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[heroto]

Ignorant newbie here learning how to baby the diva batteries that power our Zeroes. A big rule I've learned is charging to less than 100% most of the time is a good thing. Can I buy a gizmo or somehow program my moto to stop charging at at certain % charge, say 80 or whatever? This would be with the stock on board gear, no superchargers etc for now, thank you.

[Richard230]

You could do what I do and just pull the plug when the display reads the percentage that you want to stop charging at.  However, doing that probably won't do anything to balance the battery modules as that seems to occur during the last few minutes after the display reads 100%.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

DigiNow's newest controller v2.5 has a protocol that lets you set the voltage to stop charging at. 110V or so is about 80%.

I have a little Bluetooth serial app that shows the charge events and lets me send pre-set configurations by pushing buttons. It's not bad as a holdover until they're ready to publish an app.

[ultrarnr]

With the BMS system on the Zero and most EVs you really have no idea what percent you are really charging to in the same way when your SOC says 0% your batteries aren't really dead. Just because your SOC says 100% that doesn't mean that your batteries are truly charged to 100%. You have to trust Zero's programming of the BMS to charge the batteries to whatever level they feel is best.

[originalspacerob]

Are we really charging to 100% when it says 100%?  If you look at the app it will say its charged to 12.XX kW but the battery is 13KW. It was explained to me that it prevents the battery from being overcharged and keeps it from 100% charging. Is that still the case?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[laurentzeroS2016]

Indeed the batteries of our zero do not really use their capabilities 100%.
My model zero S 2016 13kw includes 28S / 4P either without BMS 28 cells farasis x 4.20 = 117.6 volts and 29 AH X4 = 116 AH is a capacity of 117.6x116AH = 13416 watts
In reality since the beginning I measure after a full load 12064 Watts!
Either in reality a clamping of 10% of the battery, we can say that after a 100% charge with bms in reality the bms cut 90% of the battery so a very good thing for our farasis.

[gt13013]

You can use a 24h timer. I use this 220V one, but many are available. Here is an US / 110V version.
When I plug my bike, it says how many time it will spend to go to full charge. It appears that this estimated time is quite good. Say your timer to stop 2 hours before, and voila.
My timer is rated 3500W. Zero bikes are charging at 1300W max (it can be less depending on the bike. Mine is 720W). So there is no problem.

[heroto]

Like the idea of an inexpensive mechanical timers, very clever. There may be issues with the amount of current, so I’ll shop for a heavy duty model. Thanks for the suggestion.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

What you can do is charge to a specific voltage (constant-voltage mode trigger) like 110V. That's close enough to 80% for most people, and is how the DigiNow 2.5 control protocol works.

[heroto]

And where does one acquire a "constant-voltage mode trigger"?

[togo]

> "Ignorant newbie here learning how to baby the diva batteries that power our Zeroes... "

They aren't really divas at all.  Just some of us want maximum life and are willing to geek out about it a bit.

[togo]

> Are we really charging to 100% when it says 100%?  ...

Pretty much when it hits max voltage (116.5V), my 2014 SR will say 100%.

But of course it tapers off charge rate at that point and continues to charge
(jargon: switches from CC to CV mode) as "the charges migrate deeper into
the structure"

I'd say if you disconnected right away when it says 100%, you're only actually
like 95% charged.  So keep that in mind, and don't get stranded. : - )

[togo]

And where does one acquire a "constant-voltage mode trigger"?

It's not a product, it's a feature.  The new Diginow controllers can be told to stop
at a particular voltage that's below the max.  That's known as "constant voltage"
mode in the charging cycle.  There's lots of good info about charging systems online,
like on wikipedia or batteryuniversity.com

http://batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/article/lithium_based_batteries

http://batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

togo is correct that it's a charger operational feature.

SoC is an estimation and battery terminal voltage is readily measurable, so chargers target voltage and then reduce charging level to prevent exceeding that voltage. Voltage experiences "lift" while charging, so a charger reducing its rate when it meets a certain level can ensure a "governor" like control limit.

This is a reliable way to manage the battery and basically every EV charger operates this way.

[ESokoloff]

..............
 A big rule I've learned is charging to less than 100% most of the time is a good thing.
.................

Is this true?