(free) Level 3 fast charging only - good for the battery?

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ScottUrman

Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2018
Messages
20
Location
Foster City, CA
Thanks to the NCTC program, we get 2 years of free 30 minute charging sessions at EVgo stations. Conveniently enough, there's one in the garage where my wife works. End result - we are charging our 2017 S pretty much exclusively there, 2-3 times a week or so. My question is - is this a good idea or not? What kind of effect will this have on the battery?

Thanks for any insights!
 
It will have some negative effect, but pretty small.

See the Idaho National Labs Study on this topic....

https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/01/f19/dcfc_study_fs_50k.pdf
 
Generally it isn't bad for the car unless the battery pack is hot. In the case of the 30kwh 2016-2017 packs, though, be extra careful not to get the temperature of the pack above 5 or at most 6 temp bars if at all possible. Your pack will degrade quickly if hot.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Generally it isn't bad for the car unless the battery pack is hot. In the case of the 30kwh 2016-2017 packs, though, be extra careful not to get the temperature of the pack above 5 or at most 6 temp bars if at all possible. Your pack will degrade quickly if hot.

Cool thanks. It's never gotten above 5 temp bars yet. And also we've never kept at 100% for any length of time, as even if it gets to 100% my wife then drives home after unplugging.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Generally it isn't bad for the car unless the battery pack is hot. In the case of the 30kwh 2016-2017 packs, though, be extra careful not to get the temperature of the pack above 5 or at most 6 temp bars if at all possible. Your pack will degrade quickly if hot.

Howdie. So let’s go into this a bit. We have a 2016 SV 30KWH. A half dozen times per summer this is going to happen to us and it did last year. 440 km trips. Hot weather. 7 temp bars, maybe eight on one trip last year. Can’t say I have really noticed any degradation yet but hard to follow because of temp variations. Cold and snowing today. 3 temp bars this morning. ). I know you are very knowledgeable on these cars. Any suggestions? How soon will we expect degradation. We do about 9000 km per year. We intend to buy a second Leaf 2020 SL long range in about two years. We love this car but would trade it if the degradation problems get to be an issue. We were considering a model 3 but it looks like it will be too expensive and it is not a hatchback...and it doesn’t have a heated steering wheel...or heated back seats...or heat pump...or... :).

Thanks in advance for any comments.

John and Angela.
 
I haven't been following the 30kwh pack discussions as closely as I have others, but it appears that this pack is more like the 2011-3/2013 24kwh packs in that it degrades quickly in hot temps, more slowly but still significantly in mild climates, and slowly only in very cool/cold climates. There also seems to be at least one degrading quickly in a cool climate. I suggest you run LeafSpy on your car, to see how it is doing.

I empathize with your quest for a car that has the features you need. I'm about to give up, because for me it comes down to getting a 2018 SL and getting cloth seats for it, or getting a 2018 SV without the Around View I have become dependent on using. That would be a nonstarter for a car with a low residual, if I had any sense...
 
Thanks for your opinion. Yah that’s another thing I would like on the next car that the Tesla doesn’t have. All around camera. Really Angela wants leather this time as well. It should be fairly easy to get what we want.

Well, about 9 months of the year it is reasonably cool but in the Okanagan it gets North of 33 degrees here and we do a few road trips in that. Think we’ll just drive it and not worry about it. Great car though. We’ll be replacing our smart ED with a long range Leaf in 2020 or 2021.

Good luck on your car purchase. Let us know how it goes.

John and Angela.
 
ScottUrman said:
LeftieBiker said:
Generally it isn't bad for the car unless the battery pack is hot. In the case of the 30kwh 2016-2017 packs, though, be extra careful not to get the temperature of the pack above 5 or at most 6 temp bars if at all possible. Your pack will degrade quickly if hot.

Cool thanks. It's never gotten above 5 temp bars yet. And also we've never kept at 100% for any length of time, as even if it gets to 100% my wife then drives home after unplugging.

you charge it to full on level 3? not a good idea. Instead of charging it every two or 3 days, you should charge it every day just long enough to cover what you used the previous 24 hours and keep SOC below 80% if possible
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
you charge it to full on level 3? not a good idea. Instead of charging it every two or 3 days, you should charge it every day just long enough to cover what you used the previous 24 hours and keep SOC below 80% if possible

Usually not to full. EVgo cuts off after 30 minutes so that's what we get. Typically somewhere in the 90% range, then it's back to 80% by the time she gets home. I'd say the total charge vacillates between 20%ish and 90%ish
 
ScottUrman said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
you charge it to full on level 3? not a good idea. Instead of charging it every two or 3 days, you should charge it every day just long enough to cover what you used the previous 24 hours and keep SOC below 80% if possible

Usually not to full. EVgo cuts off after 30 minutes so that's what we get. Typically somewhere in the 90% range, then it's back to 80% by the time she gets home. I'd say the total charge vacillates between 20%ish and 90%ish


Sounds good but you should be pushing SOC down a bit. To get to 90% you have be starting over 50% SOC. You use 10% to get home. Suggest starting SOC at 30-40% Charge will finish in high 70's or low 80's
 
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