[srqboater]

Is it possible to extend the HV battery life by completely discharging the battery once or twice a week? I normally drive 30 miles per day and charge after the 30 mile trip. I am not sure how many charges are normal for the HV battery. I was told that I need to "excercise" the battery at least once a week. Has anyone heard of this?
Bob... [email protected]

 

[alexofsb]

Battery Cycles

My battery is now 2 years and 2 months old with charging 3 or more times per week, with 7500 total miles. I seldom run it down to less than 30 miles remaining (although a few times down to 5 miles) and then recharge to 47-48 + miles prior to my next drive.

I find that I am still getting about 15 miles of actual miles driven using only 15 electrical miles (very easy on the pedal) which implies (to me) that my battery is in good shape.

I haven't heard that doing the drain cycle you mention like a marine deep cycle battery is a good thing for our LI battery. Other comments??

PS; No problems whatsoever with my car in well over a year.

 

[Bert Yetman]

Me too, alexofsb, I've had my Karma 2yrs + 1 month with no problems that didn't disappear quickly without help. I show 50 electric miles every day. Some days I use 50, some days 0, most days about 15, but I always plug the car in as soon as I get home, and usually leave it plugged in until the next use.

 

[JCaprara]

I travel to work each day. I start off with a full charge. Sometimes 50miles sometimes 49 or 48. I get home with only 1 mile left. If I stray during the day I will use a little gas. I am at 15,000 miles and no issues so far.

 

[msajidkhan]

I travel to work each day. I start off with a full charge. Sometimes 50miles sometimes 49 or 48. I get home with only 1 mile left. If I stray during the day I will use a little gas. I am at 15,000 miles and no issues so far.

How many actual miles do you do per day ?

 

[srqboater]

Thanks

Thank you guys for your comments.... I have just about 12,000 miles with no major problems and was just looking at options on how to give the HV battery a longer life......

 

[steven]

I have about 16,000 miles and all is well. I had my HV battery replaced under the recall a few months after I bought the car. I have been using the 110v that came with the car at home, and a level II at work. I usually have around 25 miles left on the meter when I arrive at my house, and the car is usually fully charged by morning, unless I am working late.

I have a question that I posted on another thread. Perhaps I will have better luck here.

Does anyone know if level 1 charging will extend the life of our batteries over level 2? I've been reading that level 3 will definitely shorten a battery's lifespan. Perhaps it would be better to maintain my slow charging over night, and quick charge with level 2 during the day. (or vise versa if your a vampire).

 

[alexofsb]

I should have added that all my battery charging has been done with the 110 volt unit that came with the car. Also, typically, I do not fully charge to 50 miles, but unplug when at 47-48 miles. Nice to see numerous other car owners just as pleased with their ownership and lack of issues. The ones with problems are likely to make the most noise.
Also, would put in a positive 'plug' here for Travis Richardson on Fix the Karma as he helped me out twice at virtually no cost and he had new lug nuts in his stock to send me for a clicking sound I had while making sharp turns at parking speed. Great guy - everything you read is true.

 

[caricia78]

any idea about charging in spurts? I have a timed electricity rate so I typically use the car on teh weekend and drain the battery or come close to it then plug it in to the charger that is plugged into a timer between the charger and the outlet so that it will charge from midnight to 6 am. I usually leave it at least 3-4 days on this setup before using again (as usually just driven on the weekends). Is it ok to do this? will it be ok on the battery?

 

[alexofsb]

Battery Cycles

I am certainly not the expert, only relating my experiences and data w/my car. I am very surprised and pleased to hear you have a timer between plug and outlet and it has been working for you. My understanding was the cars system "wouldn't like that disconnect", but you haven't experienced an issue. I may change to the TOU electrical service with that in mind.
Best, Alex