Charging Regimen

[moosetags]

We have had Opal (our R1T) for nine months. We have been charging her at home on a Rivian wall charger. Our routine is to let her go to about 20% state of charge and charge her up to 70%. This has worked well for our use routine.

Should we continue our charging regimen as is or would it be better for her battery to vary the max charge?

Brian

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[Magicbus]

That’s what I do for everyday driving. Seems to be recommended by Rivian.

 

[mikehmb]

There is some good data out there (apologies, I can’t find it) that reinforces frequent charging and limited depth-of-discharge are key factors in maximizing long-term charge retention.

Essentially: charging 10 times 60-70% has a considerably lower impact on the battery than a 1-time 0-100%.

I throw it back on a charger and bring it back to 70% any time I drop below 50-ish. If I keep the truck forever, great! If not, then the next person gets a pampered battery.

For long trips/etc I toss those rules and charge to whatever I need for that drive, btw. I’ve gone 5-95% before on road trips.

 

[moosetags]

We did charge Opal to or near 100% on her trip home from the Factory in Normal, Illinois. Other than that, we have not taken her above 70%.

Brian

 

[shrink]

Essentially: charging 10 times 60-70% has a considerably lower impact on the battery than a 1-time 0-100%.

I subscribe to this practice. I've been driving EV's since 2011. There's a saying "ABC - always be charging." I set my daily limit to 70% and plug in every night. No need to let the charge level deplete to my understanding.

I think an occasional 100% charge is also recommended for balancing but I've been bad about that. I generally have short commutes.

 

[sherold]

Personally, I would change from discharging all the way down to 20% and just plug in every day to top back up to 70%. Besides the supposed perks for battery health, In the event that you do need to make an unexpected longer drive, you will be prepared. ABC

 

[mikehmb]

I think an occasional 100% charge is also recommended for balancing but I've been bad about that. I generally have short commutes.

Good point - I occasionally (like twice so far at home) have done a very low (8%?) to 100% charge, followed by an immediate drive to bring the SOC down to 80% again.

 

[emoore]

I don't think it's going to significantly matter if you go 20-70% or plug in every day. Maybe save a mile or two over 10-15 years? Who knows.

 

[SolartoEV]

47,600 miles. I have charged to 100% probably 20 times. I have ran it down below 3% probably 5 times.

Most of the time i charge to 70% but at least once a week i charge to around 88% because i do a long drive for work with minimal charging infrastructure on the drive.

I just charged to 100% yesterday to go to the Bills game and it is 100 miles one way and i planned to tailgate out of the truck. 200 miles in 15 degree weather and i used 84% with driving the entire drive in AP and i have Blizzacks on.

At 100% it still showed 287 miles in AP.

 

[CrazyOne]

I have had the car for 1 year and 3 months. For the first 9 months or so, I did what you did. However, after after being caught with low charge a few times, I am charging daily to 50%. I usually use It between 40% to 50% now. This is easier and I don't have to think much about it, unless we have a very long trip planned. The 50% takes care of airport runs too, so anything longer is just a few times an year.

 

[solaskaze]

I don't think it's going to significantly matter if you go 20-70% or plug in every day. Maybe save a mile or two over 10-15 years? Who knows.

I hope: Rivian knows , they just won’t tell us. While the batteries will age no matter what, this thread is only about slowing that rate: and with Rivian’s things like preconditioning-when/plugged in using wall current, not batteries, always being plugged in will, IMHO, save you far more than 1 mile over 15 years. Charging to 100% will dramatically accelerate the loss , Getting somewhere close to 0% charge (we don’t know what buffer Rivian has: 0% on screen absolutely is not chemical 0% ) will accelerate that loss .

 

[emoore]

I hope: Rivian knows , they just won’t tell us. While the batteries will age no matter what, this thread is only about slowing that rate: and with Rivian’s things like preconditioning-when/plugged in using wall current, not batteries, always being plugged in will, IMHO, save you far more than 1 mile over 15 years. Charging to 100% will dramatically accelerate the loss , Getting somewhere close to 0% charge (we don’t know what buffer Rivian has: 0% on screen absolutely is not chemical 0% ) will accelerate that loss .

I agree going to 0% or 100% will accelerate that loss. I'm just doubtful that going from 20-70% or 50-70% will have any difference.

 

[zefram47]

I daily charge to 75% with average discharge into the 50s most days. If I'm going further, I'll charge to somewhere between 80 and 94%, very rarely 100% to start a road trip. No need to artificially allow it to discharge down low, but it can help calibrate the BMS to occasionally allow it to discharge to the 10-20% realm....but you'll naturally do that anyway on a road trip.

 

[evguy]

We're at 26,000 miles over 14 months. Daily charge is capped at 80% and we plug in every night (set to charge between 12 am and 6 am when our TOU rates are lowest) regardless of how much we drove that day. This habit helps avoid running out of charge on any given day, and my understanding is that avoiding deep discharge when possible is best for long term battery health. That said, I doubt regularly discharging to 20% will do serious harm.

 

[webfootdawg]

I've been charging to 70% most days. When its gotten a little colder I've been going to 75. Most days don't need it. But don't wanna think about it if I do.

Been a little winter storm action here. I've been daily charging to 85% past couple days, in case power goes out. Tonight an ice storm is scheduled to come. Will probably set it to 100% before bed, assuming power still on. May need the Rivian to keep the freezer going if we lose power.

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