Charge and "top off" every day?

[stevon]

mvly ,
So what you are saying in my case is that you recommend starting with a fully charged Battery, drive car and use up to 70% of battery (30% SOC) then plug in. I'm going to charge every other day at work as originaly planned.

Jedi215,
Thanks for the great info, questions partially answered. I have 28 miles left after driving to work today. returning home is down hill and increases range by 2 miles. So I can safely get home and make it back tomorrow. Question: is it better to deep discharge down to 10 miles left and charge every 3rd day or would it be best to top off battery every 2 days with a lighter discharge (more left in the battery). Any thoughts?
Article: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2011/02/ask-ars-what-is-the-best-way-to-use-an-li-ion-battery/

As an electrical engineer who works on batteries for a living, if you want to maximize the life of the battery, avoid storing the Spark battery at a full charge.

It is not recommended to deep discharge. Li-ion battery likes to be around 40-70% typically. Anything lower or higher will increase the degradation of the battery.

 

[NORTON]

Then there is the possibility of setting the 'delayed charge' so that the car is plugged in but you never actually charge the battery.
You plug in at home to only use the TMS to keep the battery temp happy, and only during really hot or cold weather.
I plan on looking into this but have not actually tried it. Anyone else?

 

[stevon]

Coworker informed / threatened me to not charge at work any more so no more free charging!
http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4210

My commute to work is 8 miles each way so there is enough juice to make it there and home twice on one charge. Charge at work and wonder if it is better to run the car battery down and charge every other day than to "top off" battery every single day. 178 deep charges vs 356 light charges a year. Thoughts?

 

[nozferatu]

Coworker informed / threatened me to not charge at work any more so no more free charging!
http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4210

My commute to work is 8 miles each way so there is enough juice to make it there and home twice on one charge. Charge at work and wonder if it is better to run the car battery down and charge every other day than to "top off" battery every single day. 178 deep charges vs 356 light charges a year. Thoughts?

Tell your coworker to get lost and throw a dollar at him/her and say "here you go....should take care of your bill you cheapass."

 

[stevon]

Wish I knew who the stinker was but the note was unsigned :evil: I'll probably never find out. Found a charging spot 1.9 miles from my apartment so I will be getting exercise 3 times a week. At least until someone complains there! Isn't it ironic that you are punished with outrageous electric rate "rape" for using power to charge your car in California (Tiered billing) taking a viable electric car option, but with the more electricity used the more you pay SDG&E policy, essentially it becomes not a viable choice. Smells like an energy syndicate congressional payoff to me. Most electric car choices are only available in California, catch 22!

Coworker informed / threatened me to not charge at work any more so no more free charging!
http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4210

My commute to work is 8 miles each way so there is enough juice to make it there and home twice on one charge. Charge at work and wonder if it is better to run the car battery down and charge every other day than to "top off" battery every single day. 178 deep charges vs 356 light charges a year. Thoughts?

Tell your coworker to get lost and throw a dollar at him/her and say "here you go....should take care of your bill you cheapass."

 

[SparkevBlogspot]

outrageous electric rate "rape" for using power to charge your car in California (Tiered billing) taking a viable electric car option, but with the more electricity used the more you pay SDG&E policy, essentially it becomes not a viable choice.

SDGE base rate is $0.17/kWh (for now), but eVgo DCFC is $0.10/min and SparkEV charges at 45 kW until 80% soc.

$0.10/min * 60 min/hr / 45 kW = $0.13/kWh

In addition, L1 is only 80% efficient and L2 about 85%, DCFC is 90%. Then your actual savings is 5% to 10% more. Compared to SDGE base rate, using DCFC would be 25% (or more) cheaper. Of course, it's not as cheap as free charging at work, and you have to fight BMW i3 (they get free charging at eVgo). Have you considered getting another job? ;-)

 

[stevon]

SparkevBlogspot,
Another job in my case would be the only job in town for my skillset that pays enough to live here (another government contract). It took 15 years to become qualified and to obtain a sponsor for the clearance, wait 2 years, get the clearance granted, then keep it active. The ruling is for all federal government sites. In San Diego Unless you're highly skilled like a CPA Accountant, Doctor, Lawyer or just plain rich already there are few high pay jobs other than a government related job or contract.
Thanks for the comments.
B-320116, Architect of the Capitol--Availability of Funds for Battery Recharging Stations for Privately Owned Vehicles, September 15, 2010
excerpt
"It is well established that the expenses of an employee's commute between home and work are personal expenses,[3] and personal expenses are not payable from appropriated funds, absent specific statutory authority. B-305864, Jan. 5, 2006 (appropriations not available for shuttle bus service to facilitate commutes of employees); B‑307918, Dec. 20, 2006 (appropriations not available to reimburse commuting expenses of employees when performing after-hours, on-call emergency services). We view the use of appropriations to install and operate recharging stations for employees' and Members' use for their personal vehicles as conferring a benefit to them that would facilitate their commute between home and work. This benefit would be akin to providing fuel for personal vehicles. "
and
" 5 U.S.C. sect. 7905(b)(2). The authority, however, does not permit an agency to install and operate recharging stations. Specific statutory authority is provided, for example, for the use of appropriated funds for other activities that would be considered personal expenses like the use of appropriated funds to support physical fitness facilities, 5 U.S.C. sect. 7901, and day care facilities, 40 U.S.C. sect. 490b. Red text was circled with note scribbled this applies to you.

To pay lobbyist a few thousand dollars is within the cost of doing business for the energy syndicate monopoly world wide. So I don't expect Congress (for sale) to look out for my concerns (no money to buy influence). It's just the way things are, this still is the greatest country on earth!

outrageous electric rate "rape" for using power to charge your car in California (Tiered billing) taking a viable electric car option, but with the more electricity used the more you pay SDG&E policy, essentially it becomes not a viable choice.

SDGE base rate is $0.17/kWh (for now), but eVgo DCFC is $0.10/min and SparkEV charges at 45 kW until 80% soc.

$0.10/min * 60 min/hr / 45 kW = $0.13/kWh

In addition, L1 is only 80% efficient and L2 about 85%, DCFC is 90%. Then your actual savings is 5% to 10% more. Compared to SDGE base rate, using DCFC would be 25% (or more) cheaper. Of course, it's not as cheap as free charging at work, and you have to fight BMW i3 (they get free charging at eVgo). Have you considered getting another job? ;-)

 

[stevon]

SparkevBlogspot
The whole idea of finding "free" electricity is to make the car pay for itself as a trade off against the inconvenience of owning an 80 mile max range car. This is an experiment for me to decide if life style changes and inconvenience is worth owning a BEV like the Spark. So far with the novelty considered it is! in my situation

outrageous electric rate "rape" for using power to charge your car in California (Tiered billing) taking a viable electric car option, but with the more electricity used the more you pay SDG&E policy, essentially it becomes not a viable choice.

SDGE base rate is $0.17/kWh (for now), but eVgo DCFC is $0.10/min and SparkEV charges at 45 kW until 80% soc.

$0.10/min * 60 min/hr / 45 kW = $0.13/kWh

In addition, L1 is only 80% efficient and L2 about 85%, DCFC is 90%. Then your actual savings is 5% to 10% more. Compared to SDGE base rate, using DCFC would be 25% (or more) cheaper. Of course, it's not as cheap as free charging at work, and you have to fight BMW i3 (they get free charging at eVgo). Have you considered getting another job? ;-)

 

[SparkevBlogspot]

you're highly skilled like a CPA Accountant, Doctor, Lawyer or just plain rich already there are few high pay jobs other than a government related job or contract.

Engineers do well, too, with Qualcomm and biotech and military research facilities.

To pay lobbyist a few thousand dollars is within the cost of doing business for the energy syndicate monopoly world wide. So I don't expect Congress (for sale) to look out for my concerns (no money to buy influence).

I don't know about energy syndicate being behind this. More likely, it's some government dunce who likes making up rules and telling others what to do thought not giving perks is a good idea, never mind that it's only about 3 dollars per day for 80 miles.

It's just the way things are, this still is the greatest country on earth!

There's an old saying, everyone's standing in buckets of ****. While everyone else is drowning in brown puddle, only the US has lowest level where we can barely edge our nose above **** to breath. But **** level is rising rapidly. :-(

The whole idea of finding "free" electricity is to make the car pay for itself as a trade off against the inconvenience of owning an 80 mile max range car

That depends on what car you're comparing against (MPG, maintenance, insurance, etc), how much you drive, gas prices, electric prices. Among them, you have most control over electric price (Blink=high, solar=low). I thought I'd be getting a free car until I saw my insurance premium.Still, driving a new car for about $20/mo as opposed to driving my gas car, even when I have to pay for electricity at eVgo and SDGE, isn't bad at all.