I have had a Volt for 3 weeks and am wondering what is the impact of using a faster charger versus a slower charger. Specifically how many charges should I get in the life of the battery? And does that change if i usually use a faster charger than a slower charger?
Number of batttery charges in lfe of battery
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Makes no difference for a Volt. Neither come close to stressing the battery.
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I had the same question when I was a newb. My volt advisor assured me that level 2 charging will not have any adverse affect on the volt battery. But I believe (I might be wrong) that if Chevy had installed a 6.6kw charger instead of a 3.3 one, we might see battery degradation as leafs have seen. There's a reason why nissans give you a warning about the using the DC fast carge too much. Plus there has been a Tesla owner who has apparently over-supercharged his Tesla and it now forces a slower than normal supercharge, which he got all bent out of shape about in the Tesla forum, causing other Tesla members to question whether it was true as their beloved vehicle was getting dissed in the process.
Part of the reason for this battery longevity is that GM designed it to stop charging before the battery is competely full, and prevents you from using hte battery before it is completely empty, so a full charge andfull drain is really only a partial fill and drain. Batteries start to degrade at the extreme Speeds (fully charged or fully empty) plus the temperature management system goes a long, long way in keeping the battery in tip to' shape. The OP probably won't see this in Cali but when the car is really cold and unplugged for awhile, the ICE will start suddentyl upon powering up, and propel the car on generator only until the batteries warm up enough to where it is safe to discharge or charge the battery. It has it's own self-preservation mode.
Part of the reason for this battery longevity is that GM designed it to stop charging before the battery is competely full, and prevents you from using hte battery before it is completely empty, so a full charge andfull drain is really only a partial fill and drain. Batteries start to degrade at the extreme Speeds (fully charged or fully empty) plus the temperature management system goes a long, long way in keeping the battery in tip to' shape. The OP probably won't see this in Cali but when the car is really cold and unplugged for awhile, the ICE will start suddentyl upon powering up, and propel the car on generator only until the batteries warm up enough to where it is safe to discharge or charge the battery. It has it's own self-preservation mode.
Some of the higher mileage Volts have over 100k EV miles with no noticeable loss of range. This is around 3000 charge cycles. As others say, the Volt doesn't charge quick enough on any setting to strain battery, and it actively cools it if it gets too hot during charging or driving.
I have a 2011 LEAF [bought 4/11] and have monitored its battery temp and capacity since 2013 when I got an OBD2 dongle. Here are my observations on the traction battery. I think the number of quick charges [about 90 so far starting at close to 50 kW max] and the battery temp has resulted in the degradation observed – lost about 20% capacity so far. There is no active management system so cooling the battery relies on the temp difference with ambient. My measurements indicate the battery cools very slowly, about 1 deg/hour or less depending on the ambient and battery temperature. On a few occasions, I have measured battery temp in excess of 90F maximum. I stopped doing quick charges in mid 2016 and battery degradation seems to be less but expect capacity to still gradually fade. Anecdotally my analysis of battery degradation reported by LEAF owners in the northwest [mainly WA] and southwest USA [mainly AZ and TX] shows a noticeable correlation between the rate of degradation and location. Degradation is faster in the southwest compared to the northwest, and SF Bay rea is somewhere in between.
Because the Volt battery has active thermal management and no quick charge capability, I don’t expect degradation to be a problem. I don’t know for a fact, but I suspect the battery chemistry of the LG cells is a big improvement over that of the original Nissan battery chemistry. In fact, Nissan altered and improved their battery chemistry in 2013, probably due to the rapid degradation initially observed. Bottom line – I am not too concerned about the degradation of the Volt battery.
Because the Volt battery has active thermal management and no quick charge capability, I don’t expect degradation to be a problem. I don’t know for a fact, but I suspect the battery chemistry of the LG cells is a big improvement over that of the original Nissan battery chemistry. In fact, Nissan altered and improved their battery chemistry in 2013, probably due to the rapid degradation initially observed. Bottom line – I am not too concerned about the degradation of the Volt battery.
And that's only half-way to "maybe degradation shows up". http://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-standalone-vr-headset-784935/
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I fully charge my Volt on average 6 days a week. So after 6 years, that's 1,872 charge cycles. Assuming I add a Bolt EV to the family, my full charges will go down to maybe 3 days/week. Needless to say, I'm not worried about degradation at this point and likely still won't be worried about it 6 years from now.
I think the biggest issues with batteries used in the Volt are time and temperature. Since a higher voltage charger is used for shorter periods of time, I'd think a 240v charger would expose the cells to higher temperatures for less time and therefore stress the cells less than a 120v charger.
Apologies for being pedantic. Can't help myself.
A cycle is from 20% to 100% SOC. You're likely not doing that when you charge. The better way to calculate the number of cycles would be to take your EV miles and divide by 35 miles, which would be one full charge. So 35,000 EV miles would be 1000 cycles.
Apologies for being pedantic. Can't help myself.
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Pedanter away, DonC, no harm in that. 95k miles x 70% ev miles=66,500 66,500/35=1900 cycles, give or take. Close enough for me.
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Except active thermal management (the car whirring up front with the radiator fan running and the AC on) should negate that higher temp with charging at 240 vs. 120. It's not an issue unless the AC is broken.
QUOTE=Steverino;4117897]Pedanter away, DonC, no harm in that. 95k miles x 70% ev miles=66,500 66,500/35=1900 cycles, give or take. Close enough for me. [/QUOTE]I figured it would be close given your driving history. I just didn't want someone thinking that driving five miles a day and recharging every night put on seven cycles a week.
[/QUOTE]I figured it would be close given your driving history. I just didn't want someone thinking that driving five miles a day and recharging every night put on seven cycles a week. The TMS will help but not negate the elevated temps. Just pointing out that cooking longer with a 120v charger has a downside.
While stressing over the rate of charge, consider the rate of discharge. At best the battery can be fully charged in 4 hours, but that full charge can be fully run out in less than 1 hour. And, with momentary (regen) charge rates of 60kw, that "fast" 3.8kw charge rate is really easy on the battery.
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