What is the 80/20 Rule For EV Battery Charging?
- 1 min reading time
Nearly all EV manufactures including Tesla, Kia and others currently recommend charging your cars batteries to 80% and avoid letting capacity drop below 20%.
There must be reasons why EV manufactures recommend all this so lets take a closer look.
Charging batteries up to 100% is not a linear process due to a myriad of variables. To put things simply the fuller the battery is, the slower it absorbs energy.
Once your battery is charged to around 80%, getting it up to100% takes much longer and this longer charging time puts more stress on the battery which in turn impacts battery health and life over time.
The illustration below is helpful.
By stopping your charging session when the battery reaches 80% capacity, you can view this as preventative maintenance for your EV’s battery, which is a critical component of an electric vehicle.
That's not to say you cant charge your EV to 100%, but to preserve optimal battery life, charging to a lower percentage is a better way to go.
The other recommendation is to avoid your battery dropping below 20% capacity, again this is to prolong battery life and health.
Pro Tip:
Check your cars default AC and DC charge settings via the instrument panel and see the maximum charge level settings. Adjust if needed according to manufacturer recommendations.
Takeaways
- Always follow your car manufactures charging recommendations to better look after your EV batteries and prolong its life.
- Charge the battery to 80% to reduce charging time, extend battery life and general health as part of preventative maintenance.
- Charge the battery to 100% whenever you need extra range or for longer trips.
- Avoid your battery dropping below 20% - as part of preventative maintenance.
- Use slower AC chargers instead of DC chargers when charging frequently or daily to look after your EV batteries and prolong its operating life.