Critique my 'unusual' charging practice

[LMichel]

I have a level2 charger in my garage from my last EV (Chevy Volt)
It charges my MS at about 4kw - pretty darned slow, but I really have no complaints..
I charge to the typical 90% and the car may sit that way (plugged in) for a few days.
When I need the car, it almost always will incur a hundred mile drive, round-trip - I live in the middle of nowhere..
So when I know that I'll need the car, I'll bump the charge level to 100% and let it top off.
I don't let it sit that way! As soon as my phone dings, I'll take the car on the trip.
When I return, I usually have about 150 miles left.. ~60%
Then it charges back to 90% and the cycle repeats.

About once a month I'll go to my nearest SC at the mall and let the car suck all the electrons it can just so it can charge rapidly, instead of slowly at 4kw

I've been doing this for about a year, with my 2017 MS. I've noticed no degradation at all.

What say you?

 

[gregd]

If after your 100 mile trip you still have 150 miles left, your bumping the charge to 100% before leaving was unnecessary, and therefore an unneeded stress on the battery. Probably not a big deal, but unnecessary.

Also, there's no need to do a fast charge periodically. This isn't your 50's era ICE where you needed to "blow out the carbon" from time to time. Again, it probably doesn't hurt anything, but unnecessary.

I think you're over-thinking the management of the battery. Just plug it in when you get home, and let it do the rest. Less stress on the battery, and less stress on you too.

 

[Rocky_H]

(Heh, I saw the notice pop up while I was typing this, and I see @gregd said what I was typing.) The charging speeds are fine, but neither is better or worse. I don't see any reason for pushing the charge level up to 100% if you get back with 60% left, though. Keeping it at 80 or 90% all the time would be fine, and saves just a little bit of stress on the battery by not going full.

 

[BerTX]

Congratulations on your success. Is it luck? Was it your charging practices? I dunno. Sounds like my charge pattern when my car was pre-upgrade 60 kW. Once I upgraded. the car only went to 249 RM instead of the expected 259 RM. I'm thinking yours is luck.

 

[TexasEV]

I completely agree with the OP except for supercharging when he doesn’t need the fast charge. Even if he doesn’t “need” the 100% range on his out of town trips, he describes his location as the mifpddle of nowhere. Better safe than sorry. What if a road is closed or he has to make an unexpected detour for some reason. There’s no reason not to charge to 100% just before a trip.

 

[bmah]

I completely agree with the OP except for supercharging when he doesn’t need the fast charge. Even if he doesn’t “need” the 100% range on his out of town trips, he describes his location as the mifpddle of nowhere. Better safe than sorry. What if a road is closed or he has to make an unexpected detour for some reason. There’s no reason not to charge to 100% just before a trip.

+1 to this. The gratuitous supercharging is unnecessary.

The issue about charging to 100% is really about whether you think you might need that added range to deal with some contingency out in the middle of nowhere. That's an individual evaluation / decision. If you want / need that added cushion of range, then by all means fill 'er up.

Bruce.

 

[ewoodrick]

Works for me, I just wouldn't do the charge to 100% or visit the Supercharger just because.