NEMA charge or trickle charge

[Luci]

As an EV newbie, looking for guidance to achieve a long battery life. Keeping in mind, we don't drive far on any given day (maybe 50-75 miles tops and even then, not daily)

1. Is it best to trickle charge with 110 and only to use the NEMA outlet when needing to power up at a faster pace?
2. Is it suggested to "exercise" the battery, that is to let it drop to 20-30 percent percent before powering back up to 80?

Guidance appreciated.

 

[MPawelek]

Unfortunately you can find articles on the net that go in opposite directions and tell you totally opposite ideas. I am going to go with the Tesla recommendations that say to plug in every night and charge up to 80%. When going on a very long trip the next day charging to 95% is ok occassionally. “A charged Tesla is a happy Tesla”.
PS-A slower charge is better for longer battery life from what I have read.

 

[hydbob]

If you follow the other thread, you should maintain 50% SOC and keep your car in perfect 68-70 degree weather the entire time.

Probably as long as you aren't charging to 100 and draining down to 0, if you keep it within the 20-80 range and charge it at home you'll be fine. A lot of this stuff in the long term end up with a minimal difference that I personally don't believe is worth the effort or stress of worrying about it.

 

[DeaneG]

There's no difference in battery longevity by charging the Air at any rate below about 50kW. 120Vx12A and 240Vx80A will be about the same for the car. Just keep it above 10% and below 90%, except for long road trips as needed, and charge in a way that is most convenient for you. I'm an electrical engineer and have been driving EVs for eleven years. I just leave my cars set to charge to 80% and plug them in most nights.

 

[MoniputerLM]

As an EV newbie, looking for guidance to achieve a long battery life. Keeping in mind, we don't drive far on any given day (maybe 50-75 miles tops and even then, not daily)

1. Is it best to trickle charge with 110 and only to use the NEMA outlet when needing to power up at a faster pace?
2. Is it suggested to "exercise" the battery, that is to let it drop to 20-30 percent percent before powering back up to 80?

Guidance appreciated.

I had an issue using a 110V outlet in the garage. There are several outside and garage outlets on the same circuit and one had a loose connection. Pulling around 9-12 AMPS for several hours caused the outlet to melt!

 

[DeaneG]

I had an issue using a 110V outlet in the garage. ...Pulling around 9-12 AMPS for several hours caused the outlet to melt!

Any older outlet used for regularly charging an EV (120V or 240V) should be pulled out and replaced, or at least pulled and inspected. One way to get an early indication of a problem is to charge the car for half an hour or so, pull the charging adapter's plug out of the outlet, and feel the plug's prongs. They should be lukewarm at most. If they're hot, the outlet needs to be replaced or to have its connections tightened.

 

[MoniputerLM]

Any older outlet used for regularly charging an EV (120V or 240V) should be pulled out and replaced, or at least pulled and inspected. One way to get an early indication of a problem is to charge the car for half an hour or so, pull the charging adapter's plug out of the outlet, and feel the plug's prongs. They should be lukewarm at most. If they're hot, the outlet needs to be replaced or to have its connections tightened.

The melted outlet was on the side of the house. I didn't notice any issues with the outlet or plug in the garage. Lesson learned.

 

[cabood]

My issue with a newer 110 outlet is that the trickle charging just stops intermittently. If I wake the car up after it faults charging resumes.

I also think I have the first installation of the reverse charging with power going to my house from the car. See pic.

 

[Slam08]

As a rule, slower charging better for battery life. My Tesla friends point this out as a flaw of Lucids fast charging.

So trickle charging is better for battery life, if that is your main consideration.

Fast charging at EA 350 kW stations is worse for your battery than 150kW EA charger.

Level 2 home EV chargers are somewhere in between.

 

[pam4_AGT]

My Tesla friends point this out as a flaw of Lucids fast charging

Not so fast. Lucid uses a 900V architecture. Charging it at 150kW means a current of 167A (150,000/900).

From a quick google search, Teslas use a 400V architecture. So charging a Tesla at 67kW will draw the exact same current of 167A (67000/400).

 

[Sandvinsd]

And it’s the heat that degrades batteries faster. Both Tesla and Lucid have excellent thermal management on the batteries, unlike the Leaf which has no active cooling. That is one reason why the Leaf batteries degrade at a MUCH faster rate than a Tesla. I can remember fast charging the Leaf, especially after driving a lot where the battery is already warm, and seeing the battery temperature approach the red line.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

Level 2 charging is more efficient than Level 1 (less loss from outlet to vehicle). From what I read, repeated Level 2 charging isn't bad for the vehicle, only excessive Level 3 charging. In fact, Tesla has limited the Level 3 charge rate of some heavy Supercharging users

 

[DeaneG]

As a rule, slower charging better for battery life. My Tesla friends point this out as a flaw of Lucids fast charging....

A long range model 3 or Y can charge at close to 250kW, not that far off from the Air's 300kW. Your friends are just throwing FUD.

 

[Demosthenes]

I decided to not install a charging station in my garage so far because I get about 3 mi/hour trickle charging so if I get home at 6pm and charge until 6am, I’ll get around 35 miles which is more than what I typically use in an average work day. If I need to go on a road trip, then I’ll stop at a level 2 or 3 charger and max it out before I go.

 

[LCIDdreams]

I had an issue using a 110V outlet in the garage. There are several outside and garage outlets on the same circuit and one had a loose connection. Pulling around 9-12 AMPS for several hours caused the outlet to melt!

Yikes- glad there was no collateral damage beyond the destroyed outlet!

I probably have a similar situation- bunch of 110v outlets on a single 20A circuit. I’m no electrician but think that a loose connection at another outlet would be an issue if it is upstream (I.e. in direction of the electrical panel) of the charging outlet,or of course the charging outlet itself. Does anyone know if I am right on this, or are there potential safety issues with downstream connections too?

 

[MPawelek]

I would look at the size wire in the outlet you are going to use. Some electricians use the tiny #14 gauge wire whereas the larger #12 is more standard….

 

[MoniputerLM]

Yikes- glad there was no collateral damage beyond the destroyed outlet!

I probably have a similar situation- bunch of 110v outlets on a single 20A circuit. I’m no electrician but think that a loose connection at another outlet would be an issue if it is upstream (I.e. in direction of the electrical panel) of the charging outlet,or of course the charging outlet itself. Does anyone know if I am right on this, or are there potential safety issues with downstream connections too?

You are correct. There would need to be a load on the charging outlet and therefore the wire segment back to the breaker. The issue is that when charging, you are pulling a lot of amps for a long time. In my case, the wires coming in and going out of the outlets were connected to the screws on the outlet so a loose screw added resistance that caused heat to build up and there are probably 7-10 outlets on that circuit.

 

[Steveinarizona]

I decided to not install a charging station in my garage so far because I get about 3 mi/hour trickle charging so if I get home at 6pm and charge until 6am, I’ll get around 35 miles which is more than what I typically use in an average work day. If I need to go on a road trip, then I’ll stop at a level 2 or 3 charger and max it out before I go.

I started with that approach on my BMW 530e (PHEV). But after a while I decided that I wanted to be able to charge during the day and get some extra trips out of it so I installed a 240 box. But I drive about 10K miles a year and it sounds like you drive a lot less.

 

[Bbq9]

I decided to not install a charging station in my garage so far because I get about 3 mi/hour trickle charging so if I get home at 6pm and charge until 6am, I’ll get around 35 miles which is more than what I typically use in an average work day. If I need to go on a road trip, then I’ll stop at a level 2 or 3 charger and max it out before I go.

I am taking a similar path at the moment… particularly as I am still working from home.
in fact what I’d quite like is to charge during the day when my solar is in full effect, and not overnight - just can’t find a smart plug that is rated for this.

eventually I will install the lucid bi-directional charger - but until then I am comfortable with the EA chargers that are about 5 miles from home

 

[hydbob]

I am taking a similar path at the moment… particularly as I am still working from home.
in fact what I’d quite like is to charge during the day when my solar is in full effect, and not overnight - just can’t find a smart plug that is rated for this.

eventually I will install the lucid bi-directional charger - but until then I am comfortable with the EA chargers that are about 5 miles from home

Aren't you on net metering and TOU?