Last night podcast Batteries Balancing

[Muffin]

Was very interested in Vince speaking did not get his surname as his connection went wrong at the start
If he picks this up I am the same as him I will be doing about 50 miles a day so I will plug into a granny cable every night
I wonder when he balances the batterie Does he just leave it on to charge up to 100% or do you go to a charge station once a month
Can anyone else verify this

 

[Les burrows]

Hi muffin I see your quite new here so welcome with regards to your question you need to charge to 100% for the car to do a balance of the batteries and you must be on an A/C charger now that can be any type of wallbox or even the 3 pin granny unit you got with the car but remember that can take many more hours than a wallbox as it only puts out Around 2.4KW a wallbox will do around 7KW or you can use a public charge point but not a rapid DC it must be AC normally 7 KW and sometimes 22 but the car can only take 7 and the car controls it to 7 as vince said if he’s doing a journey he charges to full on his granny lead but if you don’t do long journeys it is recommended to do a full charge and then balancing around every 4/6 weeks
hope this helps
Les

 

[Muffin]

Thanks Les I’m new and I am soak up as much info as I can
As a experienced owner are all the charge point companies about the same or is there best or worse to go to when I need to charge up

 

[JCFlippen]

I do a balance over a couple of nights on Octopus Go cheap rare. First night get up to 80% then on second night I just leave granny or 7kw charger on when I know that it won’t take a lot to get to 100% it will then balance if needed.

 

[Gadget Geek]

Thanks Les I’m new and I am soak up as much info as I can
As a experienced owner are all the charge point companies about the same or is there best or worse to go to when I need to charge up

Hi Muffin, welcome to a very informative forum.

If you haven't already, download Zap-Map on your phone,tablet or PC. It shows all the chargers in the UK and you can set filters for type of connector, speed of charger, contactless payment, network provider etc.

If you are going on a long trip then A Better Route Planner is a good tool for planning your journey as it gives you charging stops along the way, and again you can set preferences.

You will learn that some networks are more reliable than others. Instavolt and Osprey top my list as they have always got me a charge, although they are quite pricey now.

A while ago I compiled a list of network prices, it might need updating but it gives you a rough idea.

Public charger price list

Hi everyone. I've got a couple of road trips this month and have been planning my journeys on ABRP and Zap-Map when I realised that the prices at the charging stops varied wildly from network to network. So I visited The 15 Best Electric Car Charging Companies: A Round Up of UK Public Charging...

www.mgevs.com

 

[Lovemyev]

Was very interested in Vince speaking did not get his surname as his connection went wrong at the start
If he picks this up I am the same as him I will be doing about 50 miles a day so I will plug into a granny cable every night
I wonder when he balances the batterie Does he just leave it on to charge up to 100% or do you go to a charge station once a month
Can anyone else verify this

Slightly different practice to follow, depending on which ZS EV model / battery chemistry you are running on also.

 

[peterseddon]

I know it recommends a balance about once a month, but will the car tell you if it is in need of a balance?

 

[Muffin]

Slightly different practice to follow, depending on which ZS EV model / battery chemistry you are running on also.

Long range Trophy

 

[Les burrows]

Hi again muffin if possible charge at home granny or wall box and you have a cheap night rate do as do as JCFippen sets out above is a good way, main thing to remember is you need A/C to do any balancing DC is no good, if you can’t charge at home cheapest AC I know off at the moment is Podpoint around 28p per KW on their AC chargers it is, most Tesco’s normally have them in there car parks
Les

 

[daverobbo]

Hi again muffin if possible charge at home granny or wall box and you have a cheap night rate do as do as JCFippen sets out above is a good way, main thing to remember is you need A/C to do any balancing DC is no good, if you can’t charge at home cheapest AC I know off at the moment is Podpoint around 28p per KW on their AC chargers it is, most Tesco’s normally have them in there car parks
Les

Hi Les.
If the vast majority of charging is done at home (on AC) does it still need balancing (Long Range) and if so how often (I haven't watched the video yet but will do later)

 

[Lovemyev]

I know it recommends a balance about once a month, but will the car tell you if it is in need of a balance?

Only if the battery was massively out of balancing, but generally no !.
The BMS ( battery management system ) is in control of that.
If it thinks the battery needs it, then it will perform a balance cycle.
A lot will depend on the type of usage pattern you have and how much D/C rapid charging you are subjecting the car to.
If you charge to 100% on a A/C supply ( wall box or Granny ) and the BMS decides the pack does NOT need a balance, then it will skip the process.
The advice for the LR battery is charge to 80% SOC for daily / shorter trips, then charge to 100% for the longer journeys.
If you are charging from a A/C supply for the majority of your charging needs, then maybe only fully change and balance every couple of months ?.
The standard range model with the LFP battery wants to charge to 100% every single time you plug in the car.
You have no control to pull back SOC to 80% on the standard range ZS EV model, so in affect you are balancing the pack every single time you plug in the car !.

 

[Les burrows]

Hi Les.
If the vast majority of charging is done at home (on AC) does it still need balancing (Long Range) and if so how often (I haven't watched the video yet but will do later)

Hi I see lovemyev as made a reply to your Question and he as normal quite correct in what he’s wrote yeh the LR is at its happiest running between 20-80% day today with a full charge and balance getting done the night before you do a longer run Wigh the SR lfp battery charge that’s as you like it’s happy but with either it’s a good idea to a full charge and balance every 1-2 months say 6 weeks on either that’s according to the hand books.
Always remembering the car won’t do the balancing unless it needs to but it must be charge to 100% on AC before it will do a balance does not work on a rapid DC charge but the battery can of course be charge to 100% on DC rapid charger but it’s not recommended.
Les

 

[Muffin]

Hi I see lovemyev as made a reply to your Question and he as normal quite correct in what he’s wrote yeh the LR is at its happiest running between 20-80% day today with a full charge and balance getting done the night before you do a longer run Wigh the SR lfp battery charge that’s as you like it’s happy but with either it’s a good idea to a full charge and balance every 1-2 months say 6 weeks on either that’s according to the hand books.
Always remembering the car won’t do the balancing unless it needs to but it must be charge to 100% on AC before it will do a balance does not work on a rapid DC charge but the battery can of course be charge to 100% on DC rapid charger but it’s not recommended.
Les

Thanks ales loved the podcast hopefully this will continue
I have heard of a problem with knocking on the steering when turning
Is that true problem

 

[Lovemyev]

Thanks ales loved the podcast hopefully this will continue
I have heard of a problem with knocking on the steering when turning
Is that true problem

You can watch previous back copies of the pod cast also.
Regarding the steering knock on the ZS EV.
Yes - It CAN be a thing for sure.
Not on everybody’s car it has to be said.
Our previous ZS EV ( Gen1 ) had the issue.
It has been extensively covered on its on length thread.
Quick search in the field above will relieve all !.

 

[Muffin]

You can watch previous back copies of the pod cast also.
Regarding the steering knock on the ZS EV.
Yes - It CAN be a thing for sure.
Not on everybody’s car it has to be said.
Our previous ZS EV ( Gen1 ) had the issue.
It has been extensively covered on its on length thread.
Quick search in the field above will relieve all !.

Thank very much will check it out .so many people so helpful on The Forum

 

[Lovemyev]

Thank very much will check it out .so many people so helpful on The Forum

It’s a helpful and positive community with somebody always willing to help out with other members questions / problems if they can.
Remember, the only silly question, is the one that is not asked !.

 

[Les burrows]

Thank very much will check it out .so many people so helpful on The Forum

Yeh muffin if you go to the forum homepage at the very top you will find a thread for all the podcast around 3 pages going back several years from when it first started and if you click on each one in turn it gives a outline to what’s in that podcast. You can watch as many as you like I think.
Les