Any reason NOT to charge to 100% on a leased LEAF?

I understand the reasoning behind using an 80% charge, but I just picked up my 2013 LEAF and I was wondering... Since I'm going to be giving this thing back in 24 months, why not just charge to 100% all the time and make use of the extra range?

Am I overlooking something?

You don't provide a location, and climate is an important consideration in answering your query. LEAFers in the warmer climates have suffered severe battery dedragation in much less than two years.

I'd probably strike a balance. Charge mostly at 80% if that met my needs, and not be very concerned about full charging when I might need the small extra range afforded. If leasing, I'd be a bit more aggressive in charging than I am now, planning to keep the car for several years.

Including a location in a profile really is a courtesy and does help in many discussions.

Bill

Whoops, apologies for not adding the location to my profile (fixed now). I'm located in Apex, NC and the car will probably not see more than about 8-10k miles per year.

The biggest drawback for me is that charging to 100% greatly reduces the amount of regen available until you get down to at least 11 bars and you don't get close to full regen until you get down to 10 bars.

So one drawback is that you'll be less efficient if you always charge to 100%.

If you got the 6.6 kW charger, it shouldn't take that long to go from 80% to almost 100% - I'd 30 minutes should get you pretty close to 100%, so personally I'd opt to just set an end-timer to charge to 80% - then hit the timer-override when I think I might be driving ~45+ miles before my next charge.

jimmyz80 said:

Whops, apologies for not adding the location to my profile (fixed now). I'm located in Apex, NC and the car will probably not see more than about 8-10k miles per year.

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Glad you added it. Some people still don't, even after asking them to.

I guess one reason to care about not charging to 100% is that if there's some possibility that you may buy the leased Leaf in the end, instead of returning it.

jimmyz80 said:

I understand the reasoning behind using an 80% charge, but I just picked up my 2013 LEAF and I was wondering... Since I'm going to be giving this thing back in 24 months, why not just charge to 100% all the time and make use of the extra range?

Am I overlooking something?

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Damaging the battery damages the environment.

I would think that one goal of leasing an electric car is to protect the environment.

And I agree that driving at 100% charge with no regen is annoying. I greatly prefer having regen available.

It's also true that the charge rate tapers as the battery approaches 100%. Unless the 2013 has improved this, there is a constant overhead for cooling while charging. So when the charging slows, the overhead becomes proportionally larger. It also seems to be true that the battery produces more heat during the "top off" charging. Both of these mean that charging to 100% is less efficient than charging to 80%. Put another way, when you charge to 100% you pay more to your utility company for the last 3 kWh you put into your battery than you do for 3 kWh you put in earlier in the charge.

OK, I'm waving my arms here. I don't know how much more, or whether it is really significant. Maybe I'm talking about a dime a month, but maybe it's a couple of dollars. I haven't done any research on this, but it could be another reason not to charge to 100%.

Ray

For me, the first ten miles of the day are all downhill, so I'd lose all that regen. Plus that last 20% being less efficient, and more costly, and I don't normally need 100%.

How far do you need to drive on a charge?

I am here in Cedar Park Texas, just outside Austin. My 1 year old Chili charges to 100% every time but, I only charge 2-3 times per week. I still have all my bars, zero issues with the car and average 70-80 miles per charge.

Ian B

MrIanB said:

I am here in Cedar Park Texas, just outside Austin. My 1 year old Chili charges to 100% every time but, I only charge 2-3 times per week. I still have all my bars, zero issues with the car and average 70-80 miles per charge.

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No problem doing that unless you let it sit full the entire time. I just charged our LEAF to 100% this morning but I will be taking it out in a couple of minutes. I sat for several days at 8 bars prior to this charge.

RegGuheert said:

MrIanB said:

I am here in Cedar Park Texas, just outside Austin. My 1 year old Chili charges to 100% every time but, I only charge 2-3 times per week. I still have all my bars, zero issues with the car and average 70-80 miles per charge.

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No problem doing that unless you let it sit full the entire time. I just charged our LEAF to 100% this morning but I will be taking it out in a couple of minutes. I sat for several days at 8 bars prior to this charge.

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Thanks for the info. No, it does not ever sit at home for days. I work from home so it goes out for daily lunch(go crazy being in the house all day), run errands and gym after work. My longest daily outing is 20 miles round trip and thus, my charge lasts 2-3 days based on what I have going. $1,800 in my savings account since I got the car in Jan 2012 and I absolutely love it and have had zero problems. My only wish was that the range was truly 100 miles with the a/c or heater running so I can go country driving around Cedar Park.

Charging to 80% will slow battery degradation, but some people reason to charge to 100% will be that they really need all the range they can get. Some are more comfortable having bigger range reserve or are not able to recharge because no infrastructure. For me, with all efficiency gauges it is a game if I can get more miles per unit and how efficient I can be, but in that case one have to forget about spirited driving. I think real advise here is, charge to the level that you are most comfortable with, which will take into consideration your driving distance, style and level of comfort with range left.

Thanks for all the feedback, I knew there had to be some good reasons and I've no reason to argue any of what's been said -- it all makes perfect sense. I really don't NEED to charge it to 100% since my round-trip commute is under 30 miles. I was just thinking it would be nice to always have that extra bit of range in case I feel like taking some extra detours before coming home, but I feel like some pre-planning is probably a better way to attack that situation.

On a related note, if I have the car set to charge to 80% with no timers (no time-of-use meter yet), how would I trigger a one-time charge to 100%? Do I need to go into the settings and change it to 100% and back to 80% when done, or is there something simpler?

jimmyz80 said:

On a related note, if I have the car set to charge to 80% with no timers (no time-of-use meter yet), how would I trigger a one-time charge to 100%? Do I need to go into the settings and change it to 100% and back to 80% when done, or is there something simpler?

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To charge to 100%, just push the charge override button.

You can always just hit the button on the dash, or turn on charging from your phone. We do this sometimes on the weekend, when we normally charge to 80% if we determine longer range will be needed. It takes about an hour to top it off to 100% from 80%.

WetEV said:

jimmyz80 said:

On a related note, if I have the car set to charge to 80% with no timers (no time-of-use meter yet), how would I trigger a one-time charge to 100%? Do I need to go into the settings and change it to 100% and back to 80% when done, or is there something simpler?

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To charge to 100%, just push the charge override button.

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Ok cool. Wasn't sure yet whether that just overrode the timers, or also the charge level setting. Just picked up the car last night and haven't made it through the whole user's manual yet.

WetEV said:

jimmyz80 said:

On a related note, if I have the car set to charge to 80% with no timers (no time-of-use meter yet), how would I trigger a one-time charge to 100%? Do I need to go into the settings and change it to 100% and back to 80% when done, or is there something simpler?

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To charge to 100%, just push the charge override button.

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Alternatively, you could press the start charging button in the CarWings smartphone app.

I had the 80/100 issue myself when I traded in my purchased Leaf for a Leased one. I still charge to 80% for the various reasons already mentioned, but now I don't hesitate to go to 100% if I think I may need the extra range. (With my first purchased Leaf I never charged to 100%.)

MrIanB said:

I am here in Cedar Park Texas, just outside Austin. My 1 year old Chili charges to 100% every time but, I only charge 2-3 times per week. I still have all my bars, zero issues with the car and average 70-80 miles per charge.

Ian B

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Out of curiosity, why do you do that rather than simply charging to 80% every night?

Since you have a regular commute... I recommend a 100% charge using the end timer 7 days a week. Charge mid-day to 100% as needed.
100% is not a huge deal unless it sits most of the day at 100% or for days on end without use.
JMHO