Which is better: 10bars to 2bars or 12bars to 4bars?

[palmermd]

The fact is that you, the driver, cannot do anything to hurt the battery by either filling to 100% or driving until turtle mode. The danger points on the battery charge curve are located "out of reach" of either 100% or turtle mode.

 

[DarkStar]

The fact is that you, the driver, cannot do anything to hurt the battery by either filling to 100% or driving until turtle mode. The danger points on the battery charge curve are located "out of reach" of either 100% or turtle mode.

+1!

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

in your situation i would recommend 100% just in case you need a side trip.

now that is not the advice i follow. i do have a trip that runs more than 80% of the charge. now in winter, we were doing 100% charge and only having 6-10 miles left so not a lot of wiggle room.

in spring it was 15-20 miles left. so Monday i charged to about 90% had 10 miles left. i am good with that

charge cycle; inputing charge equal to 100% of battery capacity

one charge cycle= 100% from zero
one charge cycle= 2 charges equaling 50% of capacity=4 charge cycles of 25% capacity and so on.

i think we can safely assume that the battery has issues on both extremes. so the ideal situation is the Prius charging model which runs from 40 -80% ONLY.

now that would be great if we could do that and some can (i can 80% of the time) that would probably insure best for longevity

but then that makes the car inconvenient. having only 40 miles of range may not work for most. so its a trade off.

remember CAR manufacturer recommendations are based on weighing convenience, usablity and reasonability. sure the recommend 80% but also took steps to insure that 100% will not hurt the car

 

[sdbonez]

The fact is that you, the driver, cannot do anything to hurt the battery by either filling to 100% or driving until turtle mode. The danger points on the battery charge curve are located "out of reach" of either 100% or turtle mode.

+1!

I know I won't hurt the battery, but as an owner, i'm looking for as much battery longevity as possible. The note about the software update is interesting. If the bars go down ~1% faster per bar, and our conclusions about the low end having more left as a result post-software update are correct, it would also mean we'd be charging more to the mid-range naturally - So I guess I'm just agreeing with Lopton and Plant4Ever

 

[palmermd]

I know I won't hurt the battery, but as an owner, i'm looking for as much battery longevity as possible.

If you want it to last the longest, put the SOC at 80% and then completely disconnect the battery from all connections.

If you want to use your car, just use it. All this talk of doing things to prolong the life is just phooey. The battery management system protects the pack from damage by not allowing you access to the areas that might cause damage. About the only way you might do some damage would be to consistently pull 80kW from the pack when you are very close to turtle mode (i.e. drag racing on empty), or charging to 100% and then unplugging and plugging it in again over and over trying to get a bit more into the pack again. Both situations seem ridiculous, so really there is nothing you can do to hurt the pack, so just drive and enjoy the EV grin.

 

[EVDRIVER]

I know I won't hurt the battery, but as an owner, i'm looking for as much battery longevity as possible.

If you want it to last the longest, put the SOC at 80% and then completely disconnect the battery from all connections.

If you want to use your car, just use it. All this talk of doing things to prolong the life is just phooey. The battery management system protects the pack from damage by not allowing you access to the areas that might cause damage. About the only way you might do some damage would be to consistently pull 80kW from the pack when you are very close to turtle mode (i.e. drag racing on empty), or charging to 100% and then unplugging and plugging it in again over and over trying to get a bit more into the pack again. Both situations seem ridiculous, so really there is nothing you can do to hurt the pack, so just drive and enjoy the EV grin.

Agreed, and the car will likely protect against high A draws at low levels. Just drive the thing.

 

[thankyouOB]

contacted a person who has helped me before with Nissan.
posed the question and after a day got this:


These are excellent questions, and the answer is going to depend on what you are trying to accomplish.
If your purpose is to prolong the battery life, then "B" is the best answer. Nissan recommends charging to 80%. Charging the battery creates heat which is the culprit in battery degradation. (the amount-80% vs 100%- and frequency of charging)
The amount of bars left after your commute is not a deciding factor other than your range comfort level.

I hope this helps and will allow you to enjoy your Leaf!