Keep in mind I am still waiting for my Kona so you can totally ignore my comments. Also it probably does not make a huge difference to you folks in the States with the lifetime battery pack warranty. Alas, its only 8 years 160,000 km( it has to have more than 70% degradation) for us in Canada. Nonetheless when my Kona comes I will generally charge to a max of 85% and try not to run it down more 20% (unless I am on a trip and really need that extra 15+%) That will theoretically give me around 240 + km of range and approximately 3 charges per week during the summer which is more than enough for my needs. My research seems to imply there is likely a 9% buffer between the real capacity and the displayed virtual capacity of the Kona. The chemistry and battery management in Hyundai seems similar to Tesla. In the very least it not hugely different. This is what Tesla has to say about " factors affecting cycle life are tied to how the cell is used. In particular:
- Avoiding very high and very low states of charge. Voltages over 4.15V/cell (about 95 percent state of charge [SOC]) and voltages below 3.00V/cell (about 2 percent SOC) cause more stress on the insides of the cell (both physical and electrical). Avoiding very high charge rates. Charging faster than about C/2 (two hour charge) can reduce the cell’s life.
- Avoiding charging at temperatures below 0° C. (Our design heats the pack before charging at cold temperatures.)
- Avoiding very high discharge rates. (Our pack has been designed such that even at maximum discharge rate, the current required from each cell is not excessive.)"
No matter how good the battery is, it has a finite amount of charge cycles, you can improve that amount or decrease degradation by limiting how high much voltage the cell sees during charging( pretty much synonymous with the percentage of charge ). Generally and among other things 100% state of charge and a very low state of charge are battery killers. That said in the Kona a displayed 100% state of charge is the virtual battery display and more likely represents a real 95% state charge in consideration of the previously mentioned buffer. But even if you keep the buffer in mind you will get less degradation if you charge to a lower state of charge. Its up you to decide if you really need 100% range all the time or if you could get by with a lower max charge.
If you want more information that just the sunny propaganda the car displays look at getting a OBD bluetooth dongle an app like EVnotify that will give you real time BMS state of charge, voltages and pack temperature. I am going to get base line readings and compare to when the battery eventually degrades, hopefully not prematurely.
