Does anyone actually charge to only 80%?

Mike in CA

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there is nothing bad about charging to 100% as long as you get going, the problems arise from keeping the car at high SOC for extended periods of time
I don't believe that's completely correct. While it's true that leaving lithium batteries on charge at 100% is the most problematic, there is also lots of information you can google concerning everything from cell phones to RV's that indicates simply charging lithium batteries to 100% on an everyday basis, not just leaving them on charge, reduces battery life.

Even more relevant, I own 2 EV's and the manufacturers of both say that for daily use one should only charge to 80% to preserve battery life. For example, the Audi eTron manual states specifically that "frequently charging the high voltage battery completely accelerates the aging of the battery and reduces available range".

Porsche's 2021 Taycan manual states that "adhering to the following measures can reduce the aging and wear and tear of the high-voltage battery", including "using the timer function to program a high-voltage battery charge state of approx. 80% for daily use of the vehicle without any long-distance driving".

Since I have no daily driving requirement which would make me want to constantly charge to 100% I see absolutely no reason not to follow these very specific recommendations. YMMV.
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kort

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I don't believe that's completely correct.
your beliefs are disputed by every EV manufacturer

re: your claim that audi says charging the battery often might not be right. the correct answer is that a lot of high speed DC charging is not good.
here is something from the EV gospel as told by the prophet elon
Porsche Taycan Does anyone actually charge to only 80%? official.JPG
 

mikeva

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Since 99% of my driving is around the area I only charge to 85% -a) so I get the better rate from the electric company from midnight to 5 am, and b) since I am only driving 20 - 40 miles per day, I can go 3 or 4 days between charges. I have it set to immediately charge if below 40% to take it up to 40% regardless of the time of day.

If I am going on a trip then I have no problem going to 100%
 

Mike in CA

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your beliefs are disputed by every EV manufacturer

re: your claim that audi says charging the battery often might not be right. the correct answer is that a lot of high speed DC charging is not good.
here is something from the EV gospel as told by the prophet elon
You say my beliefs are disputed by every EV manufacturer then you reference one. I'll just say, I'm unconvinced by your "evidence". :)

It's not my claim regarding Audi's charging recommendation not to charge frequently to 100%, It's a direct quote from the eTron owner's manual in a section which instructs on using the Audi AC charger. If you'd like, I can reproduce a copy of it for you to make sure you have the proper context. Also, what you say is again partially correct. Repeated high speed DC charging is bad for battery life, but according to Audi, so is repeated charging of all types to 100%. The two concepts aren't mutually exclusive.

More to the point, what Audi or Tesla recommend is less important to me than what Porsche recommends for the Taycan, and they say to charge to 80%, when practical, to preserve battery life. One can search for all kinds of logical and semantic loopholes to explain that away, but it's right there, in the manual, in black and white.
 
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gnop1950

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You say my beliefs are disputed by every EV manufacturer then you reference one. I'll just say, I'm unconvinced by your "evidence". :)

It's not my claim regarding Audi's charging recommendation not to charge frequently to 100%, It's a direct quote from the eTron owner's manual in a section which instructs on using the Audi AC charger. If you'd like, I can reproduce a copy of it for you to make sure you have the proper context. Also, what you say is again partially correct. Repeated high speed DC charging is bad for battery life, but according to Audi, so is repeated charging of all types to 100%. The two concepts aren't mutually exclusive.

More to the point, what Audi or Tesla recommend is less important to me than what Porsche recommends for the Taycan, and they say to charge to 80%, when practical, to preserve battery life. One can search for all kinds of logical and semantic loopholes to explain that away, but it's right there, in the manual, in black and white.
You are absolutely correct. I downloaded a PDF of the manual and " Use the timer function to program a high-voltage battery charge state of approx. 80 % for daily use of the vehicle without any long-distance driving. " is a direct quote from the manual.

I'm assuming that with the Porsche Wall Charger connect I could say set it to start at midnight and stop when it hits 80%. I have seen at least one thread where people seemed to be having issues with this, but my charger won't be installed for another month and my car won't be here until the first week in April so I haven't been able to do any testing.
 


jlee504

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I assume the fast chargers aren’t great for the batteries?

I only charge to 80% but I do try and drain it to the 20% level or below. I don’t have that many instances where I need that much range during the week my commute is 5 miles. But I try and keep it charged up during the weekend.

even when I do long range I do 95%.

I guess is there any issues with constant recharging and charging? Like draining it 10% everyday and then recharging it 10% overnight. Or is it better to just drain it as low as you can to just charge it less frequently. I have no idea.
My thought is your above statement is definitely false. Batteries absolutely lose capacity over time and it's absolutely related to how much fast charging you do, how close to the extremes of the battery storage you get, and how long you hold it there.

Does your 2 year old cell phone still last all day without recharging?

Now, whether you care or not is a different story. But it doesn't change the science.
 

Dslev

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So the dealer tells me that it is "better" for the battery to charge to only 80%. Based on the research I have seen for most EVs, batteries don't really lose much capacity for any reason over time. What is everyone's thought on the matter?
All my research, and discussions with Porsche, 85% (daily) is the optimal charge for battery health. My car is set to charge to 85% by the time I leave in the morning. Longer trips I do charge to 100%.
 

svp6

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your beliefs are disputed by every EV manufacturer

re: your claim that audi says charging the battery often might not be right. the correct answer is that a lot of high speed DC charging is not good.
here is something from the EV gospel as told by the prophet elon
That is true. It is also true that Tesla recommends only up to 90% charging for daily driving. In fact their "daily charging" range on the app / screen covers the 50-90% range.

I charge our Model 3 to 50% (it sits in the garage most of the time since the pandemic with working from home) and our 4S to 80% for daily driving. I have a "trip" profile set to 100% charge to use when we are planning a longer drive.
 


Gwaihir

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100%… it will be sold before batteries are less efficient
Makes you wonder if Porsche use ‘car collected data’? I can imagine, number of launches, number of fast charge cycles, charge level etc having a detrimental affect on the car value when traded. Just a thought. .
 

Fish Fingers

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I assume the fast chargers aren’t great for the batteries?

I only charge to 80% but I do try and drain it to the 20% level or below. I don’t have that many instances where I need that much range during the week my commute is 5 miles. But I try and keep it charged up during the weekend.

even when I do long range I do 95%.

I guess is there any issues with constant recharging and charging? Like draining it 10% everyday and then recharging it 10% overnight. Or is it better to just drain it as low as you can to just charge it less frequently. I have no idea.
There was a post on another thread on here from someone who works with lithium batteries in satellites.
So it's someone I am confident who really knows what they are talking about on this front.

They had analysed all the data from various charging cycles and found that frequent shallow charges had very little negative effect on the battery.
(I will try and find the post as its useful).

With regard the OP's original question...... It would appear that just about everyone only charges to 80 or 85%.
 

Fish Fingers

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HerrCooles

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The charge cycles and charge levels can then be read out. You can tell if the owner took care of the batteries or not. That will affect the value of the car.
 
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jlee504

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That is an Interesting post. I guess small discharges and small fill ups are good. I wonder why. But I’ll change my habit now with that. seemed scientific enough.

Here is the post from member 'Squiden' who works with satellite batteries on the subject.

I think it's really useful as it's someone in a highly technical industry where the numbers have been analysed from first hand experience in the field, rather than just hearsay etc.
I am taking his info as fact.

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/charging-best-practices.7081/post-101651
 

Windpower

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your claim that audi says charging the battery often might not be right. the correct answer is that a lot of high speed DC charging is not good.
here is something from the EV gospel as told by the prophet elon
I own a Tesla as well. The section of the manual you showed doesn’t refer to the recommended state of charge. It refers to always keeping connected to a power source so that the battery pack can be kept at an optimum temperature. It’s saying “let the car‘s computer manage battery state of charge and temperature”. Which I think is spot on.

The technical answer is that a lithium ion battery pack has a limited number of deep charge cycles. Going from 80% to 20% will lengthen a batteries life. Going from 100% to 0% will shorten a batteries life. Fast DC charging can also damage a battery due to over shoot. That’s why DC chargers slow down once the battery has hit an 80% charge. In the early days of the Tesla Roadster, you could kill the battery in a few years by using the original Tesla DC chargers which didn’t lower the charge rate at 80% charge.

Over time engineers and scientists found ways to maximize battery life which is why we have the recommendation “charge to 80% for daily driving, charge to 100% if needed for a trip, keep your car plugged in when possible”.
 
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sfr

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All my research, and discussions with Porsche, 85% (daily) is the optimal charge for battery health. My car is set to charge to 85% by the time I leave in the morning. Longer trips I do charge to 100%.
Why do they speak about 80% in the handbook ?
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