Charge to 70% or 80% ?

[greg martin]

Hi all, new to EV ownership (picked up my R1T Max less than 24 hours ago).
I’ve read here and elsewhere that charging to 80% regularly is best practice for extending battery life.
My Rivian Guide yesterday at pickup of vehicle was recommending 70%
Curious as to thoughts here?
Thanks!
Oh, and loving my new Rivian!

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[DRJ564]

Rivian recommends 70% for everyday charging. I personally go to 65 or 60 just because. If 70 is safe, 65 is safer. I try to keep my usage right in the middle of the % scale. YMMV, literally.

Oh, and congratulations and welcome to the forum!

 

[Zoidz]

Welcome! You'll likely get differing opinions. One thing most agree on - don't charge above 90% unless you wil use that charge almost immediately. There's solid science that shows the battery can degrade more rapidly if routinely charged to 100% and sits for a period of time.

For my driving and charging pattern, it's easy for me to follow Rivian's recommendation so I keep it between 30% and 70% unless I am making a road trip where I need more range.

 

[misterturbo]

Purchase or lease? Lease= 100% always, babaaaay!

 

[COdogman]

If 70% doesn’t work for your daily driving, then charge to 80%. The main thing to remember is to not charge above 90% unless you really need it, like on a road trip. The caveat is if you have the LFP battery, then you can safely charge to 100% every time.

I have mine set at 80% because I only have access to L1 charging at home, so it takes longer for me to replenish the battery.

 

[Golfer04]

If 70% doesn’t work for your daily driving, then charge to 80%. The main thing to remember is to not charge above 90% unless you really need it, like on a road trip. The caveat is if you have the LFP battery, then you can safely charge to 100% every time.

I have mine set at 80% because I only have access to L1 charging at home, so it takes longer for me to replenish the battery.

IMO, last sentence above is most important. I live in a charging desert too so I always charge to 80 over night. If fast charging was handy I would probably drop to 60, but if you need to quickly charge up and can't then go a little higher. Warranty is the same no matter what, but you have to have a 25 percent degradation for it to kick in.

 

[DayTripping]

Welcome to the forum. I'd suggest following the science. If you want to maximize your battery life (i.e. minimize degradation) keep your average charge level about 50-55% and charge up only when you need more. Small, shorter charges are better than big ones. For example, charge 3 times at 10% each time (40 to 50%) rather than 1 time for 30% (20 to 50%).

Keep it plugged all the time even when not charging. Obviously charge for what you need. This assumes you have access to home charging. If not, an EV doesn't make near as much sense.

By following these rules I have minimal degradation on my Teslas. I am looking at about 2% after 3 years on 2 of them and immeasurable degradation on one that is 6 months old.

Read the following website for more in depth info.

https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries

 

[vicq]

From a slightly different point of view, I believe that Rivian doesn’t have any buffer in the battery’s capacity. So 100% is really 100% as it is with Teslas.

Charging to 80% is probably fine, but even with 70%, you get over 200 miles of range, which for most daily use, is more than enough. But if you have a large commute each day, it may or may not be enough.

but with EVs, most people are able to charge at home overnight so you get to top off daily. It then doesn’t matter from a usage standpoint whether you charge to 70 or 80. But the batteries’ longevity will be slightly better by only going to 70%.

It probably only amounts to a couple percentage points over the life of the battery so nothing to keep you up t night worrying about it.

 

[Foobar]

As an owner of 3 EV’s for over 5 years now - I charge to 85 on a normal basis, 100 right before a long trip.

I expect to keep my cars for around 6 years at a time and the batteries are warrantied to a little bit more than that so no worries.

the life of the batteries have never degraded to the point that I had to think or worry about it.

 

[LDC]

Keep it plugged all the time even when not charging. Obviously charge for what you need. This assumes you have access to home charging. If not, an EV doesn't make near as much sense.
Read the following website for more in depth info.

https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries

Why should we keep it plugged in even when not charging? I have a short commute and only charge/plug in after several days (charging to 70%) or before a longer trip as needed, but otherwise don’t plug it in- I could but didn’t see the need.

 

[RivAW]

Hi all, new to EV ownership (picked up my R1T Max less than 24 hours ago).
I’ve read here and elsewhere that charging to 80% regularly is best practice for extending battery life.
My Rivian Guide yesterday at pickup of vehicle was recommending 70%
Curious as to thoughts here?
Thanks!
Oh, and loving my new Rivian!

It literally makes 0 difference (or least negligible enough in battery life that you likely would never notice over the lifecycle of the vehicle).
Just don’t charge above ~90% and then let it sit for an extended period ….

 

[HapticWagon]

Not sure why Rivian is conservative with 70% recommendation. I’ve been doing 75% to split the difference between the old general recommendation of 80%.

still debating leaving it plugged in vs not. I know leaving it plugged in will keep it topped off right? Accounting for the daily phantom drain?

overall good video for the nerds:

 

[iansriv]

Not much more to add. I just follow what Rivian suggests-70%. My thinking is that they know the car better than me. I do charge to 100% when heading out on long road trips and then subsequently 80% if the distance allows it.

 

[Mathme]

I charge mine to 80% and then when it's down to about 25-30%, I charge again...this will usually take 4-7 days depending on the driving.

When leaving on road trips, I'll charge it to 100% and plan for it to be about 100% shortly before I leave. Also when on road trips and stopping at fast chargers, I usually charge to 85% (which is Rivian's extended driving setting).

 

[R1Tom]

Mobile service told me it really didn't matter....100% everyday won't have much real effect. I didn't believe and use 70% unless specific need for more or extended time at airport unplugged in below freezing temps.

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