High voltage battery care

[marty80]

Reading the manual I'm not quite clear on the notes about charge levels (manual p.295) for maintaining a healthy battery pack

"When using the vehicle on a daily basis, it is recommended to fully charge it at least once a week, which is conducive to the health maintenance of the high-voltage battery pack; every 3 months to half a year, a low-power (less than 10% or 1 grid) full charged is performed."

• Is it recommending charging to 100% at least weekly, when driving daily? (what if car is used only 3-4 days per week?)
• The second part, 3 months to half-year - is it suggesting running the battery down to sub-10% then performing a charge to 100%?

I'm new to EVs, and thought battery health was best optimised by slow charging, not running the battery too low, and not routinely charging >80% (hence surprised at the weekly full charge advice). Appreciate the difference in battery types between the Standard and Long Range means different care. I have the long-range battery which I understand is more affected by charging behaviour, so want to be sure

 

[siteguru]

Which model? The SR battery pack uses LFP technology whereas the LR uses Li-ion technology.

 

[MoDolph]

The first part is to do with keeping all the battery cells at the same voltage level so that they age equally. Every time the cells are partially charged or discharged they start to drift apart in voltage. Fully charging them all to the same level is the best way to correct for this.

The second part is about ensuring that the % display is correct. I'm sure most people have had a mobile phone that dies when it still shows 10% charge, this is what they are trying to avoid. By charging up from a low state of charge the car can calibrate the % scale so it is more accurate.

They have tried to make it as simple as possible which means that it is not ideal advice. I would instead try to fully charge once every 5-10 partial charges and run the car down to <10% once every 3 months to a year depending on how often it is used.

 

[marty80]

That's helpful advice and explanation, thanks.
The next page of the manual specifically mentions equalisation charging, but a monthly frequency.
The only distinction between SR/LR battery packs is in point 4 about first-time charging.