Auxiliary battery drain is a reasonably widespread concern on some electrical autos, sadly, and the Toyota bZ4X – and certain its Subaru Solterra twin – could also be part of this membership.
Whereas having a bZ4X on mortgage for a assessment, our buddy Kyle Conner from the Out of Spec Opinions YouTube channel was stunned to search out the electrical SUV’s 12-volt battery utterly useless lower than a day after parking it.
The Toyota bZ4X’s distant management key did not work, so he had to make use of the bodily key to unlock the doorways, however the car nonetheless would not begin as a result of the 12-volt battery did not have any juice left in it to energy the auxiliary techniques.
As Kyle places it, it is unacceptable to see that a lot drain from a 12-volt battery, particularly on a battery-electric car that has an enormous high-voltage battery that might cost up the auxiliary battery very quickly.
Usually, the Toyota bZ4X ought to be capable to detect 12-volt battery drain and get up the drive battery in order that it fees up the auxiliary battery. That did not occur, although. It is price noting that the drive battery had about 15-20 % state of cost when Kyle parked it the day earlier than, not low sufficient to kick off battery saving protections – that occurs at 8-9 % SoC.
Within the curiosity of full disclosure, Kyle did admit he had left an OBD reader within the port, however he stated it is a very low drag OBD reader that is most unlikely to empty the battery. He stated he at all times retains it linked to each automobile he evaluations, and it has by no means drained a 12-volt battery earlier than. Nonetheless, a number of the commenters identified that an OBD dongle could preserve the automobile awake, in order that’s most likely price trying into.
Kyle’s opinion is that Toyota must launch a software program replace to repair this concern on bZ4X autos, particularly because it does not appear to be an remoted concern. Three different house owners of Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra autos stated they confronted the identical downside within the Twitter thread Kyle began, and there are lots of related complaints in on-line boards.
Till Toyota comes up with a repair – we have contacted them to ask in the event that they’re engaged on it and we’ll replace this story after they reply – Kyle showcased a workaround that house owners can use to jumpstart the 12-volt battery safely.
It is easy: flip the automobile on, put it in Impartial (with the parking brake on), buckle the motive force’s seat belt, after which stroll away. This may cease the automobile from shutting off after an hour, permitting you to completely cost the 12-volt battery – for Kyle, a 4,000-amp bounce starter did the trick.