Charging: Better to go >90% or end up <10%?

[flapjake314]

i have a trip i do once a month that consumes ~85% of my battery during the winter

so i can charge to 100% and get back home with 15%, or charge to 90% and come back home with 5%, or charge to 95% and come back home with 10%, etc

1. what's worse for the battery, to charge above 90% or to let it get below 10%?
2. is it for paying for a charger mid trip and taking 15-30 minutes to try and not let it get so low?

i've generally just been doing the 95% option and preconditioning when possible

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[steve.panse]

More of a concern than battery health, to me, is saving some reserve for unknowns. I’d charge to 100.

 

[devmach-e]

Charge to 100%. Or stop at a DC fast charger on the way home. Whatever guarantees that you get home safe. The occasional charging session to 100%, or a DC fast charging session won’t affect the car in any meaningful or measurable way. The car and battery is designed for this.

 

[Mjsabie]

You are overthinking this. Charge to 100 and give yourself a little buffer. Charging to 100 once a month is not going to hurt you

 

[Maquis]

Charge to 100%. For optimum results, schedule such that it reaches 100% as close as possible to your departure time.

 

[HuntingPudel]

The battery doesn’t like to dwell near either end of the SoC spectrum. Nearly 100% for a short while doesn’t hurt it much. Likewise, nearly 0% for a short while doesn’t hurt it much. So, drive it right after reaching 10% or charge it right after nearing 0%. ??

Also remember that the battery has invisible to the driver buffers at either end. When the gauge reads 0% it still has charge and when the gauge reads 100% there is still room for charge to be added. ??

 

[txfab]

Check your type of battery. If it's an LFP like mine (2024 normal range) you can charge to 100% and it has 0 impact on battery longevity, according to all recent studies. So you can forget the 90% reco in that case.

 

[Peugfan]

Do let your battery SOC drop to around 10% occasionally to help the BMS maintain it's low end calibration (as recommended by more knowledgable people on this forum).

 

[DYohn]

As mentioned, there is absolutely nothing wrong with charging to 100%. Just don't do it every day.

 

[Johnny572]

Charge to 100% but use it right away or the next day. Don’t leave it at 100% for a long period that’s not good. Then go back to your daily routine 80% or lower.

 

[Rudi Krupsdahl]

Check your type of battery. If it's an LFP like mine (2024 normal range) you can charge to 100% and it has 0 impact on battery longevity, according to all recent studies. So you can forget the 90% reco in that case.

Won't you be nice and post a link to "recent studies shows"??
This will make it very credible and show that it is not just something you think. (not that it shouldn't be correct) It just makes your answer really solid? As well as exciting reading, now that batteries are something we talk about a lot in here?

 

[txfab]

Lots of studies when you google. Some confusion.
Here's one:
https://insideevs.com/news/707538/recharge-ev-after-every-trip-video/

 

[Mach1E]

Lots of studies when you google. Some confusion.
Here's one:
https://insideevs.com/news/707538/recharge-ev-after-every-trip-video/

To be fair, the article you linked isn’t a study, just a person that makes a “statement” that you can charge NMC to 100%.

A study would involve multiple tests that prove there is minimal impact on degradation.

I’m sure they’re out there though as this seems to be a pretty widely held belief.

 

[johnnycombo]

Check for free chargers at or near your destination, while your doing business you’ll get the free range you need.
My last visit to my family doctors office I noticed free charging, they actually have eight in the parking lot and they are listed on the Ford navigation!

 

[txfab]

To be fair, the article you linked isn’t a study, just a person that makes a “statement” that you can charge NMC to 100%.

My bad, the article linked to a study but it was about how frequent fast charging doesn't cause more degradation than slow charging.
Anyway, just seeing that another recent study quoted by InsideEVs is now arguing that the higher charges do cause issues. However, it's conclusions are impractical.
So there seems to be much back and forth yet to happen before we start to land on some firmer conclusions, and by that time, we'll all be using a different battery technology again.

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