(re)Charging etiquette

[LoneStar]

This forum community has lots of electric-vehicle savvy members, so forgive a "newbie" question here about full BEV best practice for recharging. My very limited insights come from appliance level Ni batteries that often discourage too frequent recharging, especially for limited discharged condition. Whether true or not, there's a perception that you should run rechargeable batteries further down (not completely out) before recharging them. Otherwise a kind of "memory" takes hold and you reduce the actual useful storage capacity.

Are vehicle batteries like Rivian will use susceptible to performance loss with frequent "topping off" of the charge level, especially if still high like over 75% ? I have access at work and home to near round-the-clock level 2 charging stations. My commute/driving pattern can be very short - say averaging 25 miles or less daily. So using my R1T daily - and plugging into a charger daily - is that harmful or cause degradation to battery storage capacity or life cycles? Is it better to just monitor the battery charge level and only connect say overnight every 3 or 4 days (however long) when battery charge drops to below 25% ?

This may have already been asked and answered here. I did search around this forum's technical section without finding it right away. And I do appreciate being educated by this community of advocates - even if sometimes with a bit of sarcasm.

Sponsored

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

You don't want to charge to 100% constantly. Most EV owners will configure their vehicles to only charge to 70-80% and then stop. You can plug in and re-charge to that threshold every day, without issue.

If you're going on a trip you can configure the car to charge to 100% one time, immediately before you are scheduled to leave.

 

[DucRider]

This forum community has lots of electric-vehicle savvy members, so forgive a "newbie" question here about full BEV best practice for recharging. My very limited insights come from appliance level Ni batteries that often discourage too frequent recharging, especially for limited discharged condition. Whether true or not, there's a perception that you should run rechargeable batteries further down (not completely out) before recharging them. Otherwise a kind of "memory" takes hold and you reduce the actual useful storage capacity.

Are vehicle batteries like Rivian will use susceptible to performance loss with frequent "topping off" of the charge level, especially if still high like over 75% ? I have access at work and home to near round-the-clock level 2 charging stations. My commute/driving pattern can be very short - say averaging 25 miles or less daily. So using my R1T daily - and plugging into a charger daily - is that harmful or cause degradation to battery storage capacity or life cycles? Is it better to just monitor the battery charge level and only connect say overnight every 3 or 4 days (however long) when battery charge drops to below 25% ?

This may have already been asked and answered here. I did search around this forum's technical section without finding it right away. And I do appreciate being educated by this community of advocates - even if sometimes with a bit of sarcasm.

We don't know what Rivian will recommend. Likely that charging every few days will cover your needs. frequent small charges are not inherently worse (or better) than slightly deeper charge/discharge cycles. If Rivians "smart" battery does what they imply it will, you should be able to plug in whenever it is convenient for you and let the vehicle do its thing.

 

[jsharpe]

These "practical aspects" of EV ownership are one reason why only the larger battery would work for me. Even doing the full 100% pre-roadtrip charge I would still run into the reduced rate charging along the way. So for example with my probably overly conservative range anxiety of not wanting to get below about 15% before arriving at a charging station and with slower charging when nearly full, I basically only have a "usable" 65% of the rated capacity. So instead of 400 miles I would have a "real world" 260 miles. Still quite doable, but not the same long road trip experience I get with ICE vehicles. I would go nuts doing the stop every 100 miles for a "quick" charge thing I see in so many Tesla videos. It's like the difference between an express and a milk run.

 

[Kickaha]

This forum community has lots of electric-vehicle savvy members, so forgive a "newbie" question here about full BEV best practice for recharging. My very limited insights come from appliance level Ni batteries that often discourage too frequent recharging, especially for limited discharged condition. Whether true or not, there's a perception that you should run rechargeable batteries further down (not completely out) before recharging them. Otherwise a kind of "memory" takes hold and you reduce the actual useful storage capacity.

Are vehicle batteries like Rivian will use susceptible to performance loss with frequent "topping off" of the charge level, especially if still high like over 75% ? I have access at work and home to near round-the-clock level 2 charging stations. My commute/driving pattern can be very short - say averaging 25 miles or less daily. So using my R1T daily - and plugging into a charger daily - is that harmful or cause degradation to battery storage capacity or life cycles? Is it better to just monitor the battery charge level and only connect say overnight every 3 or 4 days (however long) when battery charge drops to below 25% ?

This may have already been asked and answered here. I did search around this forum's technical section without finding it right away. And I do appreciate being educated by this community of advocates - even if sometimes with a bit of sarcasm.

I have charged my 2016 Tesla Model X as a daily driver to 90% (Tesla recommendation for DD) for more than 5 years. I need to charge every night because my daily drive is 80 miles round trip and I have errands and stuff some days. I have lost about 10 miles max range in that time.

The problem with only charging every 4 days is that occasionally you may find on the 4th day you get home and need to run errands and you could dip pretty low on charge. You will learn quickly what you can and cannot get away with but I wouldnt worry too much about it. With a low daily drive and a charger at work, you are pretty well covered.

 

[n8dgr8]

I always keep my Tesla charged to 90%. At first I kept it at 80%, but sometimes an impromptu trip happens and waiting to charge is no fun. Charging to 100% before a trip every couple of months is supposed to be a good thing since it balances the pack. In 6 years I have lost about 7 miles of range. Non-Teslas often keep reserve capacity as the battery degrades they release more of the battery. In that situation 100% should be fine.

 

[LoneStar]

all good stuff! really appreciate the info. learn a lot on this forum

 

[thrill]

One of the comments RJ made in a video was about how seriously "smart" the battery management system is. Every EV manufacturer ends up buying or building some sort of BMS, and they spend resources on optimizing it to the specific chemistry they're using and the market they're targeting, not to mention in Rivian's case that the system will adapt itself in some degree to the driver. I'd be cautious about taking anything from other vehicles about percentages and frequency of charge and discharge until Rivian publishes their carefully and specifically engineered and tested guidelines for their specific vehicles.

 

[JeremyMKE]

all good stuff! really appreciate the info. learn a lot on this forum

It was a great question, this is my usage pattern as well, been working from home for decades so my daily needs are rather low. Save for 90 mile trips to the airport Pre-COVID.

I am thankful for the informative, courteous and occasionally funny forum members.

I would hope if say on a Thursday night I decide to take a road trip Friday I could just pop open my Rivian app and change my max SOC to 100.

How cool!

That said I still giggle every time I preheat my oven from the grocery store.

 

[skyote]

That said I still giggle every time I preheat my oven from the grocery store.

My equivalent is my pellet grill, freaking love that thing! I can start it, stop it, & monitor meat temps from anywhere. As if a pellet grill isn't cheating enough, now I don't even have to be home to monitor it.

 

[JeremyMKE]

My equivalent is my pellet grill, freaking love that thing! I can start it, stop it, & monitor meat temps from anywhere. As if a pellet grill isn't cheating enough, now I don't even have to be home to monitor it.

I had pellet smoker as well, and you are so right.

Smoked meats and trucks. AMERICA!

 

[Gshenderson]

I would hope if say on a Thursday night I decide to take a road trip Friday I could just pop open my Rivian app and change my max SOC to 100.

I’d be shocked if this wasn’t included. Tesla has had this feature for years.

 

[DB-EV]

My equivalent is my pellet grill, freaking love that thing! I can start it, stop it, & monitor meat temps from anywhere. As if a pellet grill isn't cheating enough, now I don't even have to be home to monitor it.

Share more - never heard of this . . . . Darn thread drift.

 

[EyeOnRivian]

Share more - never heard of this . . . . Darn thread drift.

I would too ... but perhaps best to do it over in the
Chat Lounge: Off-Topic Discussions

 

[skyote]

I would too ... but perhaps best to do it over in the
Chat Lounge: Off-Topic Discussions

Thanks @EyeOnRivian ! My ADD kicked in there, but started another thread as recommended.

Sponsored