How often do you charge to 100%

[Animalhouse]

So I was ask a question I didn’t know about not just Rivian but EV’s i general.
Ok I know you don’t need to charge to 100 percent for daily around town use and if you heading out on a long trip go for that 100% on the battery to get that great range from the get go.
So what about some one that only does 70-75% cause they won’t need more than that average. Do those people really ever need to charge to 100%?
Book says once every five hundred miles to calibrate the Battery Management System (BMS)
Guy asked me that question and I just honestly didn’t not so that I would ask the community at large here and does that apply to other EV brands you know of?

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[ndmiller]

70% for Rivian, 80% for Tesla Y, both day to day the recommendation for the vehicle. Never to 100% except before a 300+ mile trip in either.

To topic of calibrating the BMS a solution looking for a problem. BMS have been in service for more than a decade of EV's (longer in other applications) are not an item needing regular calibration. Same for a wristwatch or the temperature of your oven. Are any of these perfect, no but the difference isn't significant. Charging to 100% before a trip is enough for the BMS to refigure its thing. Obviously if you're seeing an issue (range at 70% went from 352 to 301 with no changes) go to the SC.

The video I watched on the topic with a 200K mile Tesla gained 7 miles with that 36 hour calibration. I guess if you never charge to 100% for 100K miles or more maybe it becomes significant, but again, I doubt that's a very likely scenario.

 

[elfordon]

How often do we charge to 100%? Whenever we start our two-day drive to see the adorable grandchildren...about 9 times a year. Add another 10 or so long trips a year to that, occasionally towing.

We have a Max Pack R1T dual motor. Her name is Large Charge Marge. She's a magnificent lithium-powered beast, and her battery is there for us to use. Charge!

 

[JacobAZ]

It depends upon battery chemistry. The R1 standard battery is LFP. LFP batteries have a bit of a memory problem, so they do recommend charging to 100% regularly to clear the memory. The R1 large and max are NMC. NMC does not have memory issues, so no need for 100% charge. Tesla recently added a feature to recalibrate their NMC battery. As Tesla explained it, the feature will drain the battery then fully charging it (takes hours to run). It does not effect your actual range, just more accurate estimated range on a trip.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

From what I understand it depends on your battery chemistry. For the standard pack it uses a different chemistry than the pack I have and requires full charges occasionally to keep the battery calibrated. The max pack that I have does not require that, so I have never had mine charged to 100 nor do I intend to. If I’m starting off on a road trip I start at 95 as the extra 5% does very little for range but not going to 100 protects the battery.

 

[Polar]

When ever I feel like it; these batteries will likely outlast the rigs so I have very very little fear of the dreaded degradation boogie man.

Do I let my rig sit at 100% for days at a time, no. But I’ll happily charge to 100% even on a normal weeknight knowing that on my commute the next day by the time I hit my office I’ll be down to roughly 90-92%.

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[tate16t]

I charge to 100% whenever I’m going on a long drive, maybe once a month.

 

[runwithscissors]

I bet most people that lease probably chage to 90-95% to keep regenerative breaking. As an owner I stick to 60% mostly at home knowing that I'm probably not saving the battery by doing that.

 

[Weekend at Gary’s]

Batteries determine state of charge based on voltage drop curves. LFP voltage drop curve is very flat making it difficult to determine state of charge (compared to NMC). Instead LFP tracks power out and compares to “full state” to determine remaining charge. The car needs to calibrate to check that full is where expected (after all the accounting of power in and out). Many brands use more than one chemistry. I’d follow the manufacturer’s recommendation in the owners manual.

 

[DayTripping]

Read through this and draw your own conclusions. It directly applies if you don't have an LFP pack (i.e. std range).

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

 

[SANZC02]

Rarely, maybe once or twice a year just to calibrate.

My normal daily is plug in when it gets below 50% and charge to 80%. The Tesla is driven more so it probably gets charged 4 or 5 times a week, the Rivian gets charged maybe 2 or 3 times a week.

I have no concerns charging to 100% just takes a long time once over 92 or 93% and never found a time the wait was worth the extra few miles. On a trip I usually do shorter stretches with more stops and stay between 15% and 70% to keep the Charge times shorter on each stop. I put the next charger into the nav and let the vehicle tell me when it is good to go.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Large and Max are NMC. No need to charge to 100%, unless you absolutely need it and don’t intend to let sit for extended periods after session. As in, it’s ok if you will be driving soon after. However, it’s not ideal because as you approach full the charging curve/efficiency drops—and you’re losing time and wasting energy to heat. This is why you see mention of 20-80, and keeping sessions on the shorter side (during long drives), as best practice. So while current-day NMC packs are less prone to permanent damage from charging to full, there remain practical reasons for not doing it.

Engineering Explained channel on YouTube has videos on NMC and LFP; if you want a deeper understanding of each chemistry’s behavior and best practices.

 

[Anna Kelly]

What is an "NMC" battery?

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

What is an "NMC" battery?

Google: “An NMC battery is a type of lithium-ion battery that uses a cathode made with a combination of nickel, manganese, and cobalt (NMC). This composition provides a good balance of energy density, power output, and cost-effectiveness”

 

[Megaman0025]

Na

I bet most people that lease probably chage to 90-95% to keep regenerative breaking. As an owner I stick to 60% mostly at home knowing that I'm probably not saving the battery by doing that.
[/QUOTE

I bet most people that lease probably chage to 90-95% to keep regenerative breaking. As an owner I stick to 60% mostly at home knowing that I'm probably not saving the battery by doing that.

you actually are protecting the battery by doing this. Keeping the voltage as low as possible at all times is what provides battery longevity. Charging to 60 percent daily is optimal. For literally any NMC battery. The higher the SOC, the higher the voltage. LFP batteries don’t operate like this as their voltage curve is very flat except at the very top and bottom of the pack.

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