Newbie question: 80% overnight vs morning?

[Honva]

Just got a 2018 Leaf as my first EV. I have read opinion that it is better for batteries not to stay at full charge for too long. How about at 80% charge? Does it matter if everyday I charge the battery to 80% in the evening and drive the next morning? Would it be better to charge to 80% in the early morning instead? My gut feeling is probably no difference at all. Want to hear from other experienced users. Re-charge the car in the evening is more peace of mind to avoid any surprises from overnight or early morning power outage

Thanks in advance for any input.

[LeftieBiker]

Recharging to whatever level you need, with the charge ending soon before you leave for work, is best. If you can charge to 80% overnight, that's great. I just hope that you realize you will have to limit the charge yourself, either by unplugging it or by have it reach 80% in the morning. The newer Leafs don't have a charge to 80% feature.

[WetEV]

Would it be better to charge to 80% in the early morning instead? My gut feeling is probably no difference at all. Want to hear from other experienced users. Re-charge the car in the evening is more peace of mind to avoid any surprises from overnight or early morning power outage

Several different points of view. From the point of view of the utility company, they would rather you charged in the night, 12AM to 4AM. That is when the grid has excess capacity, as demand is at minimum. Or in places with lots of solar, perhaps midday. Depends on the local power grid sources and loads. Evening is probably one or the worst, or the possible worst time, from a grid point of view.

From the point of view of maximizing battery life, charging right before departure, and perhaps to 100% one day a week, would be ideal. The utility company might not like that, as there is often a morning power use peak.

I don't know your power outage situtation. Or alternatives, like charging at work in the case of a power outage. So I'm not going to guess. I don't get power outages very often. When I couldn't charge at home, I charged at work.

[Honva]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, I know that the 18 Leaf don't have the 80% option. However, this is my drive to work car which is quite consistent that I only use about 35-40% of power everyday. I just set the timer for 130 min and it will get back to about 80%. When needed, I just change the timer slightly after stopping. The 80% option is not really necessary.

My bad. When I said evening, I actually mean around 11pm. A time when demand is low. If it is not good to the battery, I could do 4:50-7:00 instead. Car is in garage which won't be too hot or too cold. If there are no significant difference, I would prefer to charge around 11:00 instead.

[LeftieBiker]

My bad. When I said evening, I actually mean around 11pm. A time when demand is low. If it is not good to the battery, I could do 4:50-7:00 instead. Car is in garage which won't be too hot or too cold. If there are no significant difference, I would prefer to charge around 11:00 instead.

We generally say that if you charge to 80% it doesn't matter if the car sits afterward. However, given the looming possibility that the 40wkh pack will have serious problems with heat, I'd say that in hot weather you should let the car cool for as long as possible. That means having it reach 80% right before you leave for work. It may also mean only charging every other day, to let the pack cool as much as possible.

[alozzy]

The OP is from Ontario, Canada. Long before Ontario summer arrives, there should be plenty of feedback from owners in hotter climates about battery temps, accelerated degredation, etc. If it was me, I wouldn't worry too much about charging to 80% ish at anytime (whenever convenient), nor about having the pack sit idle at that SOC. The jury will be out by June/July...

[LeftieBiker]

The OP is from Ontario, Canada. Long before Ontario summer arrives, there should be plenty of feedback from owners in hotter climates about battery temps, accelerated degredation, etc. If it was me, I wouldn't worry too much about charging to 80% ish at anytime (whenever convenient), nor about having the pack sit idle at that SOC. The jury will be out by June/July...

The climate in much of Ontario isn't a lot different from mine, so I'd expect some 90F days and some stretches of 80+ days and warm nights. It wouldn't take any more than that to degrade a heat-intolerant battery. As I wrote, they only need to worry in hot weather.