[srf058]

I picked up by Recharge three weeks ago (I love it so far). At delivery I was told that keeping the charge between 20% and 80% was optimal for extending the life of the batteries. I drive 10 - 60 miles a day. I've only dipped into the low 60% range once before recharging to 80% over night. Would it be better to let the batteries discharge into the 20% - 30% range before recharging or is plugging it in every day and essentially keeping it in the 60% - 80% OK? My goal is to extend battery life and secondarily to have as much range each day as possible.

Are these twin goals doable with my current driving/charging?

 

[Woomi]

60~80% is totally fine. Don't worry to use that way.
But if you are okay, use 50~70%. It will be even better.

Chemical wise, near 50% is the most stable area for the cathode and anode materials.

 

[340driver]

Charging your Volvo electric car | Volvo Cars

Learn more about charging your Volvo plug-in hybrid or full electric car.

www.volvocars.com

To make the most of the battery life in a pure electric car, we recommend AC charging the battery up to 90 per cent capacity for typical daily driving, and preferably not letting the charge fall below 20 per cent.
I read somewhere else that Volvo changed recommendation from 80% to 90% since preheating or precooling battery only happens if 90% or above is selected

 

[scans]

Charging your Volvo electric car | Volvo Cars

Learn more about charging your Volvo plug-in hybrid or full electric car.

www.volvocars.com

To make the most of the battery life in a pure electric car, we recommend AC charging the battery up to 90 per cent capacity for typical daily driving, and preferably not letting the charge fall below 20 per cent.
I read somewhere else that Volvo changed recommendation from 80% to 90% since preheating or precooling battery only happens if 90% or above is selected

I mentioned this on another thread - Nissan dealers near me have free DC charging (CCS and CHADEMO).

I was down to 31% and it charged up to 83% in 1 hour, at over 400V, getting 110mi/hr in charging. For some reason, it shut down due to internal error (overheating of the battery maybe?), but it's awesomely fast.

 

[He Keith]

Volvo recommends 90% max charge under normal use, so that is what I do. I usually recharge once it gets down around 50%, sometimes 60%. I usually charge Friday night for the weekend then sometimes Sunday or Monday night depending on how much I used it over weekend. My plan is never let it go below 20% unless I have to.

 

[SeattleCat]

I mentioned this on another thread - Nissan dealers near me have free DC charging (CCS and CHADEMO).

I was down to 31% and it charged up to 83% in 1 hour, at over 400V, getting 110mi/hr in charging. For some reason, it shut down due to internal error (overheating of the battery maybe?), but it's awesomely fast.

Are they open for the free 24/7 do they talk to you for the hour?

I charge to 90 when ever time (it’s set to 90).I have been down to 15 once and I know that with long distance traveling sometimes you will have to go to 10% with a 55 mph speed cap.

The lower you go the faster it charges. Got perfect speed at 15% so for long journeys arriving at stations with 10-15% speeds up the journey.

Longevity wise I had read that fast chargers are bad but that is all I use as I do not have a charger at home (cannot until we move).

 

[scans]

Are they open for the free 24/7 do they talk to you for the hour?

Yeah, the charger is near the service department. They have 2 AC chargers there too. They are not tied into a network/app, so I just keep reloading the VOC app to see how I am doing.

 

[dnamuseTO]

Volvo recommends 90% max charge under normal use, so that is what I do. I usually recharge once it gets down around 50%, sometimes 60%. I usually charge Friday night for the weekend then sometimes Sunday or Monday night depending on how much I used it over weekend. My plan is never let it go below 20% unless I have to.

I am a newbie, if you don't mind me asking, do you leave your car unplugged in between charging? That is, Tesla claims to always be charging. I tend to keep mine at 40 - 60 % and then up to 100% for my drives out of town, but have it plugged in until I have to use it. Driving pattern at the moment is once or twice a week since i mainly work from home. I am always curious to see what other Volvos subscribe to that is, leave it plugged in or not. Dealership says I don't have to have it plugged in but I do wonder at times. Thanks!

 

[Vatorney3]

I am a newbie, if you don't mind me asking, do you leave your car unplugged in between charging? That is, Tesla claims to always be charging. I tend to keep mine at 40 - 60 % and then up to 100% for my drives out of town, but have it plugged in until I have to use it. Driving pattern at the moment is once or twice a week since i mainly work from home. I am always curious to see what other Volvos subscribe to that is, leave it plugged in or not. Dealership says I don't have to have it plugged in but I do wonder at times. Thanks!

Welcome, newbie -- You'll love your new EV. I do not leave my '21 P8 plugged in. I only charge it (using L2 EVSE) when needed -- in the 20-80% range -- unless I know I need the extra charge the next day, when I will charge to 90% (volvo recomm.). Only once or twice in 1.5 years have I charged to 100%. My preference is to run the P8 down to the 20s then charge overnight to 80%. The charge rate slows considerably above 80%. Everyones use is different, so it just depends on your lifestyle, needs, etc.. Hope this helps.

 

[SilverII]

I keep max charge at 80% and will recharge as soon as it reaches 4x%. seems to work just fine

 

[Greg S]

I am a newbie, if you don't mind me asking, do you leave your car unplugged in between charging? That is, Tesla claims to always be charging. I tend to keep mine at 40 - 60 % and then up to 100% for my drives out of town, but have it plugged in until I have to use it. Driving pattern at the moment is once or twice a week since i mainly work from home. I am always curious to see what other Volvos subscribe to that is, leave it plugged in or not. Dealership says I don't have to have it plugged in but I do wonder at times. Thanks!

It's fine to leave it plugged in as long as you have the limit set (I set it at 80% unless we're going to need more, in which case I charge it to 90%). If you keep it plugged in, you can use home power to pre-condition without having to go out to the car and plug it in again...but everyone has their preferences.

 

[Greg S]

Oh, I do unplug the car if I think there's going to be risk of severe thunderstorms and possible lightning strikes...so far nobody has been able to tell me whether the home or car insurance would pay out if your onboard charger got blown up due to a lightning strike!!

 

[SeattleCat]

Oh, I do unplug the car if I think there's going to be risk of severe thunderstorms and possible lightning strikes...so far nobody has been able to tell me whether the home or car insurance would pay out if your onboard charger got blown up due to a lightning strike!!

It is 100% one or the other! Or maybe the cars warrantee as the on board charger died …

Do lightning strikes happen a lot out there?

I have seen two strikes in my life. One at about 150 yards to an electric pylon which was totally awesome. The second strike was at a meter distance from my face which scared the %^#% out of me

I wonder if a strike would set the battery on fire? In which case the charger would be the least problem.

 

[Greg S]

It is 100% one or the other! Or maybe the cars warrantee as the on board charger died …

Do lightning strikes happen a lot out there?

I have seen two strikes in my life. One at about 150 yards to an electric pylon which was totally awesome. The second strike was at a meter distance from my face which scared the %^#% out of me

I wonder if a strike would set the battery on fire? In which case the charger would be the least problem.

We don't have many T-storms where we live (Victoria, AUS) but we have had some strikes nearby that damaged modems and routers that were plugged into the phone line. Never had an appliance damaged by lightning so maybe I'm just being super-cautious! I assume maybe if the power pole out front got struck, some fuse would blow or maybe the EVSE (cord) has an internal fuse that would pop before damaging the car. Hope we never find out as I can imagine it being a s**t-show dealing with the insurance. At least house and car are with same insurance co, but I can imagine internal divisions pointing the finger at each other.