Nature gives in the beginning. Then nature takes away and the earth eventually has us. All things are part of this cycle of life. Even EV batteries are starting to become worrisome as their life span dwindles. However we can extend electric vehicle battery life if we do a few, perhaps less obvious, things.
Electric Vehicle Battery Life: The Secret Is Not to Over Stress
Worrying about our time on Earth will not extend our stay on it. Likewise, pushing technology to the limit will not extend electric vehicle battery life. Instead, we ought to treat our EV batteries gently, as our medical providers would have us do our bodies too.
Electric car batteries lose some of their strength as they age, just like us. To push the human analogy further, we should not force them to work harder than they can stand. Pumping their muscles to full charge overheats them and permanently diminishes their strength. Likewise, running them down until they have no energy left may cause some permanent damage too.
Staying Within the Comfort Zone of EV Batteries
Electric vehicle batteries perform best (and last longer) when they operate within their 50% to 80% capacity range. Rapid charging to full power takes huge amounts of energy, and damages the infrastructure because of the heat generated.
Keeping a battery on full charge can damage it too. In a similar way, running a battery all the way to flat over-strains the system. What Car? magazine provides an interesting comparison between electric vehicle battery life warranties. For example, Nissan covers the battery and electric motor on their Leaf model for up to 60,000 miles (or five years).
By comparison, the Renault ZOE hatch is backed for 100,000 miles or 3 years. Tesla has a transferable eight-year warranty on the Model S without mileage restrictions. Tesla can do this because it stops charging at a particular level to help preserve the battery.
Related
BMW’s Last Stand Against Electric Cars
Shorter Electric Car Battery Lives on Horizon
Preview Image: Easygoing Charging Station at Mountain Lodge
