Overcharging and reduced car use during Lockdown

[Topcat]

Since the lockdown for Coronavirus my car is sitting for long periods without use in the drive and I have just left the charging cable in. But from the example of a mobile phone were this can reduce battery life is the same scenario also applicable to a Hybrid vehicle such as my PHEV.

Or does the car itself have a system like a trickle charge were the connection is broken when the charge reaches a certain limit and then just comes on and off to maintain that full charge.

Would like to know if its better for my car to just take the charging cable out and only put it in when I know I will be driving in say 5 hours or the next day.

 

[Katmandu]

Can I suggest that you click on Active Topics just above the discussion area where you will see another thread on this subject that will either answer your query or confuse you even more.
Alternatively follow this link:
https://www.myoutlanderphev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=5026

 

[Topcat]

Yes I see what you mean. The subject on the Active topic does wander off base. So I am therefore taking it that the cars computer does not think about this for you which you would think would make sense for it to do.

Will take the charging cable out and watch how long it takes to reduce to 30% with the car just sitting at rest then will stick that rough figure here. I now know that it is not good to leave the cable in constantly and a wee bit of management is required to save your battery.

Thanks Katmandu

 

[Katmandu]

One thing I would suggest if you are not already using it is the charging timer in the cars control features. With this you can at least set it up to not charge for all 24 hours.
I have solar panels and cheap rate power so my timer is set for daylight hours and cheap rate hours for example.

 

[STS134]

One thing I would suggest if you are not already using it is the charging timer in the cars control features. With this you can at least set it up to not charge for all 24 hours.
I have solar panels and cheap rate power so my timer is set for daylight hours and cheap rate hours for example.

That's not really going to save your main drive battery. It's not good for Li-ion batteries to sit close to 100% or even above 90% for long periods of time. What I do is charge mine and then immediately after charging it, drive it about once every 2 weeks, which takes the SoC down to about 40-60%. I let it sit at that SoC for about 2 weeks and then repeat.