How are charging settings (like target SoC and schedule) set?

[mattlach]

Do we have any knowledge about this yet?

Most vehicles on the market handle this with their integrated touch screen system, but the Slate does not have one of those.

I'm hoping it is not app based, as I pretty much refuse to install apps for things for privacy reasons.

 

[GaRailroader]

Great question. Hopefully they give us that ability. I used to have a Nissan Leaf and it didn’t have that feature. You could set a charging timer if you knew about how long it was gonna take to get to 80% but I pretty much charged it to 100% everyday. Fortunately I charged at work so once I drove home for the day it wasn’t sitting for 16 hours at 100%.

 

[mattlach]

Great question. Hopefully they give us that ability. I used to have a Nissan Leaf and it didn’t have that feature. You could set a charging timer if you knew about how long it was gonna take to get to 80% but I pretty much charged it to 100% everyday. Fortunately I charged at work so once I drove home for the day it wasn’t sitting for 16 hours at 100%.

I'm not sure how you could get away with regularly charging to 100% without severe battery wear. At first I thought this might be because the Leaf used LFP chemistry in their batteries, which is more stable than NMC chemistry, but some research suggests that the Leaf uses a mix of LMO and NMC batteries.

The Slate - from my understanding - is supposed to use NMC chemistry instead for its greater energy density, but NMC cells are MUCH more sensitive to wear. If you charge them to 100% every day, that battery will be absolute toast in no time.

Most vehicles with NMC batteries have their charge target set to 80% by default for this reason, and instruct you to only rarely charge to 100%in advance of long drives. The schedule becomes very important too, because it isnt necessarily the charging itself which wears the battery, but rather the sitting at high states of charge, especially when it is hot.

The absolute worst thing you can do to an NMC battery is charge it up to 100% and then leave it baking in the sun for hours. That will degrade it very fast.

This is where the schedule comes into play. You set the target time you want it to be at 100% at, and time that be right before you need to leave, that way you start discharging the battery almost immediately.

 

[sodamo]

Do we have any knowledge about this yet?

Most vehicles on the market handle this with their integrated touch screen system, but the Slate does not have one of those.

I'm hoping it is not app based, as I pretty much refuse to install apps for things for privacy reasons.

https://www.slate.auto/en/charging

sure looks like an app

 

[mattlach]

https://www.slate.auto/en/charging

sure looks like an app

I never doubted that there would be an app, just about every new vehicle - electric or not - has one these days. The question is if there is a way to manually configure these things directly in the truck without using an app.

Both my better half's 2025 VW ID.4 and my 2025 Audi A6 E-Tron have apps, but I don't use them ever, and don't even have them installed.

If I had to have them installed or use the apps I'd probably never have bought the cars.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

Having never owned a BEV, I wonder if there are any wall chargers that have that functionality?

And a quick Google search says the answer is "yes". Especially smart chargers connected to their own apps. They can schedule for off-peak charging, state of charge, etc.

 

[GaRailroader]

Having never owned a BEV, I wonder if there are any wall chargers that have that functionality?

And a quick Google search says the answer is "yes". Especially smart chargers connected to their own apps. They can schedule for off-peak charging, state of charge, etc.

I wonder how the charger would know the state of charge of the EV battery.

 

[mattlach]

I wonder how the charger would know the state of charge of the EV battery.

All standard charger formats have the ability to communicate some basic data about the battery to the charger.

Fort instance, on the rare occasion when we plug in our VW ID.4 or Audi A6 to public charging stations like the Electrify America network we use, the chargers screen will always display the state of charge of the battery as it progresses on its screen. It will also show the target SoC the car is charging towards.

It can be a helpful tool if all the charging stations are in use and you want to check how soon you are likely to see one free up.

That said, our home charger (a 240v 40A Grizzl-E Smart Level2 charger) does not read this information. Or if it does, at least does not do anything apparent with it that is user viewable.

 

[Adam W]

Since Slate is coopting our own devices (tablet, phone) as the touchscreen for the truck, my money is on it only being possible with the app. My question is, with no bluetooth/wifi in the truck, will the phone/tablet have to be connected via the cable to do any of this?

 

[sodamo]

I wonder how the charger would know the state of charge of the EV battery.

Seriously doubt it can be a dumb charger, would have to know about battery to properly charge, not overcharge,.

 

[KevinRS]

I'm not sure how you could get away with regularly charging to 100% without severe battery wear. At first I thought this might be because the Leaf used LFP chemistry in their batteries, which is more stable than NMC chemistry, but some research suggests that the Leaf uses a mix of LMO and NMC batteries.

The Slate - from my understanding - is supposed to use NMC chemistry instead for its greater energy density, but NMC cells are MUCH more sensitive to wear. If you charge them to 100% every day, that battery will be absolute toast in no time.

Most vehicles with NMC batteries have their charge target set to 80% by default for this reason, and instruct you to only rarely charge to 100%in advance of long drives. The schedule becomes very important too, because it isnt necessarily the charging itself which wears the battery, but rather the sitting at high states of charge, especially when it is hot.

The absolute worst thing you can do to an NMC battery is charge it up to 100% and then leave it baking in the sun for hours. That will degrade it very fast.

This is where the schedule comes into play. You set the target time you want it to be at 100% at, and time that be right before you need to leave, that way you start discharging the battery almost immediately.

Real world data is showing that that is not as much of a concern. It may have been with the first generation of EVs, but not so much now.
People who have always charged to 100% and have driven over 100k miles are not seeing huge range losses. Probably part of it is that the 100% that you can charge to is not really 100% of the theoretical capacity of the cells. Manufacturers are limiting how close you can get to both the top and bottom limits, leaving some reserve, and basing stated range off of that limited charge indication. Also thermal management has greatly improved. Those first batteries were basically air cooled, batteries now have active cooling systems.

 

[beatle]

Might not have an option. With a sufficient buffer, 100% is not actually 100%. The Mini Cooper SE is this way. There is no way to set the desired SoC. It will always charge to 100%. Battery degradation has not been an issue with those cars.

Otherwise it will probably be via the app like most things.

 

[ElectricShitbox]

Don't forget that the gauge cluster is a screen, and there could easily be settings controlled there.

 

[E90400K]

Just saying, but my 20-year-old golf cart knows when to stop charging and it has no app.

 

[ElectricShitbox]

I wonder how the charger would know the state of charge of the EV battery.

Seriously doubt it can be a dumb charger, would have to know about battery to properly charge, not overcharge,.

Level 1 and 2 EVSEs are basically just smart extension cords. The vehicle tells it to turn on or off, and the EVSE tells the vehicle it's amperage limit. Vehicle SOC is not in that protocol. The AC power provided by the EVSE is converted to DC by the onboard charger, so that end is all controlled by the vehicle.
DC fast charging is a different protocol, where the charger unit is directly charging the battery, so it gets a lot more information from the vehicle.