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I agree, Dr. K. That sounds totally wrong to me too. It's the high powered chargers that can damage batteries; not the low power ones.
In my personal experience, as well intentioned as they may be, most Hyundai dealer staff don't seem to know much about EVs. And Hyundai HQ is bafflingly stingy with information. No idea why. Here's what I've managed to dig up off the internet on the subject of charging:I just picked up my Kona last week, I texted my salesperson and she said its fine to charge to 100% regularly? In fact she said "Its better to keep at 100% charge."
I still think ill cap it at 80% unless I need the full range...
I just picked up my brand new 2020 Kona EV yesterday and as it is my first EV I'm trying to discover all the nuances as quickly as I can (and will get my baptism by fire next week as I am taking a 1200 mile trip to Florida!)I'm a mechanic at Hyundai and also working with the kona ev. If the HV battery is charged at 100% this is at 4.2v per cell. This is the maximum capacity for this type of battery (Lithium-ion polymer). 4.2v is 100%. not 80% charge.
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Like a cellphone battery charging to 100% all the time would shorten the lifespan of the battery pack to 300/500 charging cycles, but due to better temperature regulation this can be longer, in the link below it is explained.
Source: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - Battery University
I can think of two downsides. First is, the lower you run your reserve before planned refuelling, the more you risk running out entirely. For instance, suppose you schedule a charge stop when you expect to be down to say, 20%. You arrive at the the rechargers and find they aren't working. Judging from some reviews I've seen on YouTube, that does apparently happen, though I've never experienced it myself and sure don't want to. Regardless, if it does, you will have very limited reserve available to get you to another charger.I just picked up my brand new 2020 Kona EV yesterday and as it is my first EV I'm trying to discover all the nuances as quickly as I can (and will get my baptism by fire next week as I am taking a 1200 mile trip to Florida!)
I see a lot about the 80%-max-except-when-doing-long-distance-between-stops rule and plan on keeping to this rule as best I can. I see a little discussion about the low limit but not as much. Not that I want to get to this point, but what are the downsides to going below say 20%, and how low can you go without doing real damage?
Thanks for all of the above information.
Some new owners get confused between 80% being a practical fast-charging level (because the charge rate drops and cost/kWh may increase, or the charger stops automatically before 100%) and being kind to the battery by limiting charge to levels under 100% on a daily-driving basis. On a trip, best ignore the latter and charge as much as you feel you need in order to safely reach your next planned waypoint.I see a lot about the 80%-max-except-when-doing-long-distance-between-stops rule and plan on keeping to this rule as best I can. I see a little discussion about the low limit but not as much. Not that I want to get to this point, but what are the downsides to going below say 20%, and how low can you go without doing real damage