Looking at buying

[Twoods196]

As the title says I'm looking at buying a 2014 or 2013 energi. Is there any complaints, reliability I should know about before moving forward? Also when looking at cars is there anything I should be checking on? Maybe the range on the battery at full charge to see how much it's degraded? An last question, is it possible to add extra batteries to these cars? Thanks!

[murphy]

Extra batteries can not be added.

Since both heating and air conditioning are run from the high voltage battery, range depends on how the car is driven.  In spring and fall I get around 25 miles from a full charge on my 2013.  In the summer range drops to about 21.  In the winter, with the temperature below freezing, I get about 10 miles.  The penalty for using the heater is significant.  If you can get by with a warm coat and just the seat heater the range will be better.

 

If you need to go more than 10 miles from home then engine use will be necessary.  I don't have data on that since I almost never use mine.

 

My longest regular drive is 10 miles so most of the year I run exclusively on the battery.  My engine has started once since last March.

[Twoods196]

Thanks for the response. My daily drive is 20miles there an 20miles back. Would it be best to run the car in auto mode so it switches automatically between the two since my commute is a little far for it. Or would I be best just running the electric till it runs out then switching to gas? Thanks!

[murphy]

Thanks for the response. My daily drive is 20miles there an 20miles back. Would it be best to run the car in auto mode so it switches automatically between the two since my commute is a little far for it. Or would I be best just running the electric till it runs out then switching to gas? Thanks!

It depends on the characteristics of the trip.  If any of it is on a freeway, use EV Now to get to the freeway.  Switch to EV later (forces the engine to run) while on the freeway.  Then switch back to EV Now for the remainder of the trip.  High speed driving will use up the battery in a hurry.  I've had my car for over 3 years and never use Auto unless it switches there automatically and I don't catch it.

[TX NRG]

My rule of thumb now is to use EV Later for speeds of 55+ since battery use goes up considerably with the higher speeds and EV Now or Auto for lower speeds.

 

When new, I did my entire 22.5 mile trip to work in EV Now and was able to go 5-7 more miles of the return trip home before the battery was depleted. For the last year or so since the battery degraded so much that I can only make it 17 or 18 miles, I've been using EV Later when I'm traveling at highway speeds. If I use AC or heat, battery range is of course even less.

 

If buying a used vehicle from a warm climate, watch out for degraded battery capacity likely due to overheated cells from a stuck/defective airflow door in the Energi battery ventilation system.