Charging Habits That May Wear Out an Electric Car's Battery

Electric cars are quieter than gas cars and cost less to maintain, and electricity is much cheaper than gasoline. But Engadget says there is something dealers do not tell you: you should treat the battery like the one in a smartphone. If you want a good driving range years from now, how you charge matters.

The first habit to drop is charging to 100 percent every time. Sometimes a full charge is unavoidable, such as on a long trip. Otherwise, the type of battery matters. Lithium iron phosphate batteries, called LFP, should be charged to full only about once a week. Nickel manganese cobalt batteries, called NMC, are best kept at around 80 to 90 percent most of the time. You can find out which type your car has. Modern electric cars and chargers let you set a limit, so you do not have to keep checking.

When in doubt, keep the battery between 20 and 80 percent, because letting it run almost empty is also bad for its life. Holding at 80 percent has a convenience benefit as well: past that point, charging usually slows down a lot, so waiting is often not worth it unless you are going far.

Temperature counts too. In cold weather, charging is less efficient, so it helps to warm up the battery first, which is called preconditioning. Charging in high heat is worse. Temperatures close to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 Celsius) can speed up wear. In hot places, charging early in the morning, overnight or in a garage can help. After a long drive, let the car cool down a while before plugging it in.

The last tip is to avoid Level 3 chargers, also called DC fast chargers, unless you are on the road and low on charge. The long-term damage seems small, but it is not nothing. These chargers push a huge amount of power into the battery and make a lot of heat, and a car can only cool itself so much.

Engadget adds that every electric car has a limited number of full charge cycles, from empty to full, typically between 1,000 and 2,000.