Does Fast Charging Ruin Your Electric Car's Battery? -- Engineering Explained

[ryannix123]

Spoiler alert: It does!

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[flapjake314]

i have a post to track SOH where i specifically ask about DCFC usage

strongly seems like minimal impact to the battery frankly... but i am not an engineer and it's a small dataset

 

[ryannix123]

Yeah, the video confirms that it does have an impact, albeit a minimal one over time.

 

[Snakebitten]

So between post #1 and post #3 the answer swung 180° ?

 

[DaddyDeuce]

I think some of what we "we think we know" about EV batteries came from experiences people had with the Gen 1 Nissan LEAFS.

The LEAF had a passively cooled battery. No liquid cooling, no cooling fans, no way to cool except to radiate heat away.

The battery chemistry was prone to heat degradation. Fast charging made the battery hot. Took a long time to cool down. Combine this with multiple fast charges on a trip, living in a hot climate, it was a formula for batteries to degrade.

I think the first gen LEAF was *almost* brilliant. If only they had done some sort of active cooling it would have completely brilliant.

 

[Teslaeata]

I bought just under 8,000kWh of DCFC power out of the 31,800kWh total and the battery’s at 94% SoH at 97,500 miles & 39 months.

What does that tell us??‍

Rants on a forum, please?

 

[ryannix123]

So between post #1 and post #3 the answer swung 180° ?

So it is an issue, but not one we have to be terribly worried about. Some best practices are listed in the video.

 

[medriver]

I think the video actually states for the mach-e by and large it shouldn't cause any significant problems outside the temperature situation because ford is so conservative our max charge rate is only like 1.5C and it doesn't hold that long, likes 1C much better.

 

[dabois89]

There are so many opinions on this, most of the studies and articles i have read say minimal degradation.
https://thenextweb.com/news/is-fast-charging-bad-ev-battery-degradation

https://blog.evbox.com/fast-charging-battery

 

[Blue highway]

I think the video actually states for the mach-e by and large it shouldn't cause any significant problems outside the temperature situation because ford is so conservative our max charge rate is only like 1.5C and it doesn't hold that long, likes 1C much better.

+1 on this... "fast" isn't a factor at low C multiples. Above 3C, problems multiply. Our cars don't go there.

 

[flapjake314]

So it is an issue, but not one we have to be terribly worried about. Some best practices are listed in the video.

but then your post #1 is misleading

 

[n2585722]

I would think that the faster you discharge the more detrimental also but probably less or the same as DC fast charging. The same probably applies to an ICE vehicle the more you push it the faster it will wear out. So far the only time I have used DC fast charging is when I tested it to see if it would work and that I would have no issues. Other than that I have always charged at home using a 10-30 dryer outlet so it is not the fasted level 2 charging.

 

[Kabish]

I’ve lost 12% on my battery…. I fast charged the first month I had it once a week as I just had level 1 charging at that time. I’ve fast charged maybe 15 times and that is likely on the higher side. I charge on a level 2 at home to 80% otherwise. I was actually kind of surprised, I was not expecting that big of a hit. I had attributed the loss to worn and then the new aftermarket tires I had installed. lol

 

[ryannix123]

I’ve lost 12% on my battery…. I fast charged the first month I had it once a week as I just had level 1 charging at that time. I’ve fast charged maybe 15 times and that is likely on the higher side. I charge on a level 2 at home to 80% otherwise. I was actually kind of surprised, I was not expecting that big of a hit. I had attributed the loss to worn and then the new aftermarket tires I had installed. lol

Wow, that's good to know. Thanks for sharing. The EE video does make it seem like it's probably a non-issue for most EVs, but it's good to hear from someone who experienced the drop in charging capacity.

 

[ryannix123]

but then your post #1 is misleading

I'm afraid I have to disagree that it's misleading. Fast charging can be an issue, and there are posts within this thread that support what the EE video explains. It's probably a non-issue for most people, but it's a data point to consider if you want to keep your MME's battery, or even your iPhone's, running optimally for as long as possible.

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