EV battery management

Ebe_Scrooge

I've got to say, this all seems like an awful faff.  A good old petrol or diesel engine has none of these problems - fill up the tank and off you go

mobileron

How long can i leave my car without charging it,need to fly from Heathrow for 2.5 weeks.

Petriix

Ebe_Scrooge said:

I've got to say, this all seems like an awful faff.  A good old petrol or diesel engine has none of these problems - fill up the tank and off you go

I'm not sure how not charging unnecessarily is a 'faff'. It doesn't take any effort at all to not plug the car in.

When I do charge it takes approximately 5 seconds to connect the cable. I don't have to visit a special location (or queue up, or pay £1.50 per litre). It costs about 1.3p per mile.

Oneye12

"I've got to say, this all seems like an awful faff.  A good old petrol or diesel engine has none of these problems - fill up the tank and off you go"

Then you obviously have a short memory !

My oldish diesel Focus estate needs around 8 miles to warm up so short journeys in winter are avoided. The family Astra needs daily running or the battery needs regular checking.

Oneye12

I've posted this on other forums - but the message is the same.

In verycold / winter / inclement weather, the EV battery will not give the range as suggested. This is due to 'calculatable losses' such as power steering, wipers and in particular heater. An ice (internal combustion engine) has very similar losses but no-one does calculations on these.

Overnight charging is very popular in Norway, not only for convenience but also for heater 'pre-warm' before disconnection.

ComicGeek

Oneye12 said:

I've posted this on other forums - but the message is the same.

In verycold / winter / inclement weather, the EV battery will not give the range as suggested. This is due to 'calculatable losses' such as power steering, wipers and in particular heater. An ice (internal combustion engine) has very similar losses but no-one does calculations on these.

Overnight charging is very popular in Norway, not only for convenience but also for heater 'pre-warm' before disconnection.

I'm not that concerned about range on a day-to-day basis, I've had hybrids for the last 6 years and used to monitoring driving efficiency.

I'm more concerned about maximising the battery life over the next 10 years. It seems to me that battery replacement is the single largest future cost, and I'm looking to see what practical measures I can implement to guard against this. I'm only likely to get rid of the EV when the range drops too far or the battery needs replacement, so anything I can do from the start saves me money in the long run.

I also think that protecting the range of the EV will also help to protect it's value. Checking battery life is going to be a key thing for second hand EV purchasers.

BOWFER

Ebe_Scrooge said:

I've got to say, this all seems like an awful faff.  A good old petrol or diesel engine has none of these problems - fill up the tank and off you go

It's only a faff for those who worry about it.
Plenty don't, like me.

BOWFER

Petriix said:

When I do charge it takes approximately 5 seconds to connect the cable. I don't have to visit a special location (or queue up, or pay £1.50 per litre). It costs about 1.3p per mile.

Or queue behind someone getting a double-frappa-lappa-mocha-chino.....
God I DO NOT miss petrol stations one little bit.

BOWFER

mobileron said:

How long can i leave my car without charging it,need to fly from Heathrow for 2.5 weeks.

I've left mine for 2 weeks without any noticeable loss of charge, or any issues.
I didn't do anything special either, just left it with whatever charge it had at the time.

Keep_pedalling

Ebe_Scrooge said:

I've got to say, this all seems like an awful faff.  A good old petrol or diesel engine has none of these problems - fill up the tank and off you go

Home charging is no more complicated than charging your tooth brush up when it gets low on power.