Cost of ownership long term (those batteries...)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rothgarr
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Rothgarr said:
Interesting, thanks for the additional replies.

I live in CT and the car would be garaged -- the garage isn't temperature-controlled, but since it's surrounded by the house on two sides it stays warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

One thing I definitely DON'T want to have to think about it how far down the battery has been discharged or how high it's been charged. I literally want to pull into my garage, plug it in (regardless of the current charge), and forget about it until it's time for another drive. Does this sound unreasonable? I have to think by now the technology thinks about all that stuff on its own.

Thanks again for all your input!
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It's probably just fine to not worry about it. All the discussion is to understand what factors contribute to best and worst battery longevity. When I first got the car, I just drove it and not worried about it. I now know that my initial behavior was contributing to avoidable battery degradation. For example, I took it out on the coldest night of the year (around 0 degrees F) to watch a late double feature when I could have taken my ICE car. I also routinely drove it until the battery was depleted before recharging to full (worst DoD). I work from home so I can recharge after every 15 mile drive that I take several times a day, keeping DoD within a narrow range without being inconvenient. After learning about Li ion batteries, that's just what I did. I also leave the car garaged (my garage maintains moderate temps regardless of outside temps) which I didn't always do for convenience. The point is, if you can keep your battery more healthy without inconvenience, do so, otherwise just drive it and don't worry about it. The reality is that most people only keep their cars for 4-6 years so the battery will be just fine in that time frame no matter what you do. I keep all my cars for over 10 years so battery longevity is an issue.
 
I bought mine because leasing is a problem if you drive too much. This car is so comfortable on long trips, so we will take many more of them than we did with our old Prius. Also, one has to assume that by the time any of us sell this car the rebates (now 10K) in MA will be gone. That gives us lots of wiggle room trying to get back a good percentage of our cost for this car. Finally, I don't see that many technological improvements are needed on this PHEV- i.e. we don't really need a batter bigger than ours that gives 50- 60 miles. And pure battery cars will still take longer to fill than ICEs on the road for many years, so PHEVs should be a nice alternative for years to come.
 
How about charging using a level 1 charger or level 2 installed in my garage? Does one method over the other help/hurt battery life?
 
Rothgarr said:
How about charging using a level 1 charger or level 2 installed in my garage? Does one method over the other help/hurt battery life?
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I've never read any place for that be an issue (level 1 vs. level 2). DC fast chargers and Tesla Superchargers do affect battery longevity so it's recommended that you don't use those routinely.
 
Level 2 charges around 0.4C. Level 1 charges around 0.06C. Anything below 1C is acceptable and below 0.7C you are money.


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