Flat Battery

[Murph7355]

Originally Posted by 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. ....

I'm generally inclined to agree with a couple of "buts"...

The type of mileage for those 10 miles is important. I don't think there's a single definitive answer (I used to think 10mins with decent revs on the car but that's too broad too).

Other manufacturers also suffer similar issues. The more loaded our cars become with gadgets, the more sensitive they will be to low/fluctuating battery charge. Batteries are also an area for manufacturers to save weight, so it becomes a bit of a double edged problem.

[Deman77]

Xc90 has two low voltage batteries to feed all the power hungry systems. It should have less of an issue with stand by discharge than any car with a single battery. Apart from Extremely long periods of inactivity it should be fine. The important point is that none of those systems should draw current when switched off apart from a few bits in standby that can be woken remotely. That should not draw more power than a mobile phone on stand by - have you seen how long your phone can go on stand by with no wake on a battery that's a fraction of size and xc90 had two. The drain problem is loose ends in software/firmware and potentially some hardware issues. Any sort of regular driving solution is just seeking to avoid diagnosis and masking the problem. What happens then? Someone drops off their car at the airport and comes back a week later - flat battery. But I never had the problem- but you did, you just kept recharging the two massive batteries faster than the problem was draining them.

[Quacker]

Just the other day I had a flat battery on my near three year old Nissan Qashqai. Never an issue before this and I suspect that my daughter may have somehow left sidelights on all night, although its lights normally switch off automatically when exiting the car unless specifically otherwise switched.

Anyhow, the point being that the battery was so flat that the dash went haywire and the start button couldn't stop it, because keyless start depends on voltage. The battery was down to 8V. After a jump start I drove it about five miles in the morning and another 12 miles that evening, then left it overnight. Next morning it started normally as if nothing had happened. So it doesn't take long to charge modern cars with stop-start systems because not only are the batteries capable of deep cycles but the electrical system, including the starter and, pertinently, the alternators are uprated appropriately.

[shortword]

At 07:30 this morning the wife rushes in to say her key isn't working and where was mine. Mine located, car will not unlock. She takes the **** box to work.

I was on a late one from 10pm to 05:30 so at around 10:30 after 3 hours sleep I call VOC. Guy arrives sometime later and there is 4.7v left in the battery. Quick jump and away we go. Car seems fine.

it's gone into the dealer now to be looked at. 17k KM on this T8 of mine and a LOT of hybrid driving but on the weekend I was on all petrol for a few hours so I'd expect that the battery should have been 100% charged this morning. As late as 7:45pm Sunday night I was out at the car and everything looked fine.

no low battery warnings of any kind. Bizarre really.

[benjabbie]

I have been following this thread with interest as I have been having low battery warnings over the last week or so in my 2017 D5. This came to a head on Sat morning when it wouldn't start at all. Following a visit from Volvo Assistance I got it to the dealer who did the required software upgrade today. On the way home I stopped for fuel and got the same low battery warning on restart. Took it straight back to the service centre again and left it there. Having left work early to pick it up I'm seriously unhappy that the dealer didn't test the car properly before telling me it was ready (or even bother to clean it). I was also under the impression the software upgrade was going to solve the problem, but it appears not...have to see what they say when I get the car back, hopefully tomorrow.

[Jabbar40]

Originally Posted by benjabbie

I have been following this thread with interest as I have been having low battery warnings over the last week or so in my 2017 D5. This came to a head on Sat morning when it wouldn't start at all. Following a visit from Volvo Assistance I got it to the dealer who did the required software upgrade today. On the way home I stopped for fuel and got the same low battery warning on restart. Took it straight back to the service centre again and left it there. Having left work early to pick it up I'm seriously unhappy that the dealer didn't test the car properly before telling me it was ready (or even bother to clean it). I was also under the impression the software upgrade was going to solve the problem, but it appears not...have to see what they say when I get the car back, hopefully tomorrow.

Hi. I had my software updated today as so many things stopped working!

As well as having another flat battery a few weeks ago, no stop start, auto wipers, Bluetooth and HUD losing position all the time.

I've picked car up and so far everything seems to be working - apart from stop start. So will be going back next week but want to absolutely make sure battery issues are sorted at least.

I'd still say best car I've ever owned (and I've had brand new cars from all premium makes in the past 15 years - probably 20-25 cars as I get itchy feet around every 6-9 months!).

Dealer has been brilliant so need to persevere.

[FE2015]

Originally Posted by Jabbar40

I'd still say best car I've ever owned (and I've had brand new cars from all premium makes in the past 15 years - probably 20-25 cars as I get itchy feet around every 6-9 months!).

Jabbar is this your second XC90 after selling your Rdesign recently? Did you change it because of itchy feet or wanting different specs?

[BTXC90]

Originally Posted by Jabbar40

Hi. I had my software updated today as so many things stopped working!

As well as having another flat battery a few weeks ago, no stop start, auto wipers, Bluetooth and HUD losing position all the time.

I've picked car up and so far everything seems to be working - apart from stop start. So will be going back next week but want to absolutely make sure battery issues are sorted at least.

I'd still say best car I've ever owned (and I've had brand new cars from all premium makes in the past 15 years - probably 20-25 cars as I get itchy feet around every 6-9 months!).

Dealer has been brilliant so need to persevere.

Another flat battery case, it was my turn last night,
we were going out for dinner, the Car unlocks but i guess it had just enough to switch on all displays, and gone!
Wife's fiesta to rescue.

Called the dealer and volvo assistance this morning. 3 hours of waiting for assistance at home.

I mentioned the TJ details to the dealer, he says 'this sort of technical information is not supposed to be in the public domain'.
I said its not new issue or mine is not the first case and he should know about it.

I think this is silly, instead of acknowledging the issue, they are kind of beating around the bush.

left the car at dealer. Will keep you posted.

[BTXC90]

Forgot to mention, got a loan car from volvo assistance (not the dealer)

17Reg XC 60

[soupytwister]

Originally Posted by BTXC90

I mentioned the TJ details to the dealer, he says 'this sort of technical information is not supposed to be in the public domain'.
I said its not new issue or mine is not the first case and he should know about it.

To be fair to the dealer, if it was in the public domain, he'd have a lot more owners beating at his door demanding TJxx and TJyy on a weekly basis "just because" - whereas I suspect they only want to update at service intervals unless someone rocks up with specific issues. Rightly or wrongly as that may sound.