stayed in the house pretty much all the time.

The engine light eventually went off when the battery hit 60%, but the dealer had to hook up the car to cancel the airbag warning light.

The dealer has seen it before and aren't sure why the batteries aren't charging correctly, and it's happening often enough to be 'hand-balled' to the UK for a fix, but they have found the work-around of disconnecting the second battery from the Ctek seems to keep the main battery charged. They did note that the signal cable for the smart alternator connection to the Ctek isn't connected, which may or may not be part of the problem.

Either way I'd much prefer the install to be a crank/house battery setup, rather than the dual (backup) battery setup this comes with. Much safer to isolate the main/crank battery to ensure it always maintains enough power to start the car (like boats do), especially when remote, after all, that's what this car is designed for, and to be honest, I don't want to end up feeling like a Defender owner - again .

Ineos got a lot right and have built a really good car, but then there are a number of areas where they could have done so much better, and made a good car, brilliant.

I was specifically referring to the PWR switch, not the INT or EXT switches, because it’s easy to leave it on without realising it, and it’s a common cause of unexpected battery drain.

 

[Clark Kent]

The PWR overhead switches are rarely on, only when testing new connections and camping, ie they were off, and the keys are over were 20 meters away and not attached to the other car keys, so stayed in the house pretty much all the time.

The engine light eventually went off when the battery hit 60%, but the dealer had to hook up the car to cancel the airbag warning light.

The dealer has seen it before and aren't sure why the batteries aren't charging correctly, and it's happening often enough to be 'hand-balled' to the UK for a fix, but they have found the work-around of disconnecting the second battery from the Ctek seems to keep the main battery charged. They did note that the signal cable for the smart alternator connection to the Ctek isn't connected, which may or may not be part of the problem.

Either way I'd much prefer the install to be a crank/house battery setup, rather than the dual (backup) battery setup this comes with. Much safer to isolate the main/crank battery to ensure it always maintains enough power to start the car (like boats do), especially when remote, after all, that's what this car is designed for, and to be honest, I don't want to end up feeling like a Defender owner - again .

Ineos got a lot right and have built a really good car, but then there are a number of areas where they could have done so much better, and made a good car, brilliant.

Hmmmm. Please post back if the UK comes up with something definitive.

The red wire for the CTEK 120S comes disconnected from the factory. That's the standard setup. Unclear why.

In my head I see the dual battery setup as a single 210AH bank that is packaged as 2x 105AH EFB batteries if the auxiliary battery option is selected.
It can be likened to a parallel 12V configuration. The 2nd battery adds capacity to run consumers attached to the main battery, with some isolation and protection functions to trickle charge the main battery if it gets low. The goal is to protect the electrical system so you should always be able to get an engine start. Plenty of reports where that hasn't worked out.
I get the desire to reconfigure as a start/house battery but I think in part that's because we understand that configuration better and expect to see the consumers on the house battery (except a winch). There is at least one forum member who has reconfigured to a traditional start/house setup. I don't recall who that is. Someone please post a link.

 

[tnkatoy]

I'm a bit anal about turning things off ... so yes, the PWR switch was off, AC is also turned off when I shut down and all USB devices unplugged ... haven't found out how to turn off the radio though??

Re-configuring the setup was done by 'tristand' in the 'dual-battery-setup-modifications' thread, and it is a pretty impressive post about how he did it. He seems to be in the industry so is confident about what to do.. It would be really good if he did an electrical mod kit for the rest of us to install.

I was wondering if it is feasible to install a third battery to be a dedicated engine crank battery ??

Dual battery setup modifications

Hi All, I have the factory dual battery setup and decided to make a few changes to the vehicle wiring to make it more useful. I wanted to have the following: Front and rear 12V outlets powered from second battery Rear USB outpets powered from second battery All aux power supplies (under...

www.theineosforum.com

 

[Clark Kent]

I was wondering if it is feasible to install a third battery to be a dedicated engine crank battery ??

Dual battery setup modifications

Hi All, I have the factory dual battery setup and decided to make a few changes to the vehicle wiring to make it more useful. I wanted to have the following: Front and rear 12V outlets powered from second battery Rear USB outpets powered from second battery All aux power supplies (under...

www.theineosforum.com

That could be very messy. I would just carry a lithium jump starter; Noco, etc.