Few things last forever. Most have their allotted life spans. There is a time to trade in the faithful family car, or shed a tear for a beloved family pet. Lithium-ion batteries work the same way. They grow weary of shuttling their ions back and forth. By encouraging a technically healthy lifestyle, we can prolong a lithium-ion battery’s happy life. Does that sound like something you want to do?
Charging Correctly Can Prolong a Lithium-Ion Battery’s Happy Life
Older, nickel-cadmium batteries benefitted from full charging and discharging to preserve their memory limits. This released an urban legend that all batteries have a bad memory.
This is simply not true of new generation batteries. One way to extend a lithium-ion battery’s happy life is never to fully charge or discharge it.
The numbers in the table, which are approximations, suggest that half-discharging and then reconnecting to the grid provides the optimum user experience. There is no need to agonize over the details. Just keep an eye on the remaining battery life.
So Fully Charging and Discharging Is a Bad Idea?
Not quite, but do your best to avoid fully charging a lithium-ion battery. It does not enjoy feeling as if it had too much Thanksgiving Turkey. It feels more comfortable with lithium ions in both electrodes, in balance if you like.
Never leave it on charge, turn the light off, and go to bed. That is not the right way to prolong a lithium-ion battery’s happy life.
It is, however a good idea to allow a lithium-ion battery to fully discharge once a month. This is not to refresh its charging limits. The purpose is to recalibrate the interface with the device that tells you how much battery power you have used. That’s all you need to know for now, about how to prolong a lithium-ion battery’s happy life.
Related
