Is this SoH OK?

[Data]

I have to say, that I do find MG’s advice on charging and balancing for NMC type battery chemistry, a little bit contradicting myself ?.
On one hand they tell you to carry out a balance cycle about every month, right okay.
Then go on to recommend that charging to 80% SOC for your “every day” shorter trips, is encouraged for the “long term health of your battery”.
Save charging to 100% for when you are making the less frequent longer trips folks is the word.
Well we know that NMC batteries only perform a “correct” balance cycle, when commencing from a low SOC, then the balance cycle will start, only after the pack has reached 100% SOH.
I struggle to understand just how these two recommendations align then really ?.
Can’t see how you are expected to observe the advice of charging to 80% AND follow the instructions on balancing the pack every 4 - 6 weeks, which necessitates a 100% charge and some more.
The advise on LFP packs is much more simple, use it and then plug it in when you get home.
Just charge it 100% as often as you like !.
Balancing here can’t be overlooked of course.

Yes, it's seems a bit contradictory. But the damage/degradation the battery experiences by NOT doing a regular 100% full & proper equalisation is much worse than if you do it. NMC batteries are not fragile although that's the impression we can sometimes get from reading some stuff that's out there. We know NMC doesn't have quite the same life cycle as LFP but the reality is it isn't ever going to matter to 99.9% of people especially if you look after it a bit, or even if you don't. I've calculated my NMC battery will last over half a million miles & probably 20+ years the way I use my car & charge it. You can charge them to 100% as often as you need to. The operative words here are 'if you need to'. I equalised to 100% during last week as I had a trip to make. Doing so gave me an estimated range on the GOM of 310 miles in normal mode. Of course, I didn't get that as I was driving on motorways mostly. But range was good. Ambient temp was 7C. It's surprising how range is improved by doing regular equalisation & calibration at 100%. And it's only every 5-6 weeks for me. That seems the sweet spot the way I use my car.

 

[Data]

Curious, how long does balancing take you if you charge to 100% from let’s say 80% or does it not happen at all?

You know, I haven't actually tried that Mickey. If I'm going to 100% I like to get the BMS to recalibrate too. So I normally would go from around 18% soc, just under the battery low warning message. The rest of the time for daily driving I tend to keep the battery between 45 & 70% soc. According to the Battery University, that's a good area to keep the battery at which can make the battery last 22-24 years if it's NMC. They stress the battery must be equalised on a regular basis whether NMC or LFP.

 

[Lovemyev]

I have had our ZS EV LR for 14 months and only done about 7,000km so I only do 100% twice a year.

As a low milage user case and an almost new pack, then I would not expect to see any battery degradation this early in its life.
Even when only charging to 100% twice a year, but this could change as time moves on of course .
I have said this before I know sorry, but if your car is either a lease / PCP or your like to exchange it fairly often etc.
Then people really tend not to be really interested in the long term health of their packs tbh.
Any acceleration in the degradation caused by the first owner, is passed down along the line.
In this respect ICE vehicles are no different really, hire / lease / loan cars can suffer a hard life in the early years, but this misuse only starts to manifest itself as problems later, after the car has moved on.
This is combated by moving them on WAY before they become trouble some.
There cheaper prices naturally make them attractive to car super markets of course.
But they could be hiding a dark secret of neglect.
Speaking personally, I would never buy a second hand car without seeing the V5C document first, if its previous been a hire car etc then it’s time to be heading for the door.

 

[Data]

As a low milage user case and an almost new pack, then I would not expect to see any battery degradation this early in its life.
Even when only charging to 100% twice a year, but this could change as time moves on of course .
I have said this before I know sorry, but if your car is either a lease / PCP or your like to exchange it fairly often etc.
Then people really tend not to be really interested in the long term health of their packs tbh.
Any acceleration in the degradation caused by the first owner, is passed down along the line.
In this respect ICE vehicles are no different really, hire / lease / loan cars can suffer a hard life in the early years, but this misuse only starts to manifest itself as problems later, after the car has moved on.
This is combated by moving them on WAY before they become trouble some.
There cheaper prices naturally make them attractive to car super markets of course.
But they could be hiding a dark secret of neglect.
Speaking personally, I would never buy a second hand car without seeing the V5C document first, if its previous been a hire car etc then it’s time to be heading for the door.

Yes, I tend to agree. But I think these batteries are proving very robust overall. My neighbour who lives just a bit up the road from me has a Tesla with the long range NMC battery. I don't know what size it is, but that's not important. The car is on a 4yr lease & is 3yrs old with just under 80,000 miles on the clock. He charges it every other day to 100%. The car shows his battery SOH at 96%. So no worries there. He only 'fast chargers' away from home once a week on average. That may be a factor in how well the battery is doing.

 

[AnaloguePete]

I assume that’s a typo, otherwise you would have barely added 15kWh?

No. No typo. 2.3kW for 7 hours adds 2.3 x 7 kWh = 16.1 kWh.