Flat Battery

[tem]

The 3 month QAI is up to you to book.
Because of possible software update issues, I have not bothered with the inspection, as my car seems to be fine at the moment.

tem.

[Romablade]

3 month check must depend on the dealer. My dealer contacted us to arrange (by letter, text and then by phone call).

Update on the Battery Problem we've been having.

I've just dropped the XC90 off at the dealer (having previously had the battery replaced but the problem re-occur). I'd pointed them in the direction of the USA market software update briefing from Volvo. By pure chance (yeah, right!) the head of servicing at the dealership said a new software update for the UK models was released on Friday (3rd Feb 17, i.e. three days ago).

I'm picking the car up again at 5 today, so hopefully this will cure the problem. I'll post on here.

[Fliegenpilz]

I have a T8. I had a totally flat battery twice and consequently bought a portable powerpack as an emergency backup. When the battery was dead it was 0 volts which means there is a major leak. The Battery recharges easily which means the battery is good.

After three months of ownership my dealer invited me for the QAI which I was unaware existed. The inspection was done towards the end of February and I was told they changed the oil (usual for new cars due to initial parts wear) and did a SW update. Since then no battery issues yet. I tend to park the car unused for 3-4 days.

An interesting change was that now the T8 can actually charge the Hybrid battery fully. Before it only charged it 50% and seemed to suffer from odd charge regulator switching (i.e. charge, non charge, charge.... all whilst driving to charge). The charge now shows the full range bracket so clearly Volvo sneaked in a few bug removals.

However, now what I get is that now and then the auto handbrake does not release when I want to drive on after stopping. This is HUGELY frustrating, dangerous and potentially damaging to the car. I have to manually release the handbrake (keep in mind it only braked it automatically in the first instance). Does anyone have this as well?

Lastly I noticed in this threat talk about quiter tyres. Does Volvo provide this upgrade for free? I am unaware of it, but do think that the tyre noise is a bit excessive.

[Romablade]

I've picked the XC90 D5 PowerPulse up from the dealers yesterday and so far all looks OK with the battery.

They said a new release of software was made available on Friday (coincidence maybe as this is when I booked it in for the second time and mentioned this forum's advice re software issues) and installed it. The release said it would fix battery problems.

As a bonus they undertook the 3 month quality check at the same time and washed and vacuumed the car.

Fingers crossed... I'll update if the problem comes back.

[Romablade]

Update on software fix for battery drain problem...

Touch wood, so far no problems since the software update. The 12V Battery Low warning isn't showing it's ugly head and all the functions that used to shut down to conserve power seem to be working.

I haven't used the car much this week as been working from home, so it's only had a few short (20 mins max) runs since Monday's software update, which is a good test as sitting on the drive the battery drained much quicker as you'd expect. Will post again if this changes.

[pcurry]

Had similar problem
XC90 Inscription Polestar just 3 moths old
Firstly 12V battery low level warning
Dealer took in told me I was not driving enough miles per day -
drive approx 120 miles per week - no one told me that I had to drive a minimum number miles per week with any other car- they recharged battery and software upgrade
Within two weeks - Problem recurred
Back to dealer for 2 days - now told battery cell fault - new battery and software upgrade - resolved problem
Within two weeks Problem recurred
In interim was away for 4 days - car not started for 4 days
On return tried to start car - complete shut down nothing working and just able to open drivers door.
Car now been uplifted back to dealer
Anyone got any thoughts on what I should do next
Concerns dealer will repeat and change battery and a further software upgrade and solve the situation in the short term 2 weeks for the primary problem to return
Regards

[Lexman8]

Originally Posted by pcurry

Anyone got any thoughts on what I should do next
Concerns dealer will repeat and change battery and a further software upgrade and solve the situation in the short term 2 weeks for the primary problem to return

There have been several software updates over the last 2 months which attempted to solve the battery issue(s). Afaik, the latest one was issued about a couple of weeks ago and seems to have finally fixed the problem, at least for most people.

[Murph7355]

Originally Posted by pcurry

Had similar problem
XC90 Inscription Polestar just 3 moths old
Firstly 12V battery low level warning
Dealer took in told me I was not driving enough miles per day -
drive approx 120 miles per week - no one told me that I had to drive a minimum number miles per week with any other car- they recharged battery and software upgrade
Within two weeks - Problem recurred
Back to dealer for 2 days - now told battery cell fault - new battery and software upgrade - resolved problem
Within two weeks Problem recurred
In interim was away for 4 days - car not started for 4 days
On return tried to start car - complete shut down nothing working and just able to open drivers door.
Car now been uplifted back to dealer
Anyone got any thoughts on what I should do next
Concerns dealer will repeat and change battery and a further software upgrade and solve the situation in the short term 2 weeks for the primary problem to return
Regards

Have a polite, firm conversation with the supplying dealer.

Note you're aware of recent successful software fixes and will therefore give them one more opportunity to fix it. Including ensuring they have put a new battery in (once modern batteries have cell failure, they're pretty much toast IME. At least to the point where I wouldn't trust them!).

If that doesn't fix it, I'd be asking for their commitment to swap the car out at their cost or to give you a full refund, as there is obviously something more material at play.

The one thing that doesn't help with is leaving you stranded with a dead battery. If that will end up being a major problem, you need to agree some sort of "insurance". Maybe get them to supply a jump start pack that you can leave in the boot for a couple of weeks, get them to show you how to use it and to guarantee a suitable loan car the second you need to use said pack.

If they're not reasonable about it, then maybe note you want a refund straight away - that can't be the best option for them (or you really). And/or call Volvo UK.

[Murph7355]

PS "Progress" means more and more modern cars need decent use to keep the batteries well maintained IME.

120 miles should be OK. But it depends on how its spread. Is it one 60 mile each way trip and then left for 6 days? Or 6 days' worth of 10 miles each way round trips? Are those trips chugging along in traffic never getting above 10mph?

Ours gets used every day and generally for at least 15mins a trip with a good chunk of that over 40mph. That seems, touch wood (I'll use that in nearly every post!), to be sufficient to keep everything working OK thus far. But if we were using it less I'd be looking at installing an easy hook up to a battery conditioner. The starter battery doesn't seem overly huge in these to me, there are a lot of systems to keep ticking over and starting diesel engines always takes a good deal of juice.

It does sound like yours has a fault though

[Deman77]

Any of these low usage claims by dealers sound like a fob off when failing to identify the true issue (that was used for a lot of problems that came up since the car came out). using the car for 10 or so miles a week is enough to keep batteries in decent condition, it needn't be ever day or even every other day. Since I got my EV run around the tractor has been used only on weekends and even then 20-30 miles with an occasional 100mile trip. I had no issues with the battery and I pre-heat using aux every time. Manufacturers only warn against prolonged periods of inactivity - several weeks, pushing a month. Anything in regular weekly usage of 10miles or more is doing enough and Volvo should look for a leak. The car shouldn't need more than a mobile phone on stand by. The only concern should be natural loss of charge in acid battery which takes weeks not days.