Battery Issues?

Faults and Technical chat for the CUPRA Born
Millsy
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2023 3:29 am

Post by Millsy »

Hi all,

Firstly, I hope this is not something already discussed but I’m asking for some advice before I contact my service provider.

I took custody of my lease V1 58kWh a month ago (Dec 22) in the UK and have managed to put 2400miles onto it in temperatures between -5 and 15c. Since having the car I’ve found myself using a combination of home charging and public fast chargers. I’ve used a variety of fast chargers (150kW) including BP Pulse/IONITY and GridServe and have not managed to see the car achieve anything above 35kW charge speeds in all temperatures. It seems to stay at 30kW regardless of the charger speed. Additionally, I’m really struggling to get the cars economy above 3.0kWh despite normal road speeds with a keen eye on the economy - ie. SLOW.

Whilst I understand it’s winter and temperature affects performance/economy, I can’t help feel I should be seeing better performance figures and quicker charging speeds?

Any advice or suggestion will be appreciated.

M

monkeyhanger
Posts: 565
Joined: Tue May 31, 2022 8:12 pm

Post by monkeyhanger »

Charging rates are a mixed bag when out and about on rapid chargers. Just because a charger is rated at 150kW or 350kW - the supply to that charger might not make that possible, or the kW output is based at 800v, and the Born is only rated to accept charge at whatever (assuming 250 or 400v, not sure what it is). Rapid charging also has a preference for a warm and quite empty battery.

Some chargers are faster than others in reality, despite what they are rated at.

Last week I did a 500 mile round trip, 170 miles on my own home charging, then a top up at a 175kW "charge point" charger. The car's battery was warm from the motorway driving - car pulled 41kW peak and in the 30s on average.

Next charge was done on an Ionity 350kW charger- 51kW peak and 42kW average.

Last charge was on a new 150kW rated Gridserve charger (part of an array of 8 new units at Moto Wetherby) - peak 81kW and ave 62kW charging speeds. The crappy old Gridserves on the same site gave me 29kW last time I used them!

In my experience, Osprey chargers are the quickest (I've had a 116kW peak charge rate).

When I jump on a 50kW charger, I usually get very close to 50kW for the whole charge.

On that very same round trip, temp was 5.5C when I left Newcastle and 7C when I arrived at Bedford. I drove all the way down with no heating except the steering wheel on 1, and got 3.2 miles per kWh for the journey. If I'd set the heating at 16C, my expectations would have been about 2.9kWh for the same journey, religiously sticking to 71mph, with no congestion to slow me down.

In the Summer, same journey, with some aircon on to cool things down would be an easy 3.8 miles per kWh.

Don't underestimate how much car heating can hammer efficiency, especially on shorter Winter journeys.
2022 V2 E-Boost L-Tech Pack - Aurora Blue
2023 Audi S3 - to avoid rapid charging on long journeys.

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Millsy
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2023 3:29 am

Post by Millsy »

Hi Monkeyhanger,

Many thanks for your time and response.

It’s interesting to hear how many variables we have to deal with regarding temperature, car options and public chargers. Maybe I’m being naive generally and relying on the facts as opposed to being flexible with reality. Time for me to “tweak” to that nice balance.

Once again, thankyou!

M
juliamacca0799
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Nov 20, 2023 1:05 pm

Post by juliamacca0799 »

OMG! am really not enjoying my Cupra Born anymore. Its been ok/ish for short local journeys, but since taking delivery of it in March this year, its already been recalled for tyre issues and also the main console was really glitchy and the reversing cameras just stopped working!
But yesterday, i think I really lost the will to live after it took me 9hours round trip to Birmingham from London...and there was literally no traffic!

I started in London - the car was charging overnight, but only managed to charge up to 80% - i checked my charging options, and it was set to charge to 100% so no idea what happened there. But it had 152 miles on the dashboard which, considering I only needed to drive 99miles, I thought i would be ok! but with around 32miles to go the car was down to only 4% and i had to find a service station to charge it!
At Frankley services I tried to plug into the Gridserve charger which was meant to be 50KW charger, each time i plugged in the cable, it said 'trying to connect' then disconnected...i tried it 4 times! i unhooked and plugged in again...but still said there was an issue!
I moved to the slow 7kw charger just to get some charge on it so i could drive to another place - at a cost of £14.60. Another car drove up, plugged into the Gridserve 50KW charger and it worked fine for him! I had to wait 1 and half hours to get enough charge to get me to the next charging station. I also tried the Gridserve one again after the other driver left, but still the same error!

I then drove to a BP Pulse charger further down the road - there were two 150KW charging points...after waiting an hour to get onto one of them..i plugged in and it went from 100KW to 20KW then 13KW...! It literally took 2 and half hours to get to 151miles on the car. I even swapped chargers as some other guy plugged into the one next to mine and he was getting 100KW...so i moved to his one after he left and the same thing happened! I was getting no more than 20KW...Because I'd swapped chargers and with BP you have to have at least £5 credit...this cost me £50! Ok so i have £8 in credit on my BP app....but the trip in total cost me nearly £60 and 9 hours of my life! To put that into perspective our other car is petrol...full tank costs £75 and we'd have gone there and back in 4to5 hours!

Our journey back was 95miles and we had 151 miles on the car...we barely made it back again...with 2% left on the battery..we'd had no heater on or radio as I couldn't face another charging situation! Why does the battery deplete so quickly on this car!

I was a total ambassador for EVs but maybe its just the CUPRA? I've never been so stressed on a long journey!

Its now going back to the garage for testing again next week...clearly there is an issue, but i notice on this thread that others have experienced similar situation..
s3akr
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun Sep 24, 2023 7:13 pm

Post by s3akr »

Something really doesn't sound right with your car. I drive mine with little in mind about efficiency and get to 3.0 to 3.2M/KWh on a 160-180 Mile regular trip I do - aircon on at 21c, music blaring, cruising at approx 78 - 80mph, 90% of the journey on motorway driving, 2 of us in the car, sat nav on, ACC engaged. When I plug in (usually to a 350KW charger) I am getting the full 150-170KW reported on the charger between 20% and 80% with a gradual decline in speed as it fills that last 20% up to the 100% mark.

There is a know issue with some cars on the HV battery - might be worth seeking a dealership that can test it for you as it sounds incapable of holding charge and accepting charge under loads.
2022 Born V3 77KW - Aurora Blue, Beats, DCC, Heat Pump, Cargo Pack, 20" Blizzard Copper Wheels, Tech Pack M, Aurora Blue Seats
2021 Macan GTS (too many options)
2012 Cayman R (the right options)
1998 Boxster 2.5 (full poverty spec + 15 bad owners)
TheBornIDentity
Posts: 192
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2022 5:55 pm

Post by TheBornIDentity »

There must be something wrong with the car unless you had the cabin temperature at 30c and were doing 100 mph with 4 passengers driving into a headwind.

Now the weather has gotten a bit cooler I’m getting about 90 miles from 60% battery at worst. Don’t think I’ve ever seen it charge at less than 40kW on a rapid charger. Sounds like you have a battery fault.
ChaddysByrd
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Dec 08, 2023 2:20 pm

Post by ChaddysByrd »

Hi Im new to the forum and recently bought a 22 plate V3 77kwh Born. Having had an EV, Zoe, for 3 years I needed to extend range to get me to Bristol from Manchester. The Born big battery fitted the bill and after lots of research of others in class the Born's range swayed me.

However, first time I try to charge it 100% for long trip south it only registers 167km...yes 167km! Thinking this cannot be right, taking photos and contacting the dealer (non-SEAT/ CUPRA) where I bought the car, I was assured this was a glitch.

Set off and had to make two stops en route in my 180 mile journey. First stop at Sneitsham no chargers working / available. This was a cold and v v wet Friday night. Limped the car to Gloucester where I managed 40 minutes costing £17 to give enough charge to continue to my destination. COst £17. Time 6 hours. Frustration inestimable... :oops:

Coming home same guff. Angry call to garage where I purchased the car. They arranged for it to go into the local SEAT garage some 3 weeks later. Just got it back 3 days later to be told there is no issue with the battery (but then they did try to insist the car only had a 45kw battery?!) and it had merely been in for 3 days to sort the battery recall. I'm afraid tears and snot were involved late last night...

This morning I rang CUPRA Complaints UK to be told I was not the registered keeper of the car. Strange as the DVLA say I am and guess that trumps CUPRAs system? To resolve this issue I had to take my V5 documents to the garage and they would update the system, then I could ring back and CUPRA Complaints would look into it.

Ask advised took my docs to SEAT garage and they said " we do not do V5 documents". I explained this was my V5 document and the details needed to be inputted to CUPRA system before they could review the battery issue. FINALLY the computer was updated. Meanwhile back to CUPRA UK Complaints and there is nothing in the system. I am beyond reason atm.

The fact remains my battery is charging to 100% but only showing 165km range. For a V3 77kw battery EV. Even my little Zoe did 200 on a good day. In summer.

Although I have read of a few issues I cannot seem to find any that match mine. Is there anyone out there who can help?

Screenshot_20231208_080055_My CUPRA (1).jpg

Screenshot_20231208_080055_My CUPRA (1).jpg

TheBornIDentity
Posts: 192
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2022 5:55 pm

Post by TheBornIDentity »

Sorry you’re having such a rough time with it.

Firstly the app is absolutely useless at estimating range. It’s completely buggy so I’d take no notice of anything it says on that front.

The estimated range in the car by the battery % is a better guess but again it is just a guess based on the last few minutes of driving.

As this isn’t your first EV you are probably aware that speed and heating is a range killer! Don’t go over 70 mph and unless yours is fitted with a heat pump as an option then the heater uses loads of power. I’d not set it over 19c and use the heated seats and wheel if you are cold as they use way less power. A head wind and rain on the motorway also knackers range.

I’ve got a 58kWh battery V1 and drove from Gloucester to Minehead and back last weekend and used 99% battery (was a close one). That’s 176 miles total and although I did 70mph on the motorway going down I had to do 60mph coming back and about the last 15 miles doing 55 mph behind a lorry!

Provided you don’t go over 70 and keep the heat sensible then I’d have thought you’d get at least 180 miles on the motorway in this weather. With mixed driving like I was doing with your battery I expect 220 miles or so in current weather.

Probably the main difference is the Zoe probably had has a heat pump as most do but the Born’s normally don’t and the heater is a range killer.
Ponk
Posts: 116
Joined: Wed May 03, 2023 6:25 pm
Location: AG, Switzerland

Post by Ponk »

Charging level and estimated range from the app do not really help. You need to tell us your average consumption, average speed, journey type and air temperature, then it’s easy to say it’s normal or abnormal.

When you know your expected consumption, you can work out easily in your head what range to expect.
Cupra Born, 77Kw, Silver, 20" Firestorm, Advance Pack, Beats, Heat Pump, Swiss Model.
JBorn
Posts: 62
Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2023 9:50 am

Post by JBorn »

Hey @ChaddysByrd

Do you have a charger at both ends? Do you charge to 100% before long journeys? Just checking, otherwise the below isn't really so relevant...

I have a Born V3 77kWh, I live in Stockport (Greater Manchester), travel to Bridgwater (33 miles further south than Bristol via M5) every other week, so I know the route you're taking really well.

The trip for me is 187 miles one way - 90% motorway, 10% is rural country roads. Aircon on normal, A/C on, 19.5 - 21deg C, driving mode comfort, don't really think too much about driving eco.

Generally I use significantly more battery on the way down, I think it's the early 4:15AM mornings, generally lower temperatures, less traffic, so you always get a much higher average speed (which equals significantly more drag & less range), and there's no-one else breaking a slipstream for you (more drag!).

The lowest percentage I had getting to Bridgwater is 7%, at normal summer temperatures. To be fair, I had ACC set to 85mph on the M5... 100 miles of 85mph really eats your range! The lowest I've ever had on the way back on the way up north, generally higher temperatures, ranging around 3:30pm to 8:30pm, was just last week in the cold snap, back with 7%, temps were 2deg C to -1.5deg C, ACC set to 74mph the whole way back. The last 20 miles were absolutely ragged on the country roads though 😄

Generally though, on the way back north during normal temps I get back with about 14 - 21% with ACC at 85mph on M5 and 74mph on the M6. I got back with 25% once, but I've never managed that again... I wasn't even driving carefully, was very weird 🤔

Charging 100% at both ends, I have never had to stop on the way home, ever. I've slowed down to 74mph on the ACC to extend my range if I get worried... but never stopped to charge! To be honest, I thought my battery was knackered, because the range was just so much less than the WLTP figures.

Cupra Dealership fobbed me off too, sent it in to investigate range issues and for a battery recall, they kept it for 2 weeks, told me it was at a battery care center. When I called the other day for another recall, the snotty lady on the phone said "It's never been to a battery care center, we just did a software update here at the dealership". So they will flat out lie to you, which is really confidence inspiring!

What speed do you set your ACC to on the M5 and what speed on the M6? Since we both have the same car on the same route... would be interesting to compare figures...

What time do you leave Bristol, and what time do you leave Manchester? The time you leave makes a massive difference to range as well due to traffic factors.
Last edited by JBorn on Fri Dec 08, 2023 9:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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