Well, the article in the NY Times the other day was too much to pass up so i did a little research and discovered the baterry model was having trouble selling. At the discounts and lease rates they offered, it was too much to pass up so we turned in the diesel jetta which we hated, and now have a new love-hate relationship to start with the new energi. Just shy of 100 miles on the clock so far, my wife had a disconcerting issue with the meter to tell her if she was going to make it home after an 18 mile jaunt on a full charge this morning. Seems the range gauge after only a few minutes went from 70 miles to only 43. Yet when I calmed her down later and did the math I proved that the car did indeed do a 30 mile round trip and the gauge still reads 46 miles to go. So my question here is regarding 2 things: 1. Does the battery on it's initial charges do quirky things as it gets accustomed to deep cycling? 2. Does the gauge on the dash have an element of interpretation that should be applied when reading it based on starting with a full charge or does it get more accurate as the battery breaks in if there is such a thing? Lastly: I can't tell if the battery is affected by opportunity charging. I've sold electric forklifts for years and conventional lead acid batteries lose capacity if you only lighty use them and constantly top them up. Hopefully this Lithium ion is not subject to the same malady, I know that some batteries like NiMH are not affected by this. Day 1 and we're cautiously optimistic about the long-term prospects for the car.
