Charge mid day or once per commute/Health question

Morning,
I have a 2016 SV My commute is 62 miles round trip. I easily make the trip on a single charge. I'm looking for feedback on whether its better for the battery to charge at my work stop or to let it sit and then charge at home in the evening. I am using the trickle charger mostly and the occasional L2 or L3 when needed. If I charge at work I will get enough to cover my trip one way in 8 hours. If I don't the evening charge will cover most of the round trip but in several days require a faster charge session to get the levels back up. If I run errands then depending on the distance, I can still make it home on the evening charge. Then it would require a couple of hours on L2 to get to a point where my home charge will get me set for the next day.
So the question. Is it better to have the system always either charging or running or is sitting for 8 hours or so at 50-60% ok?
I have Leaf Spy. Great app by the way.

Thanks

gregn said:

Is it better to have the system always either charging or running or is sitting for 8 hours or so at 50-60% ok?

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It's best to keep your battery in the range of 30% to about 80% SOC. L1 (trickle) charging will give you about 5 miles per hour of charge or about 40 miles of charge in a 8-hour day.

Perhaps do this: Charge each day at work. That will cover about 40 miles of driving. Then have your timer charge for four hours just before you leave for work. (You could accomplish this by having your charge time run from 2:00AM until 6:00PM each workday.) If your charge level creeps up above 90% at the end of work, then skip the home charge that evening.

The ideal SoC for a lithium battery is about 40%. As Reg states, anywhere from 30%-80% is pretty gentle on the battery. Charging to 100% doesn't hurt, but letting it sit there for extended periods of time does. Since you don't have an 80% charge setting like older Leafs, I would second his recommendation.

The main killer of lithium batteries, though, is heat. Seeing as you are in Vermont, that won't be a concern for most of the year. During the summer, you may prefer not to charge at work, though. Charging adds heat, and combined with sitting in the summer sun, can be stressful on the battery.

GetOffYourGas said:

Seeing as you are in Vermont, that won't be a concern for most of the year.

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Good point. To OP: In winter, don't worry about charging to 100%. The degradation is simply not an issue in the cold and you will need to be at 100% to be able to have heat and still be able to make the drive.

L1 (trickle) charging will give you about 5 miles per hour of charge or about 40 miles of charge in a 8-hour day.

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A small correction: L-1 adds 5% charge per hour (sometimes slightly more if the voltage is on the high end of normal), or about 4 miles of range for a typical driver.

LeftieBiker said:

L1 (trickle) charging will give you about 5 miles per hour of charge or about 40 miles of charge in a 8-hour day.

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A small correction: L-1 adds 5% charge per hour (sometimes slightly more if the voltage is on the high end of normal), or about 4 miles of range for a typical driver.

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5% of what? I'll accept 4 miles/hour of L1, but quoting a percentage only applies to a specific capacity battery.

5% of what? I'll accept 4 miles/hour of L1, but quoting a percentage only applies to a specific capacity battery.

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Point taken! I guess a degraded battery will seem to charge faster on L-1. Four miles of range (approximate) seems like a safe way to put it.

Thanks for the input. I have basically been doing what has been suggested. I have L1 at work but was concerned about charging in the sun on a hot day. We haven't had many of those recently so not really an issue now. I am able to get back to 95% from 36% on my L1 overnight. The 36% is because I had to run some errands yesterday at work.
I was asking due to what I was getting from Leaf Spy. Specs at 81% SOC AHr= 76.6 SOH = 96% Hx = 91.17% 383.81V ODO 4350 mi
I have had the Battery get to 7 bars temp after a coupe of QC sessions. Took a trip from Montpelier, VT to Boston, MA Went well. There was a QC station in that failed half way through the charge so I had to restart on the station next to it. It was the station that failed not anything with my car. That pushed the temp up. Cooled down in an hour or so. Outdoor them was in the 70s F with a strong breeze. This was on the trip down. Never heated up again on the trip back. Did the trip in 1 day.
I haven't seen much data here form the 2016 batteries so I don't know if my 96% SOH is normal or not.
Anyway thanks for the input. Confirms what I was thinking.

Get a 240v charger in your house, and your charging worries will be over.

The 120v charger makes you worry so much on "how long will it take?"

powersurge said:

Get a 240v charger in your house, and your charging worries will be over.

The 120v charger makes you worry so much on "how long will it take?"

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+1. Get a L2 EVSE for your house and you will be worry free.

Thanks,
Apartment dweller. Have worked it out with property management to run a 120V line from my balcony to the parking garage below. No option for 240V. I do have a public L2 a block from me where I can leave it when I need more than the L1 can give overnight. Just have to go get it when it's done. Also several QC stations in the area. Vermont is well equipped for charging thankfully.