Open Discussion of all Things Electric Vehicle (aka EV) for Those Pro or Con, BE RESPECTFUL!

[Gman]

I am currently charging my battery when I had 51% full, because I still only have Level 1 charger (show charger). Level 2 charger is coming tomorrow. It is like similar to cell phone. I think fast charger gets the battery to lose capacity faster long run than frequent level 1 or 2 charging. Also, charging 100% vs 80-90% makes it huge difference.

My salesperson drives an EV, and he put his max charge at 80% to prolong the battery. He told me that many ev users do. He did that setting for me. Of course, I can change it back to 100% charge capacity. Very reason I usually charge my phone upto 80-90%.

At 90%, I will have about 215 miles. Enough to have comfortable round trip from Thornton to Olympic Training facility in Colorado Springs (87mi from my house).

Can you see all of the capacity of the battery?

The reason I ask is that I recall a while back that Tesla was building cars with the same battery pack but you had to pay extra to get the extra range. During a hurricane, they allowed owners in the path to have the extra range 'for free' in order to get out of harms way. So...even if the indicator is saying "100%", is it possible there's some cushion placed there by the manufacturer to prevent charging right up to the edge of full capacity on a regular basis?

[Jer]

Can you see all of the capacity of the battery?

The reason I ask is that I recall a while back that Tesla was building cars with the same battery pack but you had to pay extra to get the extra range. During a hurricane, they allowed owners in the path to have the extra range 'for free' in order to get out of harms way. So...even if the indicator is saying "100%", is it possible there's some cushion placed there by the manufacturer to prevent charging right up to the edge of full capacity on a regular basis?

The way that was presented to you has a bit of a negative slant. For a period, Tesla made only one larger pack. To keep the production lines flowing they software locked the maximum capacity of these packs for cars that were sold for less. During periods of hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters Tesla not only unlocked all of these software locks w/o anyone asking but they often make Superchargers free too. Crazy how some media outlets spin this to a negative though. In the instance where packs are software locked they still offer the same range the customer paid for but they also get lots of performance benefits to charge rates, charge curves, acceleration, long term degradation and all sorts of things. In short, if you can choose it, you want a larger pack that is software locked. This is preferable in just about every metric. Tesla has made many different size packs over the years and some have been used in different cars for different reasons and many have different chemistry.

[FoxtArt]

The way that was presented to you has a bit of a negative slant. For a period, Tesla made only one larger pack. To keep the production lines flowing they software locked the maximum capacity of these packs for cars that were sold for less. During periods of hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters Tesla not only unlocked all of these software locks w/o anyone asking but they often make Superchargers free too. Crazy how some media outlets spin this to a negative though. In the instance where packs are software locked they still offer the same range the customer paid for but they also get lots of performance benefits to charge rates, charge curves, acceleration, long term degradation and all sorts of things. In short, if you can choose it, you want a larger pack that is software locked. This is preferable in just about every metric. Tesla has made many different size packs over the years and some have been used in different cars for different reasons and many have different chemistry.

A lot of gas stations only have two tanks - 85 and 91. Yet they still have 85, 87, and 91 at the pump.

They simply pump 91 when someone selects 87.

People who complain about bigger packs being installed (and then simply software limited) are a lot like people who would complain about getting 91 when they selected 87. Lol.

[ray1970]

People who complain about bigger packs being installed (and then simply software limited) are a lot like people who would complain about getting 91 when they selected 87. Lol.

Not really. If you paid for 87 octane but we?re given 91 then you reap whatever benefits come with the higher octane.

A better analogy would be buying a truck with a 36 gallon fuel tank but it has a baffle installed so it only holds 28 gallons and reduces the range of the vehicle.

I am assuming if someone had an electric vehicle capable of more range that was software limited that there is some way to jailbreak or hack it to unlock the additional battery potential?

[DDT951]

Not really. If you paid for 87 octane but we?re given 91 then you reap whatever benefits come with the higher octane.

A better analogy would be buying a truck with a 36 gallon fuel tank but it has a baffle installed so it only holds 28 gallons and reduces the range of the vehicle.

I am assuming if someone had an electric vehicle capable of more range that was software limited that there is some way to jailbreak or hack it to unlock the additional battery potential?

As I mentioned before. Under or overcharging a lithium battery degrades. The software will likely limit charge / discharge to somewhere around 3.6v to 4.0v. lithium ion chemistry generally allows up to 4.3v in a cell. Or approximately 10% more charge. But cycle life goes down.

So yes the cars are likely running around with “more range” in the batteries. And yes they can likely be jail broken. But the cost will be battery life. It is the same with pulling more current (power) out of the batteries. You affect life span of the battery pack with rapid discharges (and rapid charges).

Your best method is to stay between 3.8v and 4.0v and charge as slowly as you can to maximize battery lifespan.

[Jer]

Not really. If you paid for 87 octane but we?re given 91 then you reap whatever benefits come with the higher octane.

A better analogy would be buying a truck with a 36 gallon fuel tank but it has a baffle installed so it only holds 28 gallons and reduces the range of the vehicle.

I am assuming if someone had an electric vehicle capable of more range that was software limited that there is some way to jailbreak or hack it to unlock the additional battery potential?

Yeah, some of those 3rd party outfits I mentioned previously can do exactly that. They have ways to get root access and do all sorts of things. I know one in particular will sell larger packs to people and even has a handy spreadsheet of what each model will cost based on the battery that's in them. People are even able to pay a little extra to make non Performance cars performance models and other crazy upgrades that Tesla said would be available "someday" many years ago. Of course this voids your warranty but if you have a car that needs a $15k pack and it's already out of warranty... options like this are incredible. Lots of happy people who had an early (2012, 2013) 60kWh car that paid for a 85kWh pack and the air suspension required to carry it. Newer cars have the proper suspension and other things in place already but it's still nice to be able to do those things even if they aren't sanctioned by Tesla.

[MrPrena]

Can you see all of the capacity of the battery?

The reason I ask is that I recall a while back that Tesla was building cars with the same battery pack but you had to pay extra to get the extra range. During a hurricane, they allowed owners in the path to have the extra range 'for free' in order to get out of harms way. So...even if the indicator is saying "100%", is it possible there's some cushion placed there by the manufacturer to prevent charging right up to the edge of full capacity on a regular basis?

Capacity is usually in Miles, but I am not sure I can change it to KWh yet.
Full capacity is 239 miles or 64kwh. So, if it is on mileage as a capacity, I would use average miles to kwh. However, it does have instant power consumption as kW.

I am currently on a winter mode, so it loses few to several miles. When I turn on the heater, I lose about 3-5miles. When I turn it off immediately, I gain those back (updates instantly).

Kia Niro - EV information screen showing Instant Power



Kia Niro change in charge max capacity