Who charges their Taycan to 100% SoC at every charge

[Marmolata]

I charge to 85%. I don’t really need that during the week so I may not even plug in for a few days. On the weekends having 85 is really handy, not always needed But allows me to not worry about range.

One thing that is annoying is lack of consistent guidance. When I first started researching (mostly on this forum) I heard people say never 100%, charge to 95%, then 90%, then 85%, and now it seems to be 80% but really it’s best to keep it around 50%. I know there is impact depending on what you do. What is that impact though? What is the difference between 85 and 80 or 95 and 80?

Excellent question! and agree! also is it better charging daily say 60-80 or every other day 30-70 for example. you read 10 articles, and get 12 different responses !

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[PedroJ]

[cut]
This has been my standard operating procedure for nearly two years with no noticeable degradation in battery range. My lease term is 3.5 years and I'm betting the battery will be just fine until the end of the term.

it‘s not only the matter of the lease company or next owner. It’s also the matter of the environment.

 

[tchavei]

Ever wonder why cell phone batteries go to shit after only 2-3 years and need replacing or a new phone? its because you always charge your phone to 100%. Nobody is out there unplugging their phone when it hits 85-90% (although apple "smart charging" somewhat will stop your phone at 80-90% sometimes...)

So if you dont mind shortening your battery life because you need that extra 25 miles of range, then by all means charge to 100% everyday. whatevs. just dont expect anyone on this forum to buy your car if you ever decide to sell it in a few years.

Rooted androids can use the "Advanced Charging Controller App (AccA)".

My last phone, had terrible battery life after 3 years (or so I thought. I'm a power user and I'm actively using my phones for development and remote system administration for at least 12h/day or more).

I got myself a Oneplus 9 Pro last October and since I was already flirting the Taycan and had read hundreds of articles about battery maintenance, I decided to do a long term experiment.

Since I took the phone out of the box and rooted it, AccA limits charging to 85% (wonder where I got that number from). I've only charged it 4 times to 100% while I was on vacations because I expected to need the extra charge (out of home, no charging access). I try, as much as possible, to put it on charge before it reaches 20% but occasionally, I only manage to charge it at 3-5%. I've run out of battery twice (I guess that can happen to the Taycan too).

So far battery life is just as good (or bad) since the beginning. Let's see what happens after a year or two.

It will be fun to observe degradation following "EV" charging rules.

 

[Hanny]

it‘s not only the matter of the lease company or next owner. It’s also the matter of the environment.

Wow this could really start a debate, but all I will add is that product of an EV has a much bigger foot print than a combustion vehicle- as will the disposal of an EV’s batteries. Emissions are the only friendly part of an EV.

As for charge limits, all I can add is experience of runing two EV’s, (wifey’s and mine). For the first 2 years we just charged, didn’t care if it was 100% or not, it would sit at all sorts of SoC etc…….. Results from both separate makes = both have lost about 5%/10% range.

Technology of battery management is improving every day so am sure any degradation will reduce. As far as I can work out is that all vehicles have a shelf and use life, just get the most out of it and enjoy……nice shiny cars with no miles only benefits the next owner.

 

[mas_gts]

I charge to 90-95% overnight on weekend pretty regularly, which means I can get through my entire work week comfortably without charging during the week (that's 5 days of commute with 30ish mile round trip daily).

 

[mystermykee]

Ever wonder why cell phone batteries go to shit after only 2-3 years and need replacing or a new phone? its because you always charge your phone to 100%. Nobody is out there unplugging their phone when it hits 85-90% (although apple "smart charging" somewhat will stop your phone at 80-90% sometimes...)

So if you dont mind shortening your battery life because you need that extra 25 miles of range, then by all means charge to 100% everyday. whatevs. just dont expect anyone on this forum to buy your car if you ever decide to sell it in a few years.

Yes! Post your VIN too so I know which ones to avoid if I'm ever in the market again for a used one.

 

[whitex]

Wow this could really start a debate, but all I will add is that product of an EV has a much bigger foot print than a combustion vehicle- as will the disposal of an EV’s batteries. Emissions are the only friendly part of an EV.

Lucky the largest EV manufacturer today has figured out a pretty good solution to that - disposable EV batteries made to be ground up into sand without much disassembly/processing, which in turn is used like an ultra rich ore to extract the individual elements to use for new batteries. The latest Tesla batteries are like this, and their ex-CTO has a company in California which does the recycling.

As for charge limits, all I can add is experience of runing two EV’s, (wifey’s and mine). For the first 2 years we just charged, didn’t care if it was 100% or not, it would sit at all sorts of SoC etc…….. Results from both separate makes = both have lost about 5%/10% range.

4 Model S's between me and my wife. The one I had the longest had 5.02% battery degradation after 7 years and 10 months and 48K miles, when I sold it. Majority of it occurred in the first year or two. All of them have been plugged-in in the garage every night, set to charge to 90%. Currently charging the Taycan the same, except to 85%, we'll see how it fares.

Technology of battery management is improving every day so am sure any degradation will reduce. As far as I can work out is that all vehicles have a shelf and use life, just get the most out of it and enjoy……nice shiny cars with no miles only benefits the next owner.

Right. 8 year battery warranty, if anything goes wrong, it's covered. Furthermore, properly built batteries should last a pretty long time and it seems mileage is a bigger factor than age when it comes to degradation. The most data available out there is for Teslas, as they have been around the longest:
https://electrek.co/2020/06/06/tesla-battery-degradation-replacement/
The only EV that I know had some major degradation issues were the early Nissan Leaf's, but their batteries were only passively cooled, which resulted in major degradation in hot climates.

I would expect the Taycans to follow similar curve as the early Teslas, which is pretty good. Worst case scenario, I have the battery warranty from Porsche (same approach I took to Teslas).

 

[Crazymind]

I have charged my I-pace the last 3 Years to 100% every day. No noticeable degradation so far. When I first picked it up from the dealer it would show 256 miles range. Still today at 100% shows 256 miles range. Who knows?

 

[Plumley32]

Perhaps a daft question but if Porsche battery life would benefit from only charging between 20<>80% SoC why isn't that programed into the car as 80% is the optimal (ie std) max charge and a confirmation required from the driver to charge past that to 100% SoC?
Surely Porsche do not want a bunch of angry customers with battery degradation problems. Especially if it comes in the 8 year warranty time frame?
Or is what we see as 100% SoC actually less? Like 90%, thus saving the battery?

 

[Plumley32]

Also why is it so awkward to limit the charge to anything less than 100%? Seems like timer charging is the only way to do this? But if you go out at different times of the day, and some days dont drive at all (i work from home and dont know where im going from one day to the next) the timer feature doesn't seem appropriate as it sets your leave time?

 

[mjw930]

Also why is it so awkward to limit the charge to anything less than 100%? Seems like timer charging is the only way to do this? But if you go out at different times of the day, and some days dont drive at all (i work from home and dont know where im going from one day to the next) the timer feature doesn't seem appropriate as it sets your leave time?

Just use the default profile and set minimum charge to 85%, problem solved.

It’s confusing because you think minimum not maximum but that’s where it stops unless you have a location profile where you define when it can charge. A location profile without a timer will charge to 100% so to stop at 85% you need to add a timer where you can define a max charge by a time. If you aren’t planning a trip just tell it you want to leave at 5AM and repeat, it will always have 85% every morning.

I know, it’s unnecessarily complex but it’s very German, there is a “procedure” for everything.

 

[xyeahtony]

This thread has the same vibe as "Who Puts 87 Octane Gasoline in their Porsche" kind of poll. Or "Who puts non-synthetic oil in their 911?"

 

[Fish Fingers]

Perhaps a daft question but if Porsche battery life would benefit from only charging between 20<>80% SoC why isn't that programed into the car as 80% is the optimal (ie std) max charge and a confirmation required from the driver to charge past that to 100% SoC?
Surely Porsche do not want a bunch of angry customers with battery degradation problems. Especially if it comes in the 8 year warranty time frame?
Or is what we see as 100% SoC actually less? Like 90%, thus saving the battery?

I bet the Taycan batteries will last well as they already have the built in 10% buffer.
Which is much higher than most other EVs.

So a charge to 85% is actually closer to 75%.

 

[Montetorro]

My friend who is a battery "nerd" advises never charge the battery to 100% if you are not going to use the car for a couple of days. He says that you should not store the car with more than 85% charge to prolong battery efficiency.

 

[Archimedes]

Yeah I should have added that, exactly. Range mode is even lower and is far too uncomfortable for a nice highway cruise. SportPlus I get as if you’re in that then you are focusing and doing some fast driving.

The suspension damping is entirely different in Sport Plus vs. Range. Range is much softer. But I agree with others who’ve found that Range mode offers minimal benefit over Normal mode in terms of range.

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