EV battery ‘Juicing’ warning
The VIA is concerned about a practice called ‘Juicing’ which is the artificial inflation of an EV’s battery state of health (SOH) by completing multiple DC rapid charges in short succession.
This follows a Stuff report on ‘Juicing’ which outlines GVI Electric general manager Hayden Johnston’s concerns about the practice, adding he’s seeing more ‘Juiced’ secondhand EVs coming from Japan.
The VIA says ‘Juicing’ is a contravention of both the Consumers Guarantees Act and the Fair Trading Act and that any dealers who engage in this practice are doing so to “mislead” the customer.
Juicing temporarily increases the SOH reading produced by a battery health report, therefore making the battery appear better than it actually is, the VIA says.
It suggests any customer who can identify that “Juicing” has been done would have a valid reason to reject the vehicle and file a complaint with the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal.
VIA members are advised not to “Juice” EV batteries.
Johnston tells EVs and Beyond that an inexperienced buyer or seller will usually only become aware of a “Juiced” battery several weeks after sale.
“It takes a couple of weeks’ worth of driving and charge cycles for the battery management system (BMS) to recalibrate and calculate the genuine SOH.”
Johnston says experienced suppliers of EVs will be aware of what to look for when purchasing the vehicle and there are several indicators that act as a warning of a juiced battery that will rapidly drop its SOH value.
“Juicing” can be both a deception to increase the EV’s value or a natural result of an owner’s charging and driving habits, Johnston adds.
“In Japan the majority of vehicle charging is done at public DC rapid charge stations as, unlike New Zealand EV owners, most Japanese EV owners don’t have a garage or home charge capability.“
Johnson says battery SOH is among many considerations when looking at an EV and he recommends visiting an EV specialist to talk through all aspects of EV ownership, from battery health to charging and also how to get the best range and battery life from your EV.
“A reputable EV specialist will also be able to offer a battery SOH guarantee that will safeguard you in the event of a rapid drop in battery health due to ‘Juicing’.”
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Juicing by the definitions provided also occurs during normal use of an EV when requiring multiple rapid charges during a trip. My LEAF prolonged showing 12 bars SOH (>85% SOH) for about a year due to my frequent travel before it dropped to 11 bars when I started travelling less. I would often gain 4-5% SOH after a trip and it was spend many days going back down until I did another trip. It only took 1-2 rapid charges before the SOH would start to rise. If a LEAF is not rapid charged over a 1-2 week period then it would tend to show a more accurate SOH value. 4+ weeks would be more accurate, and with only Level 1-2 charging.