Battery Load Management - Cadillac SRX 2012 Owner's Manual

Battery Load
Management
The vehicle has Electric Power
Management (EPM) that estimates
the battery's temperature and state
of charge. It then adjusts the voltage
for best performance and extended
life of the battery.
When the battery's state of charge
is low, the voltage is raised slightly
to quickly bring the charge back up.
When the state of charge is high,
the voltage is lowered slightly to
prevent overcharging. If the vehicle
has a voltmeter gauge or a voltage
display on the Driver Information
Center (DIC), you may see the
voltage move up or down. This is
normal. If there is a problem, an
alert will be displayed.
The battery can be discharged at
idle if the electrical loads are very
high. This is true for all vehicles.
This is because the generator
(alternator) may not be spinning
fast enough at idle to produce all
of the power needed for very high
electrical loads.
A high electrical load occurs when
several of the following are on,
such as: headlamps, high beams,
fog lamps, rear window defogger,
climate control fan at high speed,
heated seats, engine cooling fans,
trailer loads, and loads plugged into
accessory power outlets.
I n f o r ma t i o n P r o v i d e d b y :
Lighting
EPM works to prevent excessive
discharge of the battery. It does this
by balancing the generator's output
and the vehicle's electrical needs.
It can increase engine idle speed
to generate more power whenever
needed. It can temporarily reduce
the power demands of some
accessories.
Normally, these actions occur
in steps or levels, without being
noticeable. In rare cases at the
highest levels of corrective action,
this action may be noticeable to the
driver. If so, a DIC message might
be displayed and it is recommended
that the driver reduce the electrical
loads as much as possible.
See Battery Voltage and Charging
Messages on page 5 32.
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