Best charging strategy

[DanHi]

I understand that the recommendation is to keep the battery between 20% and 80%. I don't drive a lot, so I only need to charge every week, but other people just plug it in every night. In the old days, the recharge cycles was what "wore out" a battery. So, my question is this, is it better for the battery to wait until I get close to the 20%, so that I recharge less frequently, or does this matter?

 

[Adnillien]

Your best bet is to charge regularly and keep the battery around 40% to 60% SOC. That said, today's batteries are very robust and it probably makes very little difference in the life of the battery. Best advice is to charge regularly when convenient but do not worry about charging or discharging more when needed. Enjoy the car and don't worry to much on this. If once a week is convenient for you, your battery will be fine with that.

 

[HariK]

I charge 50 to 80 these days. In my case 1% is about 3.3 miles for my driving patterns. So if I need more range suddenly 80 to 20 discharge is 200 miles max and at 50 100 miles to 20% still allows an urgent trip to sfo. No range concern and no need to charge at home while I have EA till Dec 2025. My suggestion is to make sure that the lowest soc you maintain covers emergency situation.

 

[Rossb2k]

The general guidelines about SoC and charge cycles can affect longevity and efficency of the battery, but this is marginal and measured over a very long timespan (generally the life of the battery) and there are of course other factors involved. You also, generally, don't want to DC fast charge every day.

That said, the most important thing is to never let the battery fully discharge to 0%, and don't charge to 100 unless you're going on a long road trip.

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

When I used to visit ICE car sites there was always a "What motor oil?" and "How often do you change oil?" posts. So I expected these people were keeping their cars 10+ years and 250k miles. Nope...they're just stupid...trade their cars when they get bored with them /when lease expires.

Then you read "just rolled into the shop" and see a Toyota getting it's first oil change with 60k miles... (and no brake pads with half a rotor).

It seems the batteries are pretty ROBUST ... but I concur with Harry ... the real issue is keeping the battery in a place where if you unexpectedly need range for an unexpected urgent trip you don't want to be low on SOC at home. I too generally keep around 50% as my "plug in at home time", and run to 80% if I think I need to take a trip the next day.

I thought your question would be about DC fast charging on a longer trip. I found the Cannonball Run video
Lucid Cannonball Run
using a Lucid to be VERY informative. Their trip strategy is to arrive at a DC fast charger with a low ( single digits!) SOC and then charge to the point where the curve drops and slows (for me it's below 100kW) ... then scoot to the next charger. It's a bit scary but very efficient...and pretty exciting to see the initial charge delivery above 300. Spending more than 12 minutes at a DC fast charger is not necessary (unless you are going to the eclipse in New England, where they still light their cabins with whale oil}.

I doubt anyone here will still have their (current) Lucid in ten years.

 

[Pragmatic]

I don't know.

The last new vehicle I purchased was in 2009 (I still have it). The last three vehicles I've gotten rid of I owned for 13, 15 and 17 years. The mileage on those vehicles when sold was 147k, 200k and 280k.
So I may keep the Air for more than 10 years.

 

[sbr41]

Their trip strategy is to arrive at a DC fast charger with a low ( single digits!) SOC and then charge to the point where the curve drops and slows (for me it's below 100kW) ... then scoot to the next charger

The only risk with this is of course charger reliability. You arrive at a charger with <10% SOC and the charging station has no operating charger, you are doomed! You then pray that there is another operating charger within that <10% SOC range.

 

[Andretex]

The only risk with this is of course charger reliability. You arrive at a charger with <10% SOC and the charging station has no operating charger, you are doomed! You then pray that there is another operating charger within that <10% SOC range.

No, if this happens you are NOT doomed. Just call another Lucid owner with V2V set up like me and I can charge your car.

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

Had the '05 Lexus for 13 years (not a single issue...175k miles!) and loved it, but the safety features and headlights were so out-of-date I had to replace it. I planned to make my GT my last car (boomer here = plan to stop driving before I lose my mind) and move to the city to live without a car.
I imagine that in a few years there will be dozens of cars with Sapphire performance at Toyota prices.

 

[Cosmo Cruz]

The only risk with this is of course charger reliability. You arrive at a charger with <10% SOC and the charging station has no operating charger, you are doomed! You then pray that there is another operating charger within that <10% SOC range.

If you watch the Cannonball video you see that the correct way to run the Lucid cross-country is to have a friend in a Polestar scout the chargers ahead.

 

[HariK]

I kept my cars min 14 years max 21 years, min 115k k miles max 175k miles. My Lucid in 1yr 4 months old 15k miles mostly due to 1 super long trip 8k miles. I typically drive 6k miles per year since I retired. So, in 8.5years it may have less than 90k miles. By then I will be older and driving even less. This is supposed to be my last new car. Next one could a 7 seater used EV (Gravity or Hyundai ioniq 7 or something new to come) in about 5 to 6 years because I plan to retire my old faithful 2005 Sienna minivan I use for dogs, bike rides and hauling big things.

 

[HariK]

If you watch the Cannonball video you see that the correct way to run the Lucid cross-country is to have a friend in a Polestar scout the chargers ahead.View attachment 20463

In just 3 to 4 years there will be a lot more charging stations. I did cross country 8k miles to Montreal with only EA in the US.

 

[HariK]

The general guidelines about SoC and charge cycles can affect longevity and efficency of the battery, but this is marginal and measured over a very long timespan (generally the life of the battery) and there are of course other factors involved. You also, generally, don't want to DC fast charge every day.

That said, the most important thing is to never let the battery fully discharge to 0%, and don't charge to 100 unless you're going on a long road trip.

Also, when the car is not in use for a while do not charge above 30%. For weekly use charging time 60 to 80 is better than once 20 to 80. On a long distance trip, best to stop at 95% if you care for regen braking.

 

[RM-S8]

I wouldn't worry at all.
I charge my GT-P 90% daily and drive it really hard.
While meeting folk at King of Prussia, 2 weeks ago, I asked Zak Edison, extremely nice guy, about my battery degradation (car build 08/22, HV battery replacement @ 18,600 miles).
His response:

So, not to worry much, enjoy your Lucid.