LFP and NMC best practices

I've posted this video and the one for NMC batteries in the General Chat forum. He explains how the battery's chemistry reacts when charging and discharging and how to slow down the degradation.
 
I posted the LFP one here yesterday. :)

 
Just watching this video and I thought I would share with you all, in case you know of anyone who is confused about what is good/bad for batteries and why there is different advice for LFP and NMC.



I know we've got some experts in the forum as well, so perhaps they will have comments.
 
Just for clarity, LFP and NMC batteries last longer with short cycling rather than deep cycling.

That is while LFP batteries can handle full charge cycles better than other lithium-ion types, shallow cycling is still preferable for maximizing their lifespan.

Let the arguments begin.
 
The question is really whether things like this make a significant difference or only at the margins. I think we very quickly get away from what the average person needs to care about to arguments that are not dissimilar to special engine additives for ICE cars - interesting for some but irrelevant for most, even if they make a small difference.
 
I entirely agree. There are some fairly simple rules of thumb that are worth following as a routine, like operating an NMC battery between 20-80 for day to day driving, also balancing as recommended and doing a long charge every six months. Although even that last is only really good for keeping the GOM honest, I'm not sure it really affects battery life (might be true for the regular balance too).

But beyond that, there is a danger of turning EV drivers into nervous wrecks trying to follow increasingly complicated routines in terror of shortening their batteries' lives if they don't. That's why I like Euan McTurk's video. He lays out the possible risks, but then puts them into perspective and reassures people that unless they're ridiculously careless they'll be fine, and they might even be fine if they're ridiculously careless too!

I mean, the magnitude of an effect is really important, and that YouTuber doesn't go into that at all. Like my friend's husband never letting the petrol tank in his Merc fall below half full because of what some garage man told him about the undesirability of having too much air in the tank. OK that damn Merc has passed its 30th birthday, but I'm not sure that's why.

I don't like the LFP video for a few reasons. One is that the YouTuber isn't a professional electrochemist as far as I can see. He's someone with some knowledge of the subject who is reading papers written by other people and then extrapolating from them. At one point he even mentions that the paper's authors comment that someone else doing a different experiment found the opposite effect! Another is that he doesn't give any idea of the magnitude of the effects. All that trouble to extend your battery's life from 400,000 miles to 401,000 miles maybe? Or from 20 years to 20 years 6 months?

Another is that he is coming, at least at first, from one angle only, longevity. There are, as he acknowledges later, other considerations, like keeping the GOM honest and simple convenience. And finally, when he gets round to considering these issues, he ends up with a contradictory series of recommendations that's only likely to confuse and worry people even more.
 
Aye, it's OK putting over the basics. I just find these American accents grating. I wish Euan would do a video specifically about the LFP, since the one I posted is mostly about the NMC, with the occasional throwaway remark along the lines of "if it's an LFP, do what you like!"
 
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