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1) Add a car battery % status tile on your app.
2) Alert when <20%
Yes! Or maybe 50% or less.
It already keeps a running estimate of the SOC of the battery, so it could provide a display of that. The Owners Manual claims that it will display "Service Message(s)" regarding the battery.
The Service Manual also claims that it will issue a low battery alert as well as manage electrical load during low battery conditions. It says this:
"The electrical power management is used to monitor and control the charging system and alert the driver of possible problems within the charging system. The electrical power management system makes the most efficient use of the generator output, improves the battery state-of-charge, extends battery life, and manages system electrical loads. The load shed operation is a means of reducing electrical loads during a low voltage or low battery state-of-charge condition. The idle boost operation is a means of improving generator performance during a low voltage or low battery state-of-charge condition."
Idle boost does just what it sound like. Load shedding will start to shut down various systems depending on the SOC estimate. Depending on conditions, it will shut off rear defrost, heated mirrors, heated seats, and cycle the HVAC off. if it gets low enough it will (according to the Service Manual) display "BATTERY SAVER ACTIVE".
The point being that although it does not display the SOC, its (or is supposed to) display a low battery indicator. But....HAS ANYONE EVER SEEN A MESSAGE? There are plenty of reports on the forum of issues that were caused by a low battery, but I don't recall anyone every reporting getting a low battery message. How 'bout it, anyone?
The system develops it estimate of the SOC by measuring battery voltage at least 4 hours after the car has been sitting off and undisturbed. Then, when its running, it tracks the current into and out of the battery, as well as battery voltage and other conditions and uses that to keep a running estimate of the battery SOC. Some value related to that running estimate could be displayed as an info tile. I do not think it would be perfect estimate but some might find it useful. I use the Track Mode display theme for all modes so that I can have 4 info tiles - and even then I do not choose battery voltage as one of the tiles.
