Tips to Extend the Life of Your EV Battery
Low cell phone battery is a source of stress for millions of people. Dead cell phone battery means that you won’t be able to do several tasks like sending emails, playing your favorite game, getting in touch with your friends and family members, etc.
As batteries get old, accessing their stored energy becomes more and more difficult. This means that your phone will lose its charging in a shorter period, resulting in. Problems like these are the same with electric vehicles as the fear of low electric car battery can result in range anxiety.
The EV market is developing at a rapid pace and the technology has improved in leaps and bounds. The lithium batteries present inside electric vehicles last longer than they used to a few years ago. Unfortunately, however, no matter how good batteries are, they do not last forever. This is because the performance of a battery eventually starts to degrade, turning into waste after some time.
Why do Batteries Deteriorate?
Generally, there are three main pathways that degrade lithium-ion batteries: time, cycles, and temperatures. Using a battery’s maximum storage potential repeatedly, exposure to extreme temperatures, discharge cycles, and rapid discharge are massive elements that kill a battery’s performance over time.
While there is no denying that the causes that lead to the degradation can be quite complicated, inadequate charge and thermal management can kill your battery’s performance even more rapidly. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t necessarily need to use a battery for degrading performance. Keeping lithium batteries for extended periods near or at full capacity, or even around empty gradually lowers maximum storage potential. This process is also known as calendar degradation.
Keeping in mind the fact that vehicles tend to be stationary for long periods, thermal conditions and calendar degradation are often the main things that determine a battery’s life. The number of times batteries can provide stored energy at a particular rate happens because of degradation. Whenever the performance of a battery degrades excessively, there is a good chance that you may need to retire the vehicle or replace its battery.
Sure, some degradation is bound to happen, especially depending on the design and application. However, capacity reductions may not have the same effect on the battery’s overall performance.
What is the General Life Span of EV Batteries?
A common question people tend to ask about electric vehicle batteries, is how long do they last. Well, the answer is not as straightforward as one would expect. Let us take 2012’s Nissan Leaf to explain how maximum performance generally works. The estimated range of this care was eighty-two miles when it was brand new. This range went down by twenty percent after four to five years of regular use.
The Nissan Leaf model from 2012 used a small battery pack, which was quite different from what you would find in today’s car models. Because of this, the battery degraded more rapidly as it did not have proper thermal management.
Electrical vehicles nowadays are incredibly durable and this is mainly because of the effective electrical vehicle charging available these days. In addition, the batteries have thrice the driving range and storage potential compared to older EVs, approaching as much as three hundred miles. Today’s EV batteries are also quite durable, lasting significantly longer compared to older variants.
To get a clearer understanding of how the range in EV driving works, let us look at a vehicle’s average lifetime. In most cases, cars tend to last for about twelve to fourteen years. Passenger vehicles travel around thirteen thousand miles each year.
Because of battery degradation, the system could lose around eleven to seventeen kWh capacity during that period. This essentially translates to a range from twelve to fifteen percent of the battery system’s size used in these vehicles. Smaller electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf from 2012 had a twenty-four kWh battery. This could easily have realized above one thousand equivalent cycles inside the ownership’s initial five years.
Now, if you compare this to electric vehicles with a battery of seventy-five kWh batteries, where the rate of cycle accumulation, relative loss, and range reduction is not as significant. There is no denying that an electric vehicle’s range will eventually go down as batteries start to age, the decrease in the vehicle range will not have too much of an effect on the traveling decisions of modern EVs.
The average individual in the U.S or Canada does not travel more than forty miles in a single day. A used electric vehicle that has two hundred of two hundred and fifty miles range on single charges could be a tremendous option for traveling.
Another advantage is that the way most people operate private vehicles, large electric car battery packs could prove to be a more suitable match for most EVs. Long-range electric vehicles offer a better value proposition for individuals who want used EVs. This can also help minimize EV adoption costs in the long and short run.
Is it Possible to Extend Your EV Battery’s Life?
While cycling is one of the biggest reasons why a battery ages, there are other contributors as well. In most cases, calendar aging is the main cause behind degradation in EV batteries. However, exposure to extreme heat or cold, the battery’s state of charge, etc also affect overall performance and longevity. If your battery remains exposed to heat for long periods, there is a good chance that it will degrade sooner rather than later. Freezing temperatures also have a negative impact on a battery’s life, reducing its storage capacity and increasing its loads. It is a major reason why most of the modern electric vehicles these days utilize liquid cooling systems for the even distribution of heat across the pack, achieving a stable temperature while operating.
Sure, climate and time play a major part in deciding how long a battery would last, it doesn’t mean that you cannot take steps to improve the life of your electric car battery. Keeping your battery under max voltage and a little over minimum voltage reduces battery degradation significantly. In other words, discharging and charging batteries from zero to one hundred percent can reduce battery performance more quickly compared to smaller discharge cycles.
In case you didn’t know, electric vehicles already contain battery management systems that help prevent them from discharging or charging at the extreme bottom or top of the battery potential. However, you can still do a few things to improve the life of your battery by carefully managed electric vehicle charging routines.
Most experts recommend charging electric vehicles lower than seventy percent for extending an EV battery’s life. It is also worth keeping in mind that high power charging can be incredibly stressful for batteries. Therefore, it would be best to keep the charging low and slow, especially when you are not taking your electric vehicle on a road trip.
Vehicles stored or parked with full or empty batteries also tend to experience more degradation compared to a system charged at seventy-five percent. One of the strategies would be to charge your battery at a lower level, particularly, when you plan to park your vehicle for a long period. Of course, keeping your vehicle parked with a full battery can feel quite reassuring, but it is never a good idea as batteries generally struggle to maintain the charge once you leave it for extended periods.
Maximizing an EV Battery’s Life
Extending the life of an EV battery may seem like an impossible task at first, but it really isn’t. In fact, there are plenty of things you can do to make sure that your electric vehicle battery remains in excellent condition for years to come. Mentioned below are just some of the tried and tested tips you can utilize for extending an EV battery’s life.
1) Avoid fast charging as much as you can, especially when the weather is cold
2) Draining your battery to zero is a terrible idea. Instead, try storing your car with a charge level between twenty-five to seventy-five percent
3) Of course, we do not have any control over the weather, but parking our cars away from extreme cold and heat could increase the EV battery’s longevity
Heavy or daily use (cycling) does not translate to quicker degradation. So, you can continue to drive without any worries – plus, most batteries tend to outlast the vehicle’s life anyways.
Would I Need to Change my Car’s EV Battery?
The batteries in your cell may last a year or two if you use your device regularly. On the other hand, EV battery packs generally last longer. This is because the batteries in your phone do not get sufficient thermal management. Plus, the number of equivalent cycles tends to be lower for cars. Considering the range of electric vehicle batteries and their improved variants, EV car batteries these days can last as long as traditional vehicles, if not more.
There are several cases where people retire batteries because of manufacturing defects or contamination. However, under one percent of lithium batteries experience premature failures like these. What’s more, half of the cars retire before spending around twelve years on the road because of various accidents and the repair costs associated with them. Needless to say, it is a major reason why a large number of batteries last longer than the vehicle.
New electric vehicles that have a range over two hundred and fifty miles are expected to have one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles worth of range, even after twelve years. Believe it or not, a range like this is sufficient enough for making it valuable in the used vehicle market. Sure, some batteries might need replacement, however, a large number of electronic vehicles are just traded/sold in the used car market.
Continue Cycling
Believe it or not, used electric vehicle batteries can be quite useful even after you run them for long periods. You can remove EV batteries and utilize them for solar home systems or for backup generators, giving them a new life. Using EV batteries for less demanding, lower power operations can offer an extra six to ten years’ worth of service, especially if you manage them the right way.
What’s more, used electric vehicle batteries can be reused for supporting the electricity grid, allowing you to transfer shave peaks and renewable generation in demand. Some automakers even test second-life batteries to support the infrastructure for charging vehicles. This could be incredibly helpful for minimizing battery costs and offer better value to customers.
You can also utilize second-life batteries for supporting energy solutions (community-led) for reducing emissions and improving the overall resilience. Other than that, they can come in handy for creating new batteries with the help of renewable energy. Maximizing the number of cycles one battery is capable of delivering during its applications (whether first or second) is another excellent way to minimize the environmental damage caused by the production of new batteries.
Making the most out of a single battery significantly minimizes the need for raw material extraction and other environmentally harmful activities.
Tips to Extend Your EV Battery’s Life
One of the biggest reasons why EV batteries do not last as long is because people are not careful when charging them. Believe it or not, electrical vehicle charging is only half the price of filling a car with gasoline. That being said, you cannot charge your electrical vehicle all the way up. Nor should you make your way to EV charging stations without any power remaining, especially if you want to increase the lifespan of your battery.
Avoid Fast Charging
Fast charging is a surefire way to ruin your battery’s life. If your EV is running out of battery and you want to make your way to the nearest EV charging stations near you, make sure you take things slowly rather than fast charging your battery. This is because charging your EV battery too quickly could damage it, reducing its life in the process.
For those who don’t know, you can fast-charge your battery and achieve eighty percent capacity within twenty to sixty minutes, depending on the driving range. That being said, utilizing this feature could cause significant degradation, shortening your battery’s lifespan in the process by stressing its various mechanical components.
Park Your Car in Shade
As mentioned abundantly, too much exposure to the summer heat can massively damage EV batteries. Once temperatures start climbing towards the ninety degrees Fahrenheit range, the separator could start melting from the heat. What’s worse, the cathode metals are impacted too, causing electrolyte decomposition and a variety of other problems. If you have no other option but to park your vehicle for extended periods, consider keeping it in the shade, making sure the damage is minimal.
It would also help if you keep your electric vehicle inside a garage when not riding it. This will ensure that your battery does not overheat. That said, your garage’s temperature can increase quickly in the summer season. Therefore, it would be best to improve your garage’s insulation or hand a ceiling fan to ensure your batteries remain in ideal temperatures.
Make the Most out of Thermal Management Systems
A large number of manufacturers tend to include thermal management systems in their EV’s to increase battery life. It goes without saying that letting this system run for long periods inside your parking lot could significantly drain its battery.
However, if you keep the system running and charge the electronic vehicle simultaneously, your battery will remain protected. Therefore, the best place to keep your vehicle during extreme weathers would be inside your garage, with the thermal management system and charging on.
Extreme Cold is a Big no-no
You’d be surprised to see the amount of damage extreme cold is capable of causing. It would be fair to say that sometimes the impact could be more severe than severe heat. Brutal winters are capable of reducing the range of your batteries temporarily by over forty percent.
Once again, it is important to park your cars at a place where the temperature is regulated. (for the winter as well as the summer months).
Final Thoughts
EV batteries can be quite delicate if you do not care for them the right way. While the tips and considerations discussed in this piece are incredibly helpful, you should always get help from an experienced electrician in Vancouver.
This is because these experts have loads of experience under their belt and are aware of the electrical safety steps required to maintain EV car batteries and other similar equipment.