I have a 2013 Leaf that I drive 25 miles to and from work everyday. I plug in every night at home to charge and only charge to 80% to prolong battery life. However, this means I must plug in at school everyday to recharge to ensure enough juice to get home (at least during the colder months). Is this something that is bad for the battery (to charge twice a day) rather than charging to 100% which would get me enough juice to get to school and back? I want the battery to last as long as possible and am not sure which is worse for the wear.
Charging Question
- Thread starter llclark22
- Start date
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arnis
Well-known member
It is totally OK to charge multiple times each day to 80%.
If you use up more than 30% each way it is reasonable to charge at destination.
If you use less than that then there is no hard reason to charge at destination
excluding the possibility that you might need the car for more than getting home after work
and excluding getting free juice at work. Some charge only at work to save on electricity bill
Active (or even aggressive) driving is more healthy for the battery at higher state of charge.
At higher state of charge voltage is higher and any acceleration requires less current.
If you use up more than 30% each way it is reasonable to charge at destination.
If you use less than that then there is no hard reason to charge at destination
excluding the possibility that you might need the car for more than getting home after work
and excluding getting free juice at work. Some charge only at work to save on electricity bill
Active (or even aggressive) driving is more healthy for the battery at higher state of charge.
At higher state of charge voltage is higher and any acceleration requires less current.
I suggest you charge to 100%, setting the end timer so it reaches that within an hour of so of you leaving for work. This will both prevent the car from sitting at 100% for too long, and allow the pack to equalize as needed. You have the right idea, but are perhaps a little too worried about pack life. The above will give you both range and longevity.
+1LeftieBiker said:
Plus doing it this way will give you a little extra leeway in case you want to deviate from your driving routine during the day.
As LeftieBiker said the biggest issue with a 100% charge is leaving it at 100% for an extended period of time, to avoid that use the end timer as mentioned and in my experience you can set it for an hour or two after when your actually going to leave. For whatever reason the timer really errors on the side of being fully charged, I regularly have mine set for 1.5hr after I leave and it's almost always at the charge percent I've set it for.
Agree with above. During the winter especially there's very little risk to charging to 100% because its already cold out. Set your charge timer to end right before you leave and you'll be fine. Also remember that there's hidden capacity in the batteries so charging to 100% is really like 96%
DuncanCunningham
Well-known member
LeftieBiker said:
+2
I do the same. I set mine to start charging at 2:30am (2012 SL, might be setup differently to yours) by the time I set off in the morning it is fully charged.
The heat is the issue with the battery. Charging creates heat, using it creates heat. Sat at 100% during a hot day, right after a "top up" charge is not good. Better to have 60% battery sat there, with enough to get home and no extra heat going in to it is what I try to do. there are days I need more but I don't make a habit of charging the car during the day hours.
+1 Charging to 100% isn't a problem during the winter. Also, two smaller charges daily "should" be better than one big charge, but probably not by much. With a 50 mi RT commute, I'd certainly be charging to 100% in the winter, and maybe even the summer just to leave some extra miles of use (lunch, shopping).LeftieBiker said:
