Folks are quite correct that lithium ion batteries do not like being fully charged to 100% nor discharged to 0%. That will shorten their life. That's why your cell phone battery capacity goes to crap after 2 years. (And why I don't let mine sit on the charger overnight)
However, GM engineers are smart folks and thought of this. On the Volt (I've owned 3, and am waiting on a Bolt order), only the middle 80-something percent of the battery capacity is actually utilized. So at 'full' charge, the underlying battery is only at around 90%. Same at the bottom. Without doing this, there's no way an EV battery would maintain reasonable capacity past 2-3 years. I have to believe that the Bolt behaves the same way.
So in my opinion, don't sweat it, the GM engineers made it idiot proof for folks who aren't as thoughtful as all of us.
That said, as long as the vehicle doesn't need to be plugged in to keep the battery warm, 'manually' limiting charging to 90% may also give you a little longer battery life, as I'm sure GM was dancing on the line of 'what is best for the battery' vs 'how much range can we extract'.
Cheers
However, GM engineers are smart folks and thought of this. On the Volt (I've owned 3, and am waiting on a Bolt order), only the middle 80-something percent of the battery capacity is actually utilized. So at 'full' charge, the underlying battery is only at around 90%. Same at the bottom. Without doing this, there's no way an EV battery would maintain reasonable capacity past 2-3 years. I have to believe that the Bolt behaves the same way.
So in my opinion, don't sweat it, the GM engineers made it idiot proof for folks who aren't as thoughtful as all of us.
That said, as long as the vehicle doesn't need to be plugged in to keep the battery warm, 'manually' limiting charging to 90% may also give you a little longer battery life, as I'm sure GM was dancing on the line of 'what is best for the battery' vs 'how much range can we extract'.
Cheers
