8 Tips to Extend the Life of Your Electric Car Battery
26 August, 2023
An electric car’s battery is not just its heart; it’s also a costly and complex component. Understanding how to care for your electric car battery, such as the Air ev, is crucial to ensuring a long lifespan and peak performance.
Electric cars typically use lithium-ion batteries that last approximately 5-7 years, with some lasting up to 10-15 years. As an electric car owner, you certainly don’t want your battery to deteriorate quickly. Extending your battery’s lifespan is not only about saving money but also about maintaining your vehicle’s performance.
By following the guidelines for maintaining your Air ev’s electric car battery below, you can keep your vehicle in top condition and use it for years to come.
1. Maintain Battery Capacity
Avoiding using the battery until it’s empty or fully charged can help extend its lifespan. It’s ideal to keep the battery capacity between 20% and 80%. This helps reduce stress on the battery cells and prevent excessive degradation.
Why is this important? Using the battery in extreme states, either empty or full, can affect battery health. Getting into the habit of keeping the capacity within the optimal range will help maintain the battery’s durability in the long run.
2. Stabilize Input Voltage
Unstable input voltage can damage the battery. Make sure your car is connected to a stable power source. Unstable voltage can exert excessive pressure on battery components, speeding up degradation and reducing the battery’s lifespan.
Ensure that you maintain the voltage supply to the battery during the charging process. One of the simplest methods to stabilize input voltage is by changing the power supply mode.
However, if you need to use your car quickly, it’s recommended to use the fast-charging mode. Ensure that the battery is empty and the indicator or status on the meter panel shows readiness before using it again.
3. Reduce Maximum Charging Limits
Although having a fully charged battery might be convenient, charging it to 100% can accelerate battery degradation. Set your maximum charging limit to around 80% to 90% to keep the battery in optimal condition.
Why is this important? Charging to 100% can increase pressure on the battery cells and expedite the degradation process, whereas charging to 80–90% can help maintain battery health.
4. Pay Attention to Parking Location
Your parking location can affect your electric car’s performance. Parking it in a cool area will help keep the battery cool and improve efficiency. Therefore, avoid parking in excessively hot places or under direct sunlight for extended periods, as this can overheat the battery and reduce driving range.
The sun’s heat can impact the performance and lifespan of electric car batteries in Indonesia. Extreme environmental temperatures can damage battery cells and reduce capacity and longevity. If you must park in a hot area, it’s advisable to use a protective cover for your Air ev to keep your electric car’s maintenance optimal.
5. Reduce Maximum Charging Limits
Although having a fully charged battery might be convenient, charging it to 100% can accelerate battery degradation. Set your maximum charging limit to around 80% to 90% to keep the battery in optimal condition.
Why is this important? Charging to 100% can increase pressure on the battery cells and expedite the degradation process, whereas charging to 80–90% can help maintain battery health.
6. Establish an Ideal Charging Schedule
Establishing a regular charging schedule can help maintain battery health. Determine your charging frequency based on your lifestyle and needs, so you always have sufficient battery life without overcharging. Why is this important? Regular charging helps keep the battery within the optimal range, prevents overcharging, and ensures battery readiness.
If you own a Wuling Air ev, the charging time depends on the type of charger you use. If using a wall charger or AC charger, it takes about 9 hours to charge. However, if you’re using fast charging or a DC charger, it only takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
7. Avoid High-speed Driving.
One of the attractions of the Air ev is its compact size, making it easy to maneuver on narrow and congested roads. Additionally, this electric car has rapid acceleration capabilities, reaching 0–50 km/h in 5.6 seconds for the Standard Range model and 4.9 seconds for the Long Range model. This allows the electric car to drive smoothly and swiftly on the roads.
However, it’s still advisable to avoid overly aggressive driving styles to maintain battery health. As reported by Jalantikus.com, high-speed driving or sudden acceleration can exert excessive pressure on the battery and accelerate degradation. Why is this important? Sudden acceleration and high speeds can trigger excessive battery strain. This significantly affects performance and can reduce battery lifespan.
8. Keep It Charged Even When Not in Use
If your car will be unused for an extended period, avoid letting the battery go empty. Therefore, regular charging is necessary to keep the battery in good condition. Allowing the battery to go empty, or at least below 10%, can lead to faster deterioration. You can draw a parallel from smartphone battery maintenance.
Smartphone batteries are also best not left empty, especially if they will be unused for an extended period, if you want to extend their lifespan. While most manufacturers offer lengthy warranties for electric car batteries, typically up to eight years or 160,000 kilometers, this depends on whichever comes first.
Caring for your electric car battery is a long-term investment to maintain your vehicle’s performance and longevity. By maintaining battery capacity, stabilizing input voltage, choosing the right parking location, and implementing other measures, you can ensure that your electric car battery remains durable and performs optimally.
