The power management controls the distribution of electrical energy and thus helps to ensure that there is always enough power available to start the engine.

If a vehicle with a conventional electrical system is left parked for a long time, the battery will gradually lose its charge because certain electrical equipment (such as the immobiliser) continues to draw current even when the ignition is off. In some cases there may not be enough power available to start the engine.

Your vehicle is equipped with an intelligent power management system to control the distribution of electrical energy. This significantly improves reliability when starting the engine, and also prolongs the life of the battery.

The main functions incorporated in the power management system are battery diagnosis, residual current management and dynamic power management.

Battery diagnosis

The battery diagnosis function constantly registers the condition of the battery. Sensors detect the battery voltage, battery current and battery temperature. This enables the system to calculate the current power level and charge condition of the battery.

Residual current management

The residual current management reduces power consumption while the vehicle is parked. It controls the supply of power to the various electrical components while the ignition is switched off. The system takes the battery diagnosis data into consideration.

Depending on the power level of the battery, the individual electrical components are switched off one after the other to prevent the battery from losing too much charge and to ensure that the engine can be started reliably.

Dynamic power management

While the vehicle is moving, this function distributes the available power to the various electrical components and systems according to their requirements. The power management ensures that onboard systems do not consume more electrical power than the alternator can supply, and thus maintains the maximum possible battery power level.

Note

• The power management system is not able to overcome the given physical limits. Please remember that the power and life of the battery are limited.
• A warning message will appear, “Driver message in the instrument cluster display” if the battery power has dropped to a level where reliable starting is impaired.