[Johnny_id4]

Just joined the community today, and I have been reading up on some treads about charging, however, I have some additional questions:

1) Fast charging like with Electrify America is not good for battery life if constantly charging with DC as it degrades the batteries' life, but does it help slow this process down if you put the car into "Reduce AC current" from the infotainment system? I did this today at an EA station that support 150kwh and with this option set, at 42% SoC, the current speed was at 68kw.

2) Assuming that my car is 80% SoC at the start of my day and ending at 70% SoC, is it always good to charge back to 80% daily or let it dip to say about 40% SoC from a couple of days driving then charge it? Does choosing one over the other have any benefit to protecting the battery for it to last longer?

This is probably the biggest concern that I have as an EV owner as I have experience this with phone's batteries going bad after a couple of years. Just wanted to hear opinions from long-term EV drivers.

Thanks,
Johnny

 

[Geo]

1) Electrify America (and all fast CCS chargers) use DC current, not AC. "Reduce AC Current" does nothing for DC fast charging. It is for home charging, particularly when you use your 110v adapter on an older circuit and think you might blow a fuse or something. It significantly reduces the current the car requires (which also slows charging significantly)

2) Not that big of a difference, but if you don't need the range, then let the battery run down a bit.

 

[Johnny_id4]

Totally forgot that the EA's, fast chargers, are DC and not AC...that was dumb of me.

 

[kens98]

I am also new to ev ownership even after years of researching ev’s. 3 weeks and 1k miles to be exact.

We are following the abc ( always be charging). Car is plugged in at home at night (level 2 16 amps). 3 days a week it goes about 40 miles or 12% and the other 2 about 70 miles or 24% ish.

I have read so many different opinions that my thought is more always charge but try to keep the top at 80% and bottom around 20%.
I hope this helps and being so new I will never say this is the best way. Just copied what my iPhone does daily.

 

[Skirmish]

First off, not having a full understanding of the many details of a fairly new technology does not make you dumb. Just keep learning. You can run your car at any level of charge down to zero and DC fast charging isn’t necessarily bad for it.

What is bad is heat and plating. If you are interested I can find a great video on lithium batteries but basically the lithium passes through between the cathode and anode to join the electrons that power the car. Less lithium means less available charge. You lose available lithium a couple ways but mostly from heat causing the lithium to plate the anode. If the battery has proper management, and part of that is cooling built in as well as only charging to 80%, it should not plate as much and therefore should not degrade faster than normal.

Unlike a cell phone battery an EV battery is many cells and the management system decides which cell to send a charge to instead of just charging everything at once. If it can distribute charge evenly without taxing one cell it can keep that charge safe. Over 80% there are less options to distribute so the likely hood of damage is greater. You can still charge to 100% but it is safer to do it at a lower charge rate and less often.

 

[edid4]

I have only charged to 100% one time and that was yesterday. I'm on a trip for the holiday weekend and was traveling to an area with no DC fast chargers and very limited access to plug in AC. So I charged to 100% at the last available charger so I would have enough range to get back to that charger on the way home. I have read also that if you do charger to 100% start driving as soon as you can to reduce the time the battery is at 100%. I was driving 60 seconds after I unplugged. Just the time it took to get in the car, fasten seat belt and drive off.

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day Weekend.

 

[Don]

Best for the battery pack is to charge only to what you'll need for the trip you're about to take - I would add 20 or 25% to what you calculate you'll need, just to be on the safe side. Longer trip, charge more. Leaving the car sit for a week without driving, try to keep the SOC at 30% give or take a few. Charge to 80% when you need it and also to 100% if your trip requires it, but if you're only driving 15 miles to work and back Monday through Friday, there's no need to charge to more than 40 or 50% and numbers like that are better for the battery

Don

 

[Sean T]

First Post - New AWD Pro owner:

Went to Electrify America station today in Marlboro MA and couldn't get the charger to start, it asked me to disconnect and I couldn't do that either. I called EA and got a very quick and helpful response. They had me press the lock button and then the unlock button 3 times, I was then able to disconnect. They had me "hang up" the cord, then walked me through starting a new charging session on my phone first (ignore the big screen that says plug in first). They told me the "pump number" was printed at the top of the charger after the dash (very useful information). Once that was done I plugged in and charging went very well with no other problems. Charged from 44% to 100% in 58 minutes. Planning a 200 mile trip with weekend with no additional charging.

 

[BlueDH]

First Post - New AWD Pro owner:

Went to Electrify America station today in Marlboro MA and couldn't get the charger to start, it asked me to disconnect and I couldn't do that either. I called EA and got a very quick and helpful response. They had me press the lock button and then the unlock button 3 times, I was then able to disconnect. They had me "hang up" the cord, then walked me through starting a new charging session on my phone first (ignore the big screen that says plug in first). They told me the "pump number" was printed at the top of the charger after the dash (very useful information). Once that was done I plugged in and charging went very well with no other problems. Charged from 44% to 100% in 58 minutes. Planning a 200 mile trip with weekend with no additional charging.

First, congrats on your AWD 😎.
Charging is gettin easier. Back in March, I ended calling EA for my first 4 charges, you'll learn the unlock and charge process quickly.
There's an easier way to charge, use the EA app in CarPlay for Apple and Android. I don't know what it's called in Android 😁.
Soon you'll be at Charging 202 😉.
Check here and YouTube for all kinds info.
I suggest that you check other charging facts here before leaving your ID4 at 100%.