Maintaining EV Battery Life
Electric vehicles are a joy to own but this new technology is using advanced Lithium-ion battery packs. This battery pack is the most valuable single component of an EV, and as such it’s not surprising that you might want to know how to best extend its life.
You are probably familiar with the lithium batteries in your smartphones and tablets. Also, you probably aware that they don’t last very long. Charging your smartphone every day for a year reduces your batteries life to about 1.5-2 years. This is because the number of charge and discharge cycles is about 600 before the battery is critically worn out. Some comments saying that an EV battery life dies within a couple of years. Of course, this is not the case. An EV battery will last from at least 8 years to over 15 years, depending on how it is treated.
How to increase the charging cycles
Charging your EV smartly can help you extend your battery’s life. You can achieve this by increasing the number of charging cycles. Maintain a charging schedule when your battery is between less than full and more than empty.
The lowest number of cycles and the shortest
battery life will come from repeated cycles of charging to 100% and discharging to close to 0%. It appears that charging between 85% and 25% gives a good balance of battery life and workable capacity. Battery balancing is about maximizing your battery’s capacity and evening out the charge distribution.
Finally, limit your fast charging. Even though we live in a time where everything rolls at a fast pace, we need to make the appropriate changes. Being impatient about charging your EV can damage your battery. Don’t expect the charging time to come down much below 20 mins. Read the manual for your EV carefully and adjust your own rules to safely use your electric car and maintain longer battery life.
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Disclaimer: The rules above are general rules for any EV that may help extend the life and health of your battery.
Maintaining EV Battery Life
EV Charging Stations for home, businesses or public places.
27th August 2018