C350e Battery Range

[Per Groth Ludvigsen]

I get that but you are using your ICE head.... because you are thinking "I dont want to have to stop my journey for 5 hours to charge......"

Thats not how it is, you rarely charge away from home or work so charge times are not that relevant if you have decent range. I've used rapid chargers for one run only in my ownership of my car. Otherwise, I just jump in with a full tank every morning and drive. I never recharge during my driving time - I dont need to - I have 280m range so thats a weeks driving, not a day. I plug in at work, and when I leave i have a full car again.

Even if I did have to use a rapid charger, 20-80% only takes 40 min - time for a pee, a coffee and off I go again....

If you own a decent EV you rarely, if ever, charge in the way you talk about - its just not how you run them. Simple rule with EV's - ABC - Always Be Charing (charged) - so whenever possible, wherever you park, you are on charge...

In fact I've probably spent less time "fuelling" than you have! Its like the fuel station comes to you and fills your car up for you.... for about £3 !!!

Well, do you drive with caravan long distance in Europe ?

 

[MBDevotee]

Interesting how leaving it on charge will work out for you, the i3 (3 year old) I had use of lived on a fast charger and was down to ~65 mile range which dropped to 35 as soon as you set off. Made it only useful for driving around town.

Yep, the i3’s had bad battery degradation problems, as did the early leafs.

So far, 9 months in my SOH is still 100% (state of health). The batteries are very much better now - and the BMS (Battery Management Software) is also a lot better.

Obviously, once charged the charging stops, and on mine, if I know I am only doing local driving I can set it to only charge to 80 or 90% to preserve the battery even more.

 

[MBDevotee]

Well, do you drive with caravan long distance in Europe ?

Nope. I’d need a EV6 or Ioniq 5 or Tesla Model X for that as they are homologated to tow - my Soul isn’t!

The new Rivian will be interesting mind - in the USA it has a rated tow weight of 14,000 lbs (about 7 tonnes) a 450m range and rapid charging capability......

It is about £80k mind!

 

[Blobcat]

Nope. I’d need a EV6 or Ioniq 5 or Tesla Model X for that as they are homologated to tow - my Soul isn’t!

The new Rivian will be interesting mind - in the USA it has a rated tow weight of 14,000 lbs (about 7 tonnes) a 450m range and rapid charging capability......

It is about £80k mind!

I've been watching Long Way up with the electric bikes and Rivian prototypes, South America still has some way to go with charging infrastructure and the low temps aren't helping at all with charging. Interesting experiment though, even if they have to have a diesel genny on the back of a diesel lorry following them around...

 

[MBDevotee]

Rumour is Rivian is going to build a network in the less popular places exclusive to themselves (I dislike that idea really) but their thinking is their cars will head into the wilds. If they teamed up with Tesla (but they won't cos they are huge rivals) they'd have an excellent network.

But with the range of these cars, rapid charging isn't so needed as you rarely run low anyhow.

 

[HA23]

I recently purchased a 2017 C350e with 15,000 miles on the clock
It is a superb car and I love driving it, however, I cannot get the hybrid battery to charge more than 9 miles. Occasionally, it will go to 10/11 but not very often.
I took it back to Mercedes Dorchester, they had it for a couple of days and said that everything was working as it should, nothing wrong with it. They could not charge it any higher however, but said it would improve depending on driving style...it hasn't.

I am not a novice with hybrids, I chopped in an Audi A3 Etron for this and I regularly got 30 miles electric range over 3 years.

Anyone got any suggestions? Thanks

The battery is covered by a 6 year warranty or up to 62000 miles (whichever comes first). My car was literally at 61.5k miles so I was very fortunate. I was getting about 18 miles two years ago and this year it went down to 6 miles! I had no idea about the warranty but as soon as I found out I took it to Mercedes Chelmsford (most helpful Mercedes garage out of the lot). They kept the car for a while to run tests (tests took about a week) and then gave me a brand new battery fitted in for free. Literally picked up the car today and got 18 miles electric range!

 

[51315]

This is interesting as I too was considering this model. So does it mean I must be sure to get something that is well within the boundary of milage and age. This could be difficult if I don't want to go much above £15k. What's the cost of a replacement battery and how reliable are they after six years or 60,000 miles? This could be a problem I suspect.

 

[HA23]

I’m not too sure about how it performs after the 60k mark as I got my battery replaced at the 61k mark. I think all c350e models are within the 6 year period currently. It’s also worth noting they must find a fault in the battery for them change it under warranty, although I have no idea how they work this out. I believe the cost of a new battery is £6k/£7k, and I think that is without the labour cost so if it’s not covered under warranty it is certainly not worth replacing. Mercedes also offer an extended warranty program which covers the battery too which I have (as mercedes’ will always need a repair at one point and it is expensive!) for around £40ish a month. This is definitely worth it for the c350e as many garages have no clue how to fix the issues.

 

[grayb]

I don't know about MBs, but you will find battery specialists who repair Lexus/Toyota batteries. This will be the way things happen in the future, I think. We went to an open day at our local Official Porsche Centre and they had just installed the equipment needed to repair Taycan batteries.

 

[alexanderfoti]

Yes, we can repair battery modules directly, as an extension from our custom bike and EV upgrades for lithium based motorbikes:

A Bit different

I have quite an interest in electric vehicles and have started to look at fixing them. I have a Vectrix VX-1. Its an electric maxi scooter that was approx £10,000 when new, and was far ahead of its time. Unfortunately, due to to NIMH batteries, it has not stood the test of time. The company...

forums.mercedesclub.org.uk

 

[grayb]

Yes, we can repair battery modules directly, as an extension from our custom bike and EV upgrades for lithium based motorbikes:

A Bit different

I have quite an interest in electric vehicles and have started to look at fixing them. I have a Vectrix VX-1. Its an electric maxi scooter that was approx £10,000 when new, and was far ahead of its time. Unfortunately, due to to NIMH batteries, it has not stood the test of time. The company...

forums.mercedesclub.org.uk

Am I right in thinking that the crucial part is 're-balancing' the cells after replacement?

 

[alexanderfoti]

Am I right in thinking that the crucial part is 're-balancing' the cells after replacement?

That is a big part, on on large packs can take weeks! Even the vectrix pack (7kwh) took 14 days to get within 5mv

 

[s5tuart]

I’m not too sure about how it performs after the 60k mark as I got my battery replaced at the 61k mark. I think all c350e models are within the 6 year period currently. It’s also worth noting they must find a fault in the battery for them change it under warranty, although I have no idea how they work this out. I believe the cost of a new battery is £6k/£7k, and I think that is without the labour cost so if it’s not covered under warranty it is certainly not worth replacing. Mercedes also offer an extended warranty program which covers the battery too which I have (as mercedes’ will always need a repair at one point and it is expensive!) for around £40ish a month. This is definitely worth it for the c350e as many garages have no clue how to fix the issues.

18 miles range for a replacement cost of £6K hardly seems worth it to me!

 

[grayb]

18 miles range for a replacement cost of £6K hardly seems worth it to me!

You can bet that the car won't work without the battery - warning messages, limp-home mode, etc, etc. In the real world, the faulty cell will be replaced for a fraction of that cost.

 

[Paddywack0]

I recently bought a late 2016 350e that had 80k on the clock. The main thing was that it was a bargain price for a pristine, top of the range (Premium Plus) with all the bells and whistles. It is my first hybrid and a bit of a first toe dipped in the water but so far I like it. I had done a lot of research so knew what I was getting in to and from an initial 11-12 miles I am now getting 9 miles showing up after a full charge. I suspect this is down to driving style and the fact that it had only done 800 miles in the previous year under lockdown. At first I was worried but having read this thread and others I am heartened by the fact that this seems to be the average for this model at this age. For me at the moment it works. It was bought for short journeys into town (2-3 miles each way) and then longer journeys to London, Birmingham, Oxford and Bath (all now or soon to be ULEZ). I've noticed that even with longer journeys the engine is off 40% of the time and the regen kicks in frequently adding to the range and meaning that the battery kicks in even when showing empty. My average so far after 6 weeks is 60mpg, which I take as not bad for a big, heavy, luxury car. In town it is so smooth and responsive that I agree with others that it is annoying when the engine occasionally cuts in. I've found my driving style has changed to accomodate this. Being an automatic helps with this as you tend to be a bit more laid back. I'm not planning on doing massive miles in it (probably 5k a year) so am hoping it will last a while yet but I may look into reconditioning the batteries as more people like AMF above get into it (I'll be ringing you soon!) and eeking a bit more range out of it. One thing I read is that the battery only charges to 80-90% and discharges to 20% to try and save the cells so it could be that only 60% of the 6.4kw was designed to be used?
The one downside is the boot which is small to accomodate the battery and if you remove the inlay under the boot there is a huge amount of wasted space under there. The car was definitely not designed for the battery!

 

[Blobcat]

I recently bought a late 2016 350e that had 80k on the clock. The main thing was that it was a bargain price for a pristine, top of the range (Premium Plus) with all the bells and whistles. It is my first hybrid and a bit of a first toe dipped in the water but so far I like it. I had done a lot of research so knew what I was getting in to and from an initial 11-12 miles I am now getting 9 miles showing up after a full charge. I suspect this is down to driving style and the fact that it had only done 800 miles in the previous year under lockdown. At first I was worried but having read this thread and others I am heartened by the fact that this seems to be the average for this model at this age. For me at the moment it works. It was bought for short journeys into town (2-3 miles each way) and then longer journeys to London, Birmingham, Oxford and Bath (all now or soon to be ULEZ). I've noticed that even with longer journeys the engine is off 40% of the time and the regen kicks in frequently adding to the range and meaning that the battery kicks in even when showing empty. My average so far after 6 weeks is 60mpg, which I take as not bad for a big, heavy, luxury car. In town it is so smooth and responsive that I agree with others that it is annoying when the engine occasionally cuts in. I've found my driving style has changed to accomodate this. Being an automatic helps with this as you tend to be a bit more laid back. I'm not planning on doing massive miles in it (probably 5k a year) so am hoping it will last a while yet but I may look into reconditioning the batteries as more people like AMF above get into it (I'll be ringing you soon!) and eeking a bit more range out of it. One thing I read is that the battery only charges to 80-90% and discharges to 20% to try and save the cells so it could be that only 60% of the 6.4kw was designed to be used?
The one downside is the boot which is small to accomodate the battery and if you remove the inlay under the boot there is a huge amount of wasted space under there. The car was definitely not designed for the battery!

Hello and Welcome,

I used to get ~80mpg from my W213 E220d, which gives some indication of the benefits (or not) of carrying around a heavy battery pack...

 

[Per Groth Ludvigsen]

I recently bought a late 2016 350e that had 80k on the clock. The main thing was that it was a bargain price for a pristine, top of the range (Premium Plus) with all the bells and whistles. It is my first hybrid and a bit of a first toe dipped in the water but so far I like it. I had done a lot of research so knew what I was getting in to and from an initial 11-12 miles I am now getting 9 miles showing up after a full charge. I suspect this is down to driving style and the fact that it had only done 800 miles in the previous year under lockdown. At first I was worried but having read this thread and others I am heartened by the fact that this seems to be the average for this model at this age. For me at the moment it works. It was bought for short journeys into town (2-3 miles each way) and then longer journeys to London, Birmingham, Oxford and Bath (all now or soon to be ULEZ). I've noticed that even with longer journeys the engine is off 40% of the time and the regen kicks in frequently adding to the range and meaning that the battery kicks in even when showing empty. My average so far after 6 weeks is 60mpg, which I take as not bad for a big, heavy, luxury car. In town it is so smooth and responsive that I agree with others that it is annoying when the engine occasionally cuts in. I've found my driving style has changed to accomodate this. Being an automatic helps with this as you tend to be a bit more laid back. I'm not planning on doing massive miles in it (probably 5k a year) so am hoping it will last a while yet but I may look into reconditioning the batteries as more people like AMF above get into it (I'll be ringing you soon!) and eeking a bit more range out of it. One thing I read is that the battery only charges to 80-90% and discharges to 20% to try and save the cells so it could be that only 60% of the 6.4kw was designed to be used?
The one downside is the boot which is small to accomodate the battery and if you remove the inlay under the boot there is a huge amount of wasted space under there. The car was definitely not designed for the battery!

Hello and welcome, for a test you can try the folowing. 1. Charge the battery to 100%. 2. Shut off your climate control and sound system and driving assistance systems and parking systems etc. 3. Reset the trip computers the one showing from start and the one showing from reset. My c350Te is from 2016 with 60K miles on teh tacho and when I do this I get 15 miles shown on the dashboard as range. In practise I can then run 12 miles, on non-highways, before the engine start to cut-in occasionally. The battery in my car can be charged to 100% using approx. 5Kw when starting from 12% capacity left. The car heavy and if fully equipped you must expect lower ranges than the cars with standard equipment.

 

[grayb]

Hello and Welcome,

I used to get ~80mpg from my W213 E220d, which gives some indication of the benefits (or not) of carrying around a heavy battery pack...

I wonder how many other people really get 80mpg in average, mixed driving in an E220d? The mpg reported by drivers to the HonestJohn 'Real mpg' website is 39.0–63.0. The website doesn't tell us the number of reports that have contributed unfortunately.

More figures here: https://www.fuelly.com/car/mercedes-benz/e220d/2017 33.9mpg average across 10 cars and 117,000 miles.

But I am going off topic... Sorry!

 

[Blobcat]

I wonder how many other people really get 80mpg in average, mixed driving in an E220d? The mpg reported by drivers to the HonestJohn 'Real mpg' website is 39.0–63.0. The website doesn't tell us the number of reports that have contributed unfortunately.

More figures here: https://www.fuelly.com/car/mercedes-benz/e220d/2017 33.9mpg average across 10 cars and 117,000 miles.

But I am going off topic... Sorry!

My journeys meant I could get great economy and it was prior to the software "updates"... that have now been inflicted upon drivers...

My point was just that a decent diesel can beat most hybrids in fuel economy - it's just that the world has very much turned against diesel

I maintained a tank to tank spreadsheet and the economy was amazing - the trip computer wasn't very far out - I did ~48K in mine in ~18 months

 

[Paddywack0]

Hello and welcome, for a test you can try the folowing. 1. Charge the battery to 100%. 2. Shut off your climate control and sound system and driving assistance systems and parking systems etc. 3. Reset the trip computers the one showing from start and the one showing from reset. My c350Te is from 2016 with 60K miles on teh tacho and when I do this I get 15 miles shown on the dashboard as range. In practise I can then run 12 miles, on non-highways, before the engine start to cut-in occasionally. The battery in my car can be charged to 100% using approx. 5Kw when starting from 12% capacity left. The car heavy and if fully equipped you must expect lower ranges than the cars with standard equipment.

Interesting experiment. I will give it a go although I am still working my way through all the settings and menus at the moment! I reset the trip computer when I picked it up. Fully equipped is mostly electronics I'm not sure it adds a lot of weight apart from the pan sunroof.