EQS EQS (V297) sedan

Yes - the 12V battery is automatically recharged by the high-voltage battery

Old Jun 13, 2023 | 03:44 AM
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Yes - the 12V battery is automatically recharged by the high-voltage battery

There have recently been several posts where people have questioned whether or not an EQS's 12V battery is recharged automatically from the high-voltage battery if an EQS is parked, unattended, for several days or weeks. I can confirm (once again) that this is, indeed, the case.

I recently left my car (a 2023 EQS 580 SUV) unattended for more than 10 days, but checked the (high-voltage battery) charging level and the 12V battery status daily, remotely using the "Mercedesme Connect" app. Here are the results:
  • Date ..... Charging level .. 12V battery status
  • June 1 ... 36% .................. fully charged
...
  • June 7 ... 36% .................. fully charged
  • June 8 ... 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 9 ... 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 10 . 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 11 . 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 12 . 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 13 . 35% .................. fully charged
QED.
Old Jun 14, 2023 | 01:27 AM
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Makes very much sense to use the high voltage battery on an EV to charge the 12 V battery when needed, at least to any decent high voltage battery SOC (anyone willing to try if it still works at 10% SOC or so?).

This behaviour however must have changed at some point as we have many cases where the 12 V battery got fully discharged. Would be useful to know when exactly the change was made. A bit dangerous if cars with old SW still exist and owners assume the car taking care of the 12 V battery. If it does not come with some MBUX update, the owner might not even be able to verify his/her car's behaviour.
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Old Jun 14, 2023 | 07:10 AM
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I hope the high voltage batteries act as a maintainer for the 12 volt. On our I Pace, they do not, and the 2 12 volts on board tend to have problems and cause all sorts of fault codes. My older MB CL550 is power hungry, and causes one of its two batteries to drain when left unattended for a while. A car as power hungry as a 580 that has so many electronic gizmos to run will need great battery management to not have problems down the road a few years.
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Old Jun 14, 2023 | 02:21 PM
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Originally Posted by Diesel Benz
Makes very much sense to use the high voltage battery on an EV to charge the 12 V battery when needed, at least to any decent high voltage battery SOC (anyone willing to try if it still works at 10% SOC or so?).

This behaviour however must have changed at some point as we have many cases where the 12 V battery got fully discharged. Would be useful to know when exactly the change was made. A bit dangerous if cars with old SW still exist and owners assume the car taking care of the 12 V battery. If it does not come with some MBUX update, the owner might not even be able to verify his/her car's behaviour.
There must have been a software update. On the app, I only get a binary good/bad status of the 12V. I guess some later software update enabled an exact SOC of the thing.
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Old Jun 14, 2023 | 02:39 PM
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I think all the EV manufacturers have faced and adresses this. It was not recognized early by many of them. Porsche's were bricking from 70mph, Audi's too. And we had several early problems with the EQS 12v battery....all of which made some of us (me included) extremely paranoid about the 12v battery. The issues for most manufacturers have now been solved with software and drivetrain management updates. I am very happy to see the OP's post and know that the 12v battery is now being charged by the HV battery as needed.
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Old Jun 15, 2023 | 06:17 AM
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Originally Posted by capt_slow
There must have been a software update. On the app, I only get a binary good/bad status of the 12V. I guess some later software update enabled an exact SOC of the thing.
No, I have always seen (in the app) the 12V battery's status as either "charged" or "partially charged". To my knowledge, there has never been a way to see the exact charging level (beyond either "charged" or "partially charged") of the 12V battery.
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Old Jun 17, 2023 | 11:58 AM
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Originally Posted by finlayson
There have recently been several posts where people have questioned whether or not an EQS's 12V battery is recharged automatically from the high-voltage battery if an EQS is parked, unattended, for several days or weeks. I can confirm (once again) that this is, indeed, the case.

I recently left my car (a 2023 EQS 580 SUV) unattended for more than 10 days, but checked the (high-voltage battery) charging level and the 12V battery status daily, remotely using the "Mercedesme Connect" app. Here are the results:
  • Date ..... Charging level .. 12V battery status
  • June 1 ... 36% .................. fully charged
...
  • June 7 ... 36% .................. fully charged
  • June 8 ... 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 9 ... 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 10 . 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 11 . 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 12 . 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 13 . 35% .................. fully charged
QED.
Thanks OP, anyone confirmed if their sedans have this behavior as well?
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Old Jun 17, 2023 | 03:07 PM
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Originally Posted by finlayson
There have recently been several posts where people have questioned whether or not an EQS's 12V battery is recharged automatically from the high-voltage battery if an EQS is parked, unattended, for several days or weeks. I can confirm (once again) that this is, indeed, the case.

I recently left my car (a 2023 EQS 580 SUV) unattended for more than 10 days, but checked the (high-voltage battery) charging level and the 12V battery status daily, remotely using the "Mercedesme Connect" app. Here are the results:
  • Date ..... Charging level .. 12V battery status
  • June 1 ... 36% .................. fully charged
...
  • June 7 ... 36% .................. fully charged
  • June 8 ... 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 9 ... 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 10 . 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 11 . 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 12 . 36% .................. partially charged
  • June 13 . 35% .................. fully charged
QED.
I would be interested in follow up. My 580 sedan is currently in storage mode since early May and I have got the partially charged battery warning as well. It did go away once, but I preconditioned the interior as per suggestion of my service manager and then the battery read fully charged. Its back to partially charged after less than 2 weeks and been that way for several days. Is yours still reading fully charged?
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Old Jun 17, 2023 | 03:15 PM
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The 12v battery is not like a regular 12v starter battery in a IC vehicle. I believe in the EQS it is much smaller in size and capacity.
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Old Jun 17, 2023 | 03:50 PM
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Originally Posted by Utopia Texas
The 12v battery is not like a regular 12v starter battery in a IC vehicle. I believe in the EQS it is much smaller in size and capacity.
I have not personally opened up the hood on my EQS so I can’t verify the size of the battery but I asked my service manager that question. First response was smaller battery, then I was told it’s pretty much the same size as starter battery. So basically I have no idea what size it actually is.
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Old Jun 17, 2023 | 04:42 PM
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I've read that some EV BMS stop charging the 12V when the high volt battery's SOC gets too low. Would be interesting to see if that's the case with Mercedes too.
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Old Jun 17, 2023 | 05:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Radman991
I have not personally opened up the hood on my EQS so I can’t verify the size of the battery but I asked my service manager that question. First response was smaller battery, then I was told it’s pretty much the same size as starter battery. So basically I have no idea what size it actually is.

720 Amp hours Cold Cranking is big but a 70 Amp hour capacity is very small. Someone correct me if I am incorrect. I get some of this mixed up…

Last edited by Utopia Texas; Jun 17, 2023 at 05:56 PM.
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Old Jun 17, 2023 | 09:38 PM
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Originally Posted by Crito
I've read that some EV BMS stop charging the 12V when the high volt battery's SOC gets too low. Would be interesting to see if that's the case with Mercedes too.
I do not see why one would need a 700+ Ah battery, as you do not need to power a starter motor for a large engine. The EQS 12V battery only runs the various computers, displays, etc., and perhaps the heating/cooling system. Starting the car is turning the multiple computers on.
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Old Jun 17, 2023 | 09:49 PM
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Interesting....never looked at mine. Makes sense, though, since it does not have to crank an ICE.
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Old Jun 17, 2023 | 10:11 PM
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Originally Posted by perlfather
I do not see why one would need a 700+ Ah battery, as you do not need to power a starter motor for a large engine. The EQS 12V battery only runs the various computers, displays, etc., and perhaps the heating/cooling system. Starting the car is turning the multiple computers on.
The air conditioning compressor, heater coils and cooling pump for the batteries are probably sources of large power drains. Also the battery has to be sized for those rare occasions where the majority of 12V items are on at the same time including headlights, radio, massage seats, windshield wipers, defrosting etc.

Last edited by Utopia Texas; Jun 17, 2023 at 10:14 PM.
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Old Jun 18, 2023 | 02:03 AM
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Some confusion with figures here. It is not 700 Ah but 700 A current delivery capacity (for ICE cold start cranking). 70 Ah is the battery capacity and this size is used by many Mercedes ICE cars (gasoline engines/no cold country). Starting the ICE car needs a lot of current, not that much energy (Ah) as starting takes a short time.

The EQS does not need this high peak current capability. High power accessories are run from the high voltage battery (heating circuit, AC compressor etc.).
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Old Jun 18, 2023 | 11:42 AM
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My mistake

Originally Posted by Diesel Benz
Some confusion with figures here. It is not 700 Ah but 700 A current delivery capacity (for ICE cold start cranking). 70 Ah is the battery capacity and this size is used by many Mercedes ICE cars (gasoline engines/no cold country). Starting the ICE car needs a lot of current, not that much energy (Ah) as starting takes a short time.

The EQS does not need this high peak current capability. High power accessories are run from the high voltage battery (heating circuit, AC compressor etc.).
Thanks for pointing out the obvious error. Ooops. Of course, a 700 Ah battery would supply ~ 100amps for 7h, which of course, cannot be done with a small lead acid battery. I assume the 70Ah battery supplies ~100 to 300 amps for a few seconds at one time to the starter motor of an ICE.
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Old Jun 20, 2023 | 12:36 PM
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To the OP. Do you recall how long your car was at partially charged status till it went to fully charged. On your list it only took 5 days. Has it taken longer than that? I’m at my second go around of partially charged status. Reason I’m asking is my car has been sitting at partially charged status for over a week with my high voltage battery at 79% SOC. The first time my battery went from partially charged to fully charged was same day I preconditioned the cabin temp as per recommendation of my service department. Don’t know if it was a coincidence or not. In any event I haven’t done anything to the car in over 2 weeks and it still sits at partially charged.

Last edited by Radman991; Jun 20, 2023 at 12:39 PM.
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Old Jun 20, 2023 | 02:36 PM
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Originally Posted by Radman991
To the OP. Do you recall how long your car was at partially charged status till it went to fully charged. On your list it only took 5 days.
Yes - that's how long it took. This has also happened to me a couple of other times (when I've left my vehicle unattended for a few weeks). One time before, the 12V battery was "partially charged" (according to the app) for only 3 days. The other time, I don't remember, but it was less than 1 week.

It might depend on how discharged your 12V battery happens to be (the app says only "charged" or "partially charged". Or it might depend on the model/age of the vehicle (mine is a 2023 EQS 580 SUV), or the software version...
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Old Jun 20, 2023 | 02:39 PM
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Originally Posted by finlayson
Yes - that's how long it took. This has also happened to me a couple of other times (when I've left my vehicle unattended for a few weeks). One time before, the 12V battery was "partially charged" (according to the app) for only 3 days. The other time, I don't remember, but it was less than 1 week.

It might depend on how discharged your 12V battery happens to be (the app says only "charged" or "partially charged". Or it might depend on the model/age of the vehicle (mine is a 2023 EQS 580 SUV), or the software version...
I’ll wait a few more days to see if it recharges by itself. I may then try the precondition the cabin method that my service department first suggested.
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Old Jun 25, 2023 | 07:40 PM
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Originally Posted by finlayson

It might depend on how discharged your 12V battery happens to be (the app says only "charged" or "partially charged". Or it might depend on the model/age of the vehicle (mine is a 2023 EQS 580 SUV), or the software version...
Well, I’m over 2 weeks and app still read’s partially charged. I would have thought it would have recharged itself by this time.
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Old Jun 28, 2023 | 03:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Radman991
Well, I’m over 2 weeks and app still read’s partially charged. I would have thought it would have recharged itself by this time.
That is strange, check your software version, I wonder if that has to do with it.
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Old Jun 28, 2023 | 06:21 PM
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Originally Posted by W205C43PFL
That is strange, check your software version, I wonder if that has to do with it.
I’m close to 3 weeks now and still reports 12v partially charged. I’m on version E329.xx
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Old Jun 28, 2023 | 07:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Radman991
I’m close to 3 weeks now and still reports 12v partially charged. I’m on version E329.xx
Hmmm, your software is fairly new as I believe the newest is E330.xx, so not far behind. So for that reason, I think software isn't the cause. Unless OP has E330.xx and needs E330.xx to have this function?
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Old Jun 29, 2023 | 09:36 AM
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Originally Posted by W205C43PFL
Hmmm, your software is fairly new as I believe the newest is E330.xx, so not far behind. So for that reason, I think software isn't the cause. Unless OP has E330.xx and needs E330.xx to have this function?
It could be the SW version of other control units, those that take care of battery charging (diag tool needed for that additional info).
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