Let us start this debate as some EV owners will tell you to only charge your vehicle to 80% and start charging at 20%. Some may also say that you should charge your vehicle whenever you feel like you may not have enough range for the next trip. With that being said, it is easy to describe your ideal charging scenarios while car dealers will give you a relatively useless answer. I’ll describe some charging idealogy below, these methods will not be exhaustive but would give you a good idea of when to charge your vehicle and how you could reduce range anxiety!
Method #1
Charge till 80% and use till 20% before charging again. This method is flawed, the range of a BYD seal for example is 570km WLTP on paper. This means that effectively you will only have a 342km range with this charging cycle. If you were to account for other electrical devices like aircon, you are looking at an effective range of 300km.
Method #2
I tried to follow method #2 until I got tired of it and this method is to use the car till it’s lowest then charge it back to 100%. This saves time as you gain the most out of your charging session but is realistically difficult. You risk getting stuck with 0% and overcharging your car because you charge it to 100% frequently. Many say this method would also free up public charging stations and be the most economical. I would say that this method of charging is the most stressful and is not worth the risk at all.
Method #3
Charge every time you see a public charger available. This method is not ideal in Singapore as there is no need to charge that often, even my Nissan Leaf with 220km of range could survive a day’s worth of driving. Unless the day is going to be filled with long drives, it is not necessary to charge your vehicle this often. The next method would be what I feel is the most appropriate.
Method #4
Charging every time it hits below 55% if there is an available charger. This method would be the most ideal for me as you will need to think of a backup plan if you are not able to charge your vehicle below 30%. There is always a risk that you will not get the charger you plan to use if it is full or under maintenance.
