Battery Charging Best Practices

[GenesisJohn]

according to the manual at least 2-3 times a month

If the vehicle will not be in use for an
extended period of time, charge the
high voltage battery once every three
months to prevent it from discharging.
Also, if the charge amount is not
enough, immediately charge to full
and store the vehicle.
ś AC charge is recommended to keep
the high voltage battery in optimal
condition.
If the high voltage battery charge
amount is below 20%, you can keep
the high voltage battery performance
in optimal condition if you charge the
high voltage battery to 100%. (Once a
month or more is recommended.)

 

[Darknight]

I am not sold on the recommendation to only charge to 80% The EV battery technology is essentially a glorified version of the same batteries used on your cell phones; Lithium Ion. These batteries have a lifetime cycle and if you do not go to 100%, the battery is being degraded. That's why they say to charge when your battery is low. The issue with charging on a cell phone battery is that some cells can be burnt by the charging and the phone doesn't have a governer to manage the charge.

With the EV and watching the Genesis video, it's clear to me that the last 20% is about cost and not function or battery optimization. The video even recommends to charge the last 20% at home using a level 2 as the level 3 charger will, by design slow down the last mile of charging to discourage an end user to wait. Just my 2 cents on charging.

 

[EdP]

I am not sold on the recommendation to only charge to 80% The EV battery technology is essentially a glorified version of the same batteries used on your cell phones; Lithium Ion. These batteries have a lifetime cycle and if you do not go to 100%, the battery is being degraded.

Others disagree on the battery and say 85%.

The Best Way to Charge Your Device Will Make Its Battery Last Way Longer

Let's hope you'll never be stuck with a dead smartphone or laptop again.

www.rd.com

Why Charging Your EV To 100% Isn't Always A Good Thing - SlashGear

It may seem logical to fully charge an EV to get the max range, but doing so could result in a large battery replacement bill much sooner than expected.

www.slashgear.com

 

[Darknight]

Thank you for providing the information. Appreciate it.

 

[Jfyfe91]

I'm under the belief, that it depends when you're going to use it. I.e. if you charge to 100% and it sits on your drive for a couple days, then not so good.... or you only do very few miles then its better to leave it around 80%. But if you're doing a long journey...then it's fine to charge up to 100%. A couple times a month you should charge it up to 100% to balance. I think the main thing about using fast chargers is how much is slows down after 80%. Therefore it could be more time efficient to charge to 80%, then head off and find another fast charger further down the route. The reality is in one days driving.... its not often you would go through 2 near full charges and need to charge that 2nd time anyway.
So day to day driving...charge to around that 80-85% mark, night before longer journeys charge to 100%.
Understand there is a cost factor in America where chargers charge by the minute.... so the last 20% takes almost as long as 10-80% charge so its not cost effective either. So if you do multiple charges, you will actually be charging for less time overall and less cost.
Here in the UK, we charge by the kWh, so cost difference is not a concern here. But the time factor is, but not much.

 

[Jfyfe91]

Sorry did a few edits there

 

[fredf]

I am not sold on the recommendation to only charge to 80% The EV battery technology is essentially a glorified version of the same batteries used on your cell phones; Lithium Ion. These batteries have a lifetime cycle and if you do not go to 100%, the battery is being degraded. That's why they say to charge when your battery is low. The issue with charging on a cell phone battery is that some cells can be burnt by the charging and the phone doesn't have a governer to manage the charge.

With the EV and watching the Genesis video, it's clear to me that the last 20% is about cost and not function or battery optimization. The video even recommends to charge the last 20% at home using a level 2 as the level 3 charger will, by design slow down the last mile of charging to discourage an end user to wait. Just my 2 cents on charging.

So much confusion in this post I wouldn’t know where to begin

 

[fredf]

Tips for extending the lifetime of lithium-ion batteries | University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability

ANN ARBOR—Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere these days, used in everything from cellphones and laptops to cordless power tools and electric vehicles.

seas.umich.edu

 

[Filbert]

So much confusion in this post I wouldn’t know where to begin

Definitely

 

[EdP]

So much confusion in this post I wouldn’t know where to begin

Parse it into different sections and it makes sense.
Section 1, he does not agree with the 80% charge .

Next, he states EV batteries are not any different than a cell phone battery. They are very similar in chemistry and construction.

Section 3 he makes a comparison that EV chargers have more sophisticated technology to throttle charging once 80% is achieved. Prevents wear/damage from over charging. Cell phones do not.

Section 4 covers the cost of the last 20% of charge. That is covered in the post by Jfyfe91 about paying by time vs paying by the amount of juice actually used. Makes sense not to pay a premium for the last portion if you don't need it for the extra range at the moment. If you have to stop on the road and charge to get home, do it, but if you don't need it all, more economical to top up when you get home, assuming you have a charger.

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[Jfyfe91]

They are doing alot more testing and research on battery degradation for fast charging at the moment. The slowdown after 80% is pretty severe and on the safe side at the moment. They are finding the charging arcs they currently use can actually be sped up quite considerably with little to negligible additional battery degradation. Some manufacturers, particularly with slower charging speeds, are already starting to alter the coding and offer faster speeds for longer. It's still a bit of unknown/unproven territory. Considering the GV60 has the fastest charging capacities going, we probably won't see much update to charging speeds anytime soon.

 

[Rocco]

To comment on the similarities between phone and EV. batteries, if you have the battery health saving settings enabled on a modern iPhone, and plug the phone in every night, the phone will only charge itself up to about 80% until it gets close to the time that it believes you will normally be unplugging it- then it will charge up the rest of the way. I think this only happens if you have a consistent plugging/unplugging schedule, but it is similar to how it is said not to keep your EV at 100% all the time.

My apple laptop is the same with its battery health preservation- I keep it plugged in almost always, and it holds the charge at 80%. If I want to have it charge to 100%, I have to click the battery icon and tell it to top it off. Obviously these are both in the apple ecosystem, but it does show that other industries have employed similar tactics to preserve the life of their batteries.

 

[LoffKat]

I’m starting to get myself a little mixed up, too much research…
Something stands out in my mind that, if plugged in, the onboard temperature control will regulate the pack when necessary, as in winter. I can see I’m going to need a cheat sheet.

Yeaaaah I just got a GV70e and I thoroughly confused on the best practices. Did you create a cheat sheet? Can you share it with me ... Please...

 

[Looney100]

Yeaaaah I just got a GV70e and I thoroughly confused on the best practices. Did you create a cheat sheet? Can you share it with me ... Please...

I think most get unnecessarily stressed about battery maintenance. Keep the following in mind, and you'll be >90% there.

• Minimize time with the battery at >80% or <20% SOC. Being outside this range is nothing to stress about on an occasional basis, just don't make it your habit.
• Minimize level 3 charging as this creates a lot of heat, which isn't great for the battery. Again, nothing to sweat about if done occasionally. I've even seen some studies that would suggest that regular level 3 charging may have a noticeable effect over time, but doesn't mean you'll have an unusable battery in five years.

 

[Bobdhd]

Yeaaaah I just got a GV70e and I thoroughly confused on the best practices. Did you create a cheat sheet? Can you share it with me ... Please...

Looney’s statement sums it up.
It can seem a little overwhelming at first but then it falls into the logical category. I’m finding I often forget to check my SOC on the weekends, to insure I can make the round trip to work.
The only thing I keep in mind (depending on where you live obviously), in winter I keep topped up, just in case of a longer than expected trip & cycle the battery more when the weather is warmer.

 

[GenesisJohn]

I think most get unnecessarily stressed about battery maintenance. Keep the following in mind, and you'll be >90% there.

• Minimize time with the battery at >80% or <20% SOC. Being outside this range is nothing to stress about on an occasional basis, just don't make it your habit.
• Minimize level 3 charging as this creates a lot of heat, which isn't great for the battery. Again, nothing to sweat about if done occasionally. I've even seen some studies that would suggest that regular level 3 charging may have a noticeable effect over time, but doesn't mean you'll have an unusable battery in five years.

I can see this as being the current best practice. My irritation is that we effectively have only a 60% of range window to work with as a best practice. I find the small amount (141 miles) to be too small for my preference. NOW.. I do all of my charging at home so I can plug it in each day but I enjoy not having to do that as I haven't fully converted to the "ABC method" of EV ownership, I am still straddling the line between driving it like an ICE and an EV. That is why when there is an opportunity to have greater range due to battery advances or size, I would probably trade up to it. But as I have said here as have many others, I LOVE this GV60 and my first EV experience and cannot imagine not having this in my life.
John

 

[Looney100]

I can see this as being the current best practice. My irritation is that we effectively have only a 60% of range window to work with as a best practice. I find the small amount (141 miles) to be too small for my preference.

You are correct that we generally live on 60% of the battery. Fortunately for me, that meets my needs 90% of the time.

I think it's important to reinforce that we don't need to worry about some time spent >80% or <20% when it has to be done. It might be similar to ICEs being driven in the city vs. highway. Repeated starting, stopping and idling are rough on gas engines. Ideally, all the miles would be on the highway, but no one worries about having to drive in the city when they do so.

There are also tools to help minimize time at the extremes. We set the car to stop charging at anywhere from 50 - 90% SOC, and when we need a full battery's range, we can schedule the charge so that the car reaches 100% just-in-time. I did this, yesterday as I was about to head out of town and make some use of the GV60's V2L feature.

 

[GenesisJohn]

Is there a battery degradation curve or expectation? I think I have seen that battery degradation might occur after 5 or 7 years but I don't know. I do enjoy using my home charger to go to 100% and then drive it down before charging again. I am unclear what the long term impact might be but I know I like starting out with 100% after a charging session.

 

[Looney100]

Is there a battery degradation curve or expectation? I think I have seen that battery degradation might occur after 5 or 7 years but I don't know. I do enjoy using my home charger to go to 100% and then drive it down before charging again. I am unclear what the long term impact might be but I know I like starting out with 100% after a charging session.

I know I’ve seen studies of Level 2 vs 3 charging, but not sure of anything quantifying impacts of extreme SOC.
Some Googling may turn something up for you.

 

[asterixs]

I'm shamelessly taking full advantage of EA . Hard to resist when I've one within less than 2min drive, and getting 151kwh on 150 port. It charges faster than I can checkout items in my hand (its a retailer parking lot).

Battery degradation of AC vs DC is minuscule (based on test done so far). So, I'd not sweat it. I'm not keeping this car forever. Same car in 3yrs will have much better range.

I've topped off 100% or 90% sometimes with L2. I'm using DC for 80%, sufficient for normal usage in a week.