Battery Charging / Topping off

[mbrand]

Hi all,

I am considering an FFE, I love the idea of all electric and think the FFE is perfect. I have 35 mile commute to work, 70 miles round trip. I can charge on a 110 were I work (and possible have a charger installed down the road). My question is Can I drive 35 miles to work which, will most likely deplete the batteries 50-70%, then charge on 110v to bring the batt voltage up or do the batts have to be fully charged each time?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[WattsUp]

Can I drive 35 miles to work which, will most likely deplete the batteries 50-70%, then charge on 110v to bring the batt voltage up or do the batts have to be fully charged each time?

Not quite sure I understand the question, but I think what you're asking is, "can the car be charged even if the battery isn't empty"? If so, the answer is yes! Just like your phone or laptop, the car can be charged at any time. The battery doesn't have to be empty in order to change it. You also don't have to wait for a full charge before you stop charging. You can charge whenever and for how ever long you have the opportunity.

So, taking your example, if you drive to work and use 50% of a full charge, you can begin charging back up to 100% when you arrive at work (replacing the 50% you consumed driving there). And, that is actually very realistic. Using a regular wall socket, it takes about 19 hours to fully charge the FFE from empty, so if you spend about 10 hours at work, you should be able to easily perform a "half charge" each day (and, of course, the same goes for overnight charging once you drive back home).

That said, if you live some place where it routinely gets extremely cold (northeast) or very hot (southwest), the car's range may be decreased in such temperature extremes, and charging may be slower (as more power is consumed to maintain the internal battery temperature). But, if you live anywhere with a moderate climate, this should not be an issue.

 

[v_traveller]

Yup! I drive 42 miles to work, charge back up to 90%-100%, then drive 38 miles home. Works like a charm.

 

[EVA]

Mike to put a stronger point on WattsUp response - it does depend on where you live. Cold is the worst enemy of range - heating the cabin takes a lot of energy. If it gets routinely below 40 degrees where you live, you could be bumping the range limit even charging on 110V at work. Honest real life range on a full charge when it gets cold is more around 58 - 50 miles. That's if you decide to use the heater (JMueller has experience with not using the heater and getting great cold weather range - I'm a whimp and take the hit on range).

At 110V in the cold you will get about 3 miles of range for every hour you charge. I see that pretty consistently every night.

Cooling the car isn't nearly as detrimental to range.

Hope that helps with your decision.

 

[jmueller065]

(JMueller has experience with not using the heater and getting great cold weather range - I'm a whimp and take the hit on range)

LOL! I've been getting used to no heat on these <0 F days--so much so that 20 degrees feels warm! I have an even braver coworker with an FFE: He has to drive farther than I do so he goes to even greater lengths to stretch the range.