iQ Battery (Capacity)

[Barkley]

 As the iQ has such a tiny Battery - as I only use mine for occasional trips, I’m wary of discovering the inconvenience of being unable to start.  I’m monitoring the available voltage by having a USB adapter complete with blue LED display which is ideal, but since I’ve never had such a small Battery before, do long-time users have a routine that works for them, like going for an X mile run to charge up, or letting engine idle for 10-15mins every week?  
 

I’d be interested in how others approach this to save me having to get an emergency Battery booster in case I’m caught out!

[74hct04]

I can't make a particular recommendation as to how to keep the Battery healthy but you may want to bear in mind the iQ has an 'intelligent' charging scheme.

There's a current sensor on the negative Battery clamp which can measure biderectional current flow (looks like an analoge output Hall effect transducer, running off a 5V supply, to me). The ECU can decide what (if any) charging current is demanded from the alternator so voltage may well fluctuate significantly depending on the characteristics of the journey and electrical loads in use.

Interestingly (well to me anyway), the failure of this setup doesn't illuminate the Check Engine Light (but fault codes are recorded); failure means the car reverts to 'traditional' alternator field control instead. There's a thread on here where somebody removed theirs as it was faulty. (They assumed it was due to cracked potting compound letting moisture in... Mine was cracked -as are many of those I found on via Google image search and eBay- so I have resealed it as best I could. My scan tool isn't showing a related code so I assume all is well). 

Apparently this scheme is very common on newer (that the iQ) cars and it was new to me, too!

Automotive electronics is fascinating stuff! 🤓

[Dutchrav]

My classic Corolla of 41 years old can be parked for 4 months and still starts. It just have a 45Ah Battery.

These days many Toyota (hybrid) cars have same small Battery and get drained when not used frequently caused by the electronics like alarm or keyless system. Solution can be a emergency Battery booster for when it is too late.

Or.. drive for 15minutes every week. Best option because a drained battery gets killed in the end.

[Barkley]

2 hours ago, Dutchrav said:

Or.. drive for 15minutes every week. Best option because a drained battery gets killed in the end.

I was just surprised at how good the iQ was at retaining its power when previous vehicles needed a weekly spin to maintain any reliability. As Rob noted, there is a lot of clever electronics involved now that wasn’t in place previously, but as getting caught out isn’t clever, a solution is useful.  

In my earlier EV (Renault Fluence) I could have a fully charged traction Battery, but if the 12v (standard) Battery wasn’t at 13v, the car was undriveable  - that was a steep learning curve!

[Dutchrav]

We´re good in finding solutions for things that are caused by ´new´ technology.

I remember my Nokia mobile phone 20 years ago that last 2 weeks with a charge.. the newest iPhone only upto 2 days. Now we have energy from hundreds of windmills, thousands of solarpanels but a car or a phone is faster drained.. Where did they lost it?

Here in Netherlands the AA have a special OBD dongle that have sim card and gps. It makes your car ´smart´ (and make them smarter because of the shared info) but the app gives a lot info. The positive thing is that it also can send you a push notification when Battery voltage is getting low.. it even has a crash sensor, direct info about a orange or red dashlight and help-button in case of breakdown. Question is.. who is here the smartest?

We have two Toyota hybrids here.. so we have a portable Emergency Power Pack. I already have to use it once.
And still.. today i needed my C-HR that was last used 8 days ago. It started but had im mind that maybe i need the power pack.

In next spring, when it is nice weather again, i go to my garage where my classic Corolla is. Just a mile away but i never take the power pack with me. Because i know.. it will simply start.