I know for full EVs it's recommended a lot to not fully charge the battery too much but I've also heard that some manufacturers do a limit on the battery charge where they limit the capacity on the battery artificially from the factory to try to extend the battery life and lengthen the amount of time the customer has a "full capacity" battery (I.e. the Chevy volt.) Does anyone know if Lexus does this too? Should I be worried about charging the battery to 100% every day or did Lexus already take care of planning battery preservation? Also once it's done charging does the car cut off power from the charger or should I unplug it ASAP?

 

I'd really like to see them add an option to limit the charge to 80%

 

In looking through manual there's nothing that mentions not charging to 100% regularly.

Lexus state:
"Use the charging schedule function as much as possible in order to fully charge the hybrid battery (traction battery) immediately before starting off."

What's more of an issue is..."to prevent the hybrid battery (traction battery) from becoming extremely low in charge, charge the hybrid battery (traction battery) from external power source or start the hybrid system at least once every 2 or 3 months, and turn the power switch off after the gasoline engine has stopped automatically."

Understanding how conservative Lexus are I'd suspect that they have parameters already in place to not overcharge and preserve the longevity of the battery.

 

Thanks for replying. That was my understanding as well I just wanted to see if this is what other people concluded too or if it was explicitly stated anywhere

 

For sure no worries. I plan on charging my 450h to full when required (which will be most of the time)! That's why I bought it

Amazing vehicle so far.

 

Yeah, same. Best advice is to be aware of the limits of the battery chemistry and do what you can (within reason!) to prolong battery life without driving yourself nuts in the process! In very general terms that means: don't leave the battery empty or 100% full for long periods of time if you can help it. ie, if you know you're going to be on vacation for 2 weeks, don't charge it up to 100% right before ya leave, ideally you'd leave it somewhere between 50 and 80%. That being said, if you DO leave it at 100% for 2 weeks once, it just isn't the end of the world - just don't make it a habit.

Individually, these behaviors all have VERY minor affects on the battery - it's the additive affects after years that we're worried about - I think it's important to keep that in mind.

 

@mbezzo 100%

 

Thanks @mbezzo and @Kusala . I guess I'll keep charging it to max and take advantage of the electric range when I'm commuting! Any thoughts on leaving it plugged in after it's done charging? I mostly charge at work but I work at 2 different locations and only one of them has charging so it's kind of hard to accurately set a charging schedule.

 

I'd suspect, as with most electric vehicles, the 450 has systems in place which prevents the battery from getting overcharged. I say this because of the ability to schedule charging times in advance.

 

yeah, that's tough! Just gotta use your best judgement I suppose. My wife carpools when she can - but it's very random because of her differing schedules - so it's basically impossible to plan for. So, yesterday, we knew she was carpooling today - but not if she was driving (this... eludes me but apparently they like to decide last second on who's driving...) SO.. the car was basically empty yesterday evening, so we topped it off to about 80% - which is just enough to get her there and back on battery alone. She ended up not driving... but hey, all good cuz the car isn't sitting at 100%!

So yeah, just gotta kinda figure out things like that and know that it's JUST FINE to leave it at 100% now and then - it is a tool and it is okay to use it. As for leaving it plugged in, I have no data on that because (sadly for us...) we don't have the luxury of a garage and street park - so we definitely do not like to leave that cable out and unplug as soon as we can. The charging rate craters when it is full, so I don't think you're going to hurt it by leaving it plugged in while at work - again, I wouldn't leave it plugged in while going on vacation for 2 weeks... but for a few hours at work - can't see that being a problem.

 

I used all the EV battery range driving around today and it appears that the 450h reserves 25% of its capacity...so it actually never gets to 0.

 

Annoyingly, Lexus removed the function from the latest Android app that could override the next charge cycle time. I was switching the 'Departure Time' setting most days to target a little below 100% just before we were going to leave (varies most days). We also start by going downhill, so pick up a free mile or two on the way down.

The function is still there in the iOS, and I managed to hang on to an older Android app version that still allows it.

Doing it from the app is easy, having to do it from the car is too much of a pain, I'm hoping this was temporary.

 

My work's chargers are all chargepoint chargers and a nice thing about chargepoint that I just discovered is you can see the kW being output to the car. It seems like once my car hit 100% the kW output from the charging station dropped to 0, so it looks like Lexus does cut off the power once the car is fully charged. There's also an option in the chargepoint app to stop charging from the app.

 

I found a quick workaround that brings back the mileage range in the Lexus App while changing. They removed it a few updates ago and now it only shows the % while actively charging.

Try this:

• While charging, stop charging the car from the Chargepoint App
• Check the Lexus App, go to battery %/Range then refresh (might need to do the refresh again)
• You should now see the range in miles and %
• Start charging again from the Chargepoint App, the miles stay displayed and update

I have a Enel X Juicebox charger and use their app, but assume it works the same. Only issue is that I've been pausing charging using this approach recently for several hours and now my charging estimate is much longer than reality.

 

Interesting... Mine stops at 30%. It says 0 km left with 30%.