The ZOE’s 12 volt battery
In one of the UK fora, there was quite a discussion about the 12 volt battery. I did some investigation and here is what I have found so far.
- the battery is a normal car battery, read, a lead-acid starter type battery. I assume same as i.e. Clio;
- the battery is needed to boot the car. Without it, the 400 volt system cannot be activated, which is a deadlock.
As for charging and jump-starting, this is all verboten by the manuals. With that disclaimer in place:
- you can jump-start the ZOE by connecting another isolated battery and starting the ZOE. It will start charging the empty battery immediately;
- alternatively, charge the battery with an external charger, but then always disconnect the minus pole of the ZOE first;
- jump-starting another car is possible (as it is a starter battery), but again, always disconnect the ZOE’s minus first.
Does this explain why the ZOE’s battery is being replaced every 3 years? This is a least what my dealer told me! Mine has thus been replaced on Friday, but of course in insisted on getting the old one 😉
The standard maintenance scheme is to replace the battery every 3 years. I think I will have it tested and then decide. After all it is my car and my battery. If it is iffy I will not hesitate to replace it immediately with dropping temperatures.
I experimented with the 12 V battery and found that if I charge the 12 V battery with external 14 V charger the stand by load on the 400 V battery went to 0 (from 300 W reported by the can ze).
I try to disconnect the battery and everithing works fine without the 12 V battery.I can drive around wirhout 12 V Battery.
And yes you can jumpstart a zoe even without the 12 V battery installed.
everithing works until the main 400 V contactor switches off.(didn’t try ABS)
I have R240,dont know about q210.
Good info 🙂
I was thinking to install li-ion 12 V battery and disconnect the onboard charger for 12 V battery but I didn’t find witch fuse or wire to disconect.
I would connect it only when charging main battery,and thus extend range by 5 % by my calculations.
5%? That is one kWh and would require a 80 Ah battery.
I.e. power steering runs on the 12 volt bus, so you either need to make sure that either:
I don’t know which cable comes from the inverter.