Battery temperature: four handy facts

Here are four useful things to know

From trips to the shops to weekend meetups, your EV battery is an unseen champion, charging every trip you make. If you’re looking to repay the favour and care for it too, we’ve got you covered.

One thing you can do to help support long term battery health is knowing a little bit about battery temperature. That’s because a bit of knowledge here could contribute to better charging management, overall EV performance, and battery lifespan, too. These four facts can get you started.

1. 15-35° Celsius could be your sweet spot

That’s because, for many EVs, this temperature is considered the ideal – though it’s always worth double-checking specifics for your make and model. Bear in mind that extremes either end of this range can affect your battery’s performance, such as making charging a little slower. A very cold day in December in the UK will very likely be below 15 degrees, whereas a hot summer day in July may fall in this range unless there’s a heat wave.

2. EV batteries like shade too

If you’ve recently got your first EV and you’re about to go into your first summer with it, we wish you many sunny trips with it. Should the thermometer go above 35° – and you’ll usually be given fair warning by the weather experts – consider keeping your EV in the garage when not in use if you can, or in the shade when possible. You might want to think about investing in a sunshade for your car to put in the screen. In other words, treat the EV as you would any other electrical device – or person - and try not to expose it to the heat or sun for too long.

3. A heatwave might affect your charging

EV batteries may take longer to charge in extreme heat, as some of their energy can go into cooling the battery to bring it to an optimal temperature. You could charge to 80% of your full charge to help balance things out – check out this article we’ve written on the 80% guideline.

Whatever the weather holds, familiarising yourself with your EV manual can help you effectively manage your charging when the temperature’s a little out of the ordinary.

4. Most EVs come with handy temperature features

Lots of EVs come with temperature monitoring that can alert you to notable changes. Some EVs have pre-conditioning features to heat or cool the battery to keep it at its optimum performance and driving range. It bears repeating – your manual is your friend!

There you go. Four ways to look after your battery while it looks after your journeys. And when you need more information, support, or charging, we at bp pulse are here to support your switch to EV at every step. Why not download our free app to see where you’ll find us?