Mine gets driven probably 4 or 5 days a week. 3 to work @ 35 miles each way, then trips around town on the weekend. The only time that I've ever seen the warning was the day that I test drove it. I've never had it on a tender. It seems to keep the battery charged just as well as every other car that I've owned. I also let Eco do it's thing when in traffic or at stop lights.

 

My battery had a dead cell, so we'll see how it goes from here.

 

If not a manufacturing flaw, that is what can happen if the voltage is dragged down too low.
Larry

 

Just to add a counterpoint, I'm still on my original battery (MY16). I'd venture to guess I've probably been jacked into mine with a lot more frequency than most via SDD, VCDS and the KESS interface. The only thing really different from the stories here is that I daily drive mine and we don't putt around . I don't run a maintainer with the Jag.

If you feel the service writer isn't helping you, ask to speak to the lead Jag service tech. Explain your issue to them directly. While he might not have had the training the engineers had, he does has the ability to open a case with the technical support team in the UK (and the engineers).

Ryan

 

My car was built in September 2013 and is still on the original AGM battery. I wouldn't call that a "counterpoint." Most of us who reported driving them a reasonable distance at least 3-4 days a week, and there are quite a few, aren't seeing this low battery warning.

 

Just trying to help but I'll see my way out, thanks.

 

I have surmised that my Bluetooth connected ipod was left on in the car the night before I had the low battery warning. I have the ipod turned off and no warning since then. Can't seem to figure out how to reconnect the ipod now. In my XF, I had the ipod hard connected and never turned it off with no issues. Would the ipod connected via blue cause the battery to drain?

 

Ryan,
I've had the same experience as you, this my 3rd Jaguar ... due to our winter weather here, if it sits for more than an month or so, I plug in a maintainer using the underhood boost points. Other than that it starts up every time.
Lawrence

 

I only recently had the low battery, start engine warning come on. The last time this happened was the day I drove it home from the dealer.

I'm going to try the battery disconnect... and purchase a battery tender. Does anyone have a recommendation?

Thanks.

 

You will get mixed answers here. Some swear by Battery Tender, but I had one fry on me. No harm to the car but it blew the house circuit breaker. Scary.
I have been happy with my CTEK, which is the brand that some of the OEM tenders use.
Larry

 

Yes, and there are similar bad reviews for CTEKs for the same thing that happened to your BT. A tripped circuit breaker is not scary, that's what they are there for, to protect the circuit when an electronic device malfunctions.

I have 4 Battery Tenders, 2 of which are about 10 years old. All are still working. BTs actually have a higher rating on Amazon than CTEK based upon several 1000 reviews. FWIW, they are both manufactured in China.

OEMs use CTEKs because they are willing to put the manufacturer's label on it and charge more. That doesn't make them either more reliable or capable.

 

I agree; I use tenders on my motorcycles, cars, boat and RV batteries and have for the past 20+ years using a variety of different brands....no issues so far.

Dave

 

What is scary is that the BT smoked, not that the circuit breaker tripped. Fortunately, any failure mode that I can think of would blow a house or car circuit breaker or the fuse in the BT. I am not saying that CTEK is better, only that I had a failure of a BT and I won't buy one again. I also have an XtremeCharge XC100, which has a bunch of impressive lights, but I doubt it does anything better than any other tender. Also made in China. I really bought the CTEK when I had the Porsche. The wires were smaller and disturbed the weather seal less, since it had to go through the door.
Larry

 

All those impressive lights sound like more circuits to "smoke." :-)

I'm not denying that a few people on this planet get struck by lightning or attacked by Great White sharks on rare occasion.

 

My '16 base model has battery issue too. Supposedly the warranty started in 2015 July, although I just picked up from the dealer in 2016 Jan. The car went dead about a month ago, and the dealer sent rescue squad to bring it for a battery diagnosis. They mentioned Jaguar routine requires them to charge the battery for 24 hours, and if the capacity is below standard then they are allowed to replace one under warranty. I drove it in town about 3 days per week, and another 100 mile round trip on weekends. The low charge message shows up if I don't drive it for 2 days or longer. Dealer insists that my battery is good, but if it fails again then they can send guys over any time. I have an iBOD plugged in since day 1, which I will unplug to see if it solves the problem. Will update in about 3~5 days as a comparison.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I park the car anywhere from 2-5 days at a time, with no starts at all. Door is kept locked. I've had a V1 hardwired into the passenger side with no issues for the past 4 months. Only recently, after daily driving... did the low battery warning happen. I will try the disconnect/reconnect fix mentioned and keep you updated.

 

When I first took delivery of my 2016 Model S AWD F-Type last year, the dealership had the service station across the street do the initial state mandated inspection (MA). First day home I noticed the "low battery" message. After it kept coming on anytime the car sat for more than 8 hours, I took it back to the dealer who diagnosed the battery to have two dead cells, replaced it, and all was well.

Right up till this past Monday, when I took it in for its annual service and to get a new annual state inspection sticker. For the next two days, I got the "Low battery" warning again. After reading posts on the forum about the cars going on the fritz after use of the OBD port (which would have been done during the inspection), I took the car back to the dealer along with the information gleaned from the forum.

They disconnected and reconnected the battery, and bingo, problem disappeared. Got to talk to the service tech from back in the shop, and he said they're seeing this with most of the new cars: as soon as they get an inspection, they have to "reset" the system. Said it's like rebooting your computer, and that I wouldn't believe how many "electrical" problems they solve at the dealership by just disconnecting and reconnecting the battery.

So now, I'm looking for (with the tech's recommendation) a cut off switch that would make disconnecting and reconnecting the battery easy (don't have to disembowel the boot to get to the battery), as I plan to get an OBD bluetooth dongle to use on track days with Harry's Laptimer app on my phone.

If anyone has installed a good cutoff switch in an F-Type, please share your experience.

 

Slide floor panel forward, pull on battery panel strap. As fast as you can read that you can get to the battery. Using a 13mm wrench to remove and replace the positive battery lead takes another 15 seconds. I do have disconnects on two of my other vehicles, but they still have to be placed at the battery if you don't want to run sizeable cables and drill through a body panel or two. I've been doing a lot of data logging on the F-Type which causes the same battery issues, and doing the reset at the battery is fast and simple.

 

Only hassle is that I went "old school" and got the spare tire. Since I'll probably start taking it out on track days anyway, as getting to the battery post is as easy as you point out, looks like that's the way to go.

 

I've just spent an hour+ reading this post, and it comes down to the same info I have been given. Something plugged into the OBDII port is screwing something up. In my case, it was the dongle for the Allstate Insurance Co.'s Drivewise discount program that was doing it. Every time I plugged that thing in it would kill the battery in about two days. It's been out for about two weeks now and no further problems. Phew!. This has been bugging me since October and a little perseverance was all it took. OK, maybe a lot of perseverance. But it is fixed and Allstate's dongle is going back to them tomorrow.

I do want to thank everybody for their input on this. It makes me feel good that there are still guys out there that can put their heads together and come up with a solution.