{"id":382339,"date":"2026-10-28T05:12:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T12:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/?p=382339"},"modified":"2026-10-28T05:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T12:12:07","slug":"ev-charging-guidance-has-changed-100-is-for-road-trips-not-every-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/ev-charging-guidance-has-changed-100-is-for-road-trips-not-every-day\/","title":{"rendered":"EV charging guidance has changed: 100% is for road trips, not every day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Automakers have changed their advice on EV charging. For most electric cars with lithium-ion batteries, you shouldn\u2019t charge to 100% every day.<\/p>\n

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That goes double for lithium-ion EVs with NMC or NCA<\/strong> packs. Those batteries tend to hold up better when they live somewhere around 20% to 80%, or in some cases 90% if the carmaker says that\u2019s fine. Once you\u2019re charging from 80% to 100%, cell voltage climbs, and over time that usually means more capacity loss. Letting the battery fall below 20% can stress it too.<\/p>\n\n

A full charge still has its place. If you\u2019re heading out on a road trip, the extra range helps, especially at highway speeds, in cold weather, in traffic, on detours, or when the next charger is busy. LFP cars are the exception here. Some automakers actually want those batteries charged to 100% every week<\/strong> , or even every day, so the battery management system can keep the range estimate calibrated properly. That\u2019s why two cars from the same brand can come with different instructions. Tesla and Ford both say as much in their charging guidance.<\/p>\n\n

If you drive an EV every day, this matters. Geotab<\/a> looked at data from 22,700 EVs<\/strong> and found average battery degradation of 2.3% per year. It also tied frequent DC fast charging above 100 kW to 3.0%. Recurrent\u2019s 2024 study, which covered 13,000 Tesla vehicles, found no significant difference, probably because Tesla\u2019s thermal management does a better job controlling battery temperature.<\/p>\n\n

The right charging limit for your exact model and battery type should be in your carmaker\u2019s app or the owner\u2019s manual.<\/p>\n

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Automakers have changed their advice on EV charging. For most electric cars with lithium-ion batteries, you shouldn\u2019t charge to 100% every day. That goes double for lithium-ion EVs with NMC or NCA packs. Those batteries tend to hold up better when they live somewhere around 20% to 80%, or in some cases 90% if the … Continue reading “EV charging guidance has changed: 100% is for road trips, not every day”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9265,"featured_media":382338,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[1015],"tags":[],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-382339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t