Some people say it is best to charge every day, while others say it is better for the battery to wait until the power is used up before charging. Which is right? It is actually simple: if you ride 50% or more of the range in a day, you should charge every day (once you are sure the vehicle will not be used again); if you ride less than 30% of the range, charging once every two days is fine.

1. Is frequent charging better?

The shallower the discharge, the greater the number of charge-discharge cycles the battery can complete, so according to this theory, frequent charging benefits cycle life.

However, among the large number of chargers now circulating on the market, affected by price and technical level, there are defects such as high failure rates, poor reliability, and low precision, so sometimes frequent charging actually shortens battery service life. In addition, frequent charging worsens the softening and shedding of active material on the positive plates and speeds up corrosion of the plate grids.

Some may ask: should the battery not be charged promptly after use, or sulfation will occur? True, but after a shallow discharge the lead sulfate concentration inside is not high, crystallization is slow and limited, and no large crystals have formed yet. Moreover, lengthening the float charging period can help prevent sulfation of the battery.

2. Should an electric vehicle be charged daily or every other day?

If you ride 50% or more of the range in a day, charge every day (once you are sure the vehicle will not be used again). If you ride less than 30% of the range, you can charge once every two days; if you ride even less, you can extend the interval appropriately, but not beyond 3 days.

In addition, at each charge you can extend the charging time by about 1-2 hours so that the battery charges more fully. (But do not keep charging after the extra 2 hours, or the battery will be overcharged.)

3. Is it better to charge only after a full discharge?

Emptying the battery before charging reduces the number of charges, but because differences always exist between individual cells, some cells may be over-discharged. Over-discharged cells accept charge much less well, which causes undercharging problems. Also, charging after a complete discharge keeps the charger under heavy load longer, which easily damages the charger.

In the end, recharging after 50-70% of the capacity has been used is good for the battery. Generally, it is best to recharge when about one third of the power remains.