I own a Tata Nexon EV and I commute about 150km each day, which also includes some running on the highway. There’s a public DC fast charger that falls on my route and I find it quite convenient to recharge my car in between breaks on my commute. But is it advisable to always use a DC fast charger to charge my EV? Or can there be some negative implications for the battery?
Sumit Halder, Pune
Autocar India says: Some manufacturers like Citroën say that you can use a DC fast charger daily for the eC3, however, this is only because even on a DC fast charger, the charging speed does not go too high and it’s typically at about 20kW.
However, since charging generates heat, fast-charging cars often suffer from increased battery degeneration. Thus, for everyday charging, it’s best to use the AC charger only. Most manufacturers recommend you use a fast charger only when necessary, like topping up at a public charger.
Also, after a couple of fast charge cycles, a normal AC charge till 100 percent is recommended, which is to help battery balancing. As cells will have some minute differences in their construction, over time, individual cells inside a battery pack degenerate differently. Thus, battery balancing evens this out by trickle charging the entire battery pack, thereby ensuring that all cells inside are charged to the same level.
