Vulnox
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2021
- Threads
- 6
- Messages
- 526
- Reaction score
- 402
- Location
- Livonia, MI
- Vehicles
- 2024 F-150 Lightning Platinum, 2025 Mustang Mach-e Premium AWD
I don't know that I have heard of more frequent charging being harmful on its own. Most likely what is being left off that statement is that small batteries have a small thermal mass and charging produces a good amount of heat.Interesting. This is the exact opposite of what has been taught about smaller lithium battery packs in other devices over the last couple of decades. More frequent charging reduces battery life, and there is a number of cycles a battery can go through before degrading heavily.
I guess I assumed that though larger, the same would be true on these vehicles.
When cold weather arrives I will play around with the pre-conditioning, monitoring electricity usage closely with my Emporia app, and make a decision from there about whether it is worth it or not. It'll be a couple more months before I get there.
Heat is doing most of the harm (if it's fairly high temps). So frequently doing small charges on your cellphone where it repeatedly heats up the battery and you are keeping the battery at a high SoC can be harmful.
The basics of this are the same for an EV battery but there are a few things that change the rules. For one, unlike your cellphone, your EV is capable of cooling or heating the battery as needed. So the heat issue for frequently charging your cellphone is essentially eliminated. If your EV is sitting in 120 degree temps with the sun beating down, it could struggle on the cooling part a bit, but generally should be fine as that isn't likely the every day state.
The other part is high SoC. All the talk of ABC does not mean ABC to 100%. If you have an ER F-150, you should follow the manuals guidelines of not charging above 90% except for trips/as needed. For the SR it does advise you to charge to 100% I think weekly... but again consult the manual.
Your cellphone has almost always tried charging to 100%, and leaving batteries at high SoC, truck or cellphone, is one of the leading causes of degradation. It's only been more recent that more cellphone manufacturers are introducing charge limit options which helps reduce the heat and high SoC concerns.
But this should all be fairly obvious in the same way a modern lawn mower engine and a 5.0L Coyote are both engines and operate under similar core principles, but nobody would assume that the operating needs of the lawnmower engine will be identical to the Coyote. Their thermal mass, cooling capabilities, fuel requirements, oil requirements, and so much more, is potentially very different in what keeps them healthy. It would be a big problem if you read your lawnmower engine maintenance manual as the reference for how to maintain your Coyote. So nobody should be comparing their cell phone battery to a modern EV battery in what keeps them happy.
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