Charging 101

[azdave]

It looks like tomorrow I should be a Spark owner. This is what I think I understand re charging L1 is 120 volt at either 8 or 12 amps. The default is 8 amps and if you wish to charge at the higher rate it must be selected each time you start the charging function. You cannot select a state of charge, the charging cycle will go to 100% state of charge and if it remains connected it will do a procedure to equalize the voltage across all of the cells. As long as the car is connected it will either heat or cool the battery pack. The L2 option is the same except it is either 208 or 240 volt at 16 amps. By selecting a start and stop time you can shut the charger down at less than 100% soc and the function to equalize the voltage across the cells will not take place. I assume these various functions can be selected at the display in the car. I will appreciate any information you can give me.

 

[SparkE]

You got it!

I would advise NOT always charging to 100% - only charge to full on days that you think you will need the extra range. I try to charge to 70-80% most days (I do that by manually unplugging the car).

 

[azdave]

Unplugging the car does not seem to be a good option for me. I live in Phoenix and low temperatures in the low 90s are common this time of year. I don't know what the high temperature is for the battery but I would also want the option to precool the car without depleting the battery. I had hoped to control the state of charge by setting the start and stop times.

 

[RSC]

The summer is also very warm (hot) in the Sierra Nevada foothills where I live, and I leave the car plugged in for this very reason.

The cooling system seems to work pretty well. The cooling system doesn't come on very often when the car is plugged in and not actively charging, but I've seen it come on. And every time I've checked the battery temperature it's been below 85 degrees, usually well below. I use rate and departure time charging (8 amps, 120V) so that the car charges only during off-peak hours.

 

[NORTON]

I charge daily through the week to 100%. It stays there for ~4 hrs or less, then I drive home and it sits overnight at ~ 60-70%.
On the weekends I only plug in if I have a busy day planned.

My battery degradation has been minimal. I posted about this in some current thread.

I wouldn't worry about or baby the pack. It's a great EV !!

 

[Kermit]

From my experience the car will not cool the battery when plugged in and not charging; i.e. when using the departure setting before it begins to charge. My car does sit in the sun at work where it is not plugged in. It's hotter during that time than when at home plugged in at night. You may just want to keep it plugged in if you can.

 

[RSC]

I have seen cooling come on during rate and departure mode charging while the car is plugged in and waiting to charge because it is not yet off-peak. This does not happen very often, but I have seen it on at least a couple of occasions. This is on a 2015 and could have been during partial peak rather than peak.

Edit: I suppose the cooling could have happened anyway, plugged in or not. I would need to do some experimenting.