12V Battery Warning Light

[Bob]

Yesterday, I turned on my 2013 SV and the red dashboard 12V battery light came on. This is not the low charge traction-battery warning.

I scratched my head, turned off the car, opened the charging cover, opened and closed the J1772A cover, closed the charging cover, got back into the car, turned on the car, and there were no warning lights. I drove 9 miles home and put a DVM on the 12V battery. It read 12.79V. Just for safety, I put a Battery Tender on the 12V battery until it showed fully charged. Since then, no problems.

I assume that opening and closing the charging cover and J1772A cover had no effect, and that the car just needed to reboot. Either that, or it responded to me scratching my head.

Any suggestions what could have been wrong or what to check out?

Thanks!

Bob

 

[Nubo]

It could be that the 12V battery actually was low and then was charged back up by the car. This can sometimes happen if an interior light is left on; I've been caught a couple of times when the rear hatch was not all the way closed.


Another possibility is that there is a bad connection. I'd double-check the battery terminal connections to make sure they are clean and tight.