I drive FAST - how much faster will my battery wear out?

[LariatLarry]

Hey guys, I just like stomping on it! Or sometimes smooth super fast merging onto the freeway. Cruising normally around 70-75mph when traffic is light.

So, how is this affecting the life of my battery? For example, if I was to drive very lightly, 55mph freeway, gentle gentle everything, feathering braking, etc - - let’s say that would give me the max life - for purposes of discussion, let’s say that’s 8 years.

Using the same distance traveled as the light method, how long would the battery last using the crazy fast driving-accelerating approach? 7 years? 6 years? Less? Or does it matter? Maybe 8 years?

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[hajalie24]

I saw an article (more like read a headline if I'm being honest) that said that discharging the battery at high rates occasionally can be good for it. Sadly I can't find the link

So I like to think of that each time I step on it

 

[Maxx]

I saw an article (more like read a headline if I'm being honest) that said that discharging the battery at high rates occasionally can be good for it. Sadly I can't find the link

So I like to think of that each time I step on it

I think I saw that article. Was it written by county sheriff running low on funds?

kidding aside, AI says Stanford university agrees with you and says life is too short enjoy it. Of course if it is scorching hot outside, you don’t want to over do it with heating up battery even more by and extended race with a teenager.

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/does-accelerating-hard-damage-z4hZANKNRJCbB3Ekfsj1iQ

 

[TaxmanHog]

Not certain this would compare with what you're seeking, but a member drove 93,000 miles in two years, that's putting the truck through a workout.

https://www.carscoops.com/2024/03/93000-mile-ford-f-150-lightning-has-battery-health-of-97-percent/

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...nd-still-97-battery-state-of-health-soh.18536

 

[Heliian]

You're more likely to wear out the mechanical parts faster but it's unlikely that your battery will see any increased wear.

If the temps are normal, the battery is happy.

 

[Saberdentures]

DC fast charging puts far more stress on the battery than driving hard; people who claim to know such things seem to be backing off on the “fast charging kills batteries” belief, so “stomping it” is probably negligible.

More important than stress would be your mileage efficiency. Driving hard and getting 2.1 miles/KWH instead of 2.4 would increase your charge/discharge cycle by 1/8 and shorten the battery’s life by the same fraction; thus, you would get 7 years of life instead of 8.

 

[Pod]

im convinced they have done such overkill with battery reliability and protection that the batteries will FAR outlast any of the truck components.

 

[Albern]

From what I recall, it is the factor of excess heat that will shorten battery life rather than excessive loads (which is a function of heat generation). With a good thermal management system and robust cooling regimes the battery pack will last a very long time.

I recall one study that found EVs that lived in cooler climates had overall longer battery life compared to EVs that live closer to the equator.

 

[HOTAS]

It’s not the battery I’d be worried about. Discharge rates under acceleration are relatively insignificant for a battery of this capacity.
It’s the components that endure the torque you're demanding from the motors that would concern me.
Motors, bearings, axels and CV joints, suspension, not to mentions tires,
would be my concern.

 

[Henry Ford]

Five years, seven months, and thirteen days.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Hey guys, I just like stomping on it! Or sometimes smooth super fast merging onto the freeway. Cruising normally around 70-75mph when traffic is light.

So, how is this affecting the life of my battery? For example, if I was to drive very lightly, 55mph freeway, gentle gentle everything, feathering braking, etc - - let’s say that would give me the max life - for purposes of discussion, let’s say that’s 8 years.

Using the same distance traveled as the light method, how long would the battery last using the crazy fast driving-accelerating approach? 7 years? 6 years? Less? Or does it matter? Maybe 8 years?

Different car and battery chemistry. But I have a 10 year old Tesla with over 200,000 miles on it that has been driven much harder than you’ve described. It’s on the original battery with 85% of the original battery capacity.

IMO, the battery concerns are mostly overblown - recalls aside.

With multiple EVs over 100,000 miles, I’ve only had one that needed battery maintenance/repair. Other wear items:

- Charger
- Suspension components - Control arms
- Window regulators
- Trunk latches
- More suspension components - End links
- Door handles (powered)
- Charging port door (powered)
- Even more suspension components - Bushings
- Steering column/rack
- Drive axles (3x)
- Did I mention suspension components? - Shocks

The one that sucked the most was the charger. cost wise and inconvenience. I manually tow charged my car for a week before I could get an appointment.

 

[Dan C]

I think the only result would be adding cycles to your battery at a higher rate. If your battery is good for 1000 cycles you will reach it sooner than someone at 55 mph. Insignificant

 

[HammoJ]

im convinced they have done such overkill with battery reliability and protection that the batteries will FAR outlast any of the truck components.

I concur. From what I've learned on the subject, at worst there may only be a minor percentage of degraded capacity, well less than 10% after 8 years.

 

[Vulnox]

As others noted the battery isn't really the concern. The reason being its size. The larger the battery the more thermal mass it has so the more it takes to heat it up. Heat is one of the bigger issues for batteries, but quick acceleration jumps aren't enough to really raise the battery temp.

The other side of it is that batteries are made up a number of packs, packs containing cells, etc. When there is a big power demand like accelerating, that demand is spread among all those cells. So instead of expecting one big guy to lift a boulder, it's 1000 little guys all taking a piece of it. So the damage there is pretty minimal.

The only time I am aware of the above is going to be an issue is when the battery state of charge is very low. If you are below 15% state of charge, try not to do full throttle starts. Pack voltage will be low, and it can be very low in some of those individual cells. That's a bit like the 1000 little guys lifting a boulder, but a few of them have brittle bones. You are running the risk of causing long term damage that wouldn't happen if they were healthy.

 

[rufustlong]

It’s not the battery I’d be worried about. Discharge rates under acceleration are relatively insignificant for a battery of this capacity.
It’s the components that endure the torque you're demanding from the motors that would concern me.
Motors, bearings, axels and CV joints, suspension, not to mentions tires,
would be my concern.

This. Don’t ever forget you are throwing around 6800+ lbs (I think that’s about what it was when I weighed her with me in it). Some parts will take the brunt of it.

That being said when that gas guzzling big rig pulls up next to you and try’s to take you off the line, I expect everyone in here to assert our dominance

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