Top 19 'Kilowatt-Kindness' Battery Health Habits to maintain for maximizing your EV's range in 2025 - Goh Ling Yong
Welcome to 2025! The electric vehicle revolution is no longer a distant hum on the horizon; it's the quiet, powerful reality in our driveways. Whether you're a seasoned EV veteran or just unwrapped the keys to your first all-electric ride, one question unites us all: How do I get the most range out of this battery and make it last for years to come?
The sticker range is a great starting point, but the real-world miles you achieve depend on a symphony of factors, with your habits playing the role of the conductor. Treating your EV's battery with a little 'Kilowatt-Kindness' isn't just about squeezing out a few extra kilometres on a road trip; it's about preserving the heart of your vehicle, slowing degradation, and maximizing its value and performance over its entire lifespan.
Think of your battery not as a simple fuel tank, but as a sophisticated piece of technology that thrives on balance. Here on the Goh Ling Yong blog, we believe in empowering owners with knowledge. That's why we've compiled the ultimate list of 19 battery health habits. These aren't complex engineering feats; they are simple, actionable steps you can integrate into your daily routine to ensure your 2025 EV serves you faithfully for many years and many kilometres.
1. Embrace the 20-80% Sweet Spot
Just like us, lithium-ion batteries don't enjoy being in states of extreme stress. Keeping your battery constantly charged to 100% or letting it frequently drop to near 0% puts significant strain on the battery cells. This accelerates degradation, which is the gradual loss of the battery's ability to hold a charge. The sweet spot for daily driving is maintaining a state of charge (SoC) between 20% and 80%.
Most modern EVs make this incredibly easy. You can set a charging limit directly in your vehicle's infotainment system or through its companion app. For your daily commute, set the limit to 80%. This simple habit is arguably the single most effective thing you can do for long-term battery health. Only charge to 100% when you know you need the absolute maximum range for a long road trip, and try to start your journey soon after it finishes charging.
2. Slow and Steady Wins the Race (AC Charging is Your Best Friend)
Fast is not always better, especially when it comes to battery chemistry. While DC fast chargers are a lifesaver on long journeys, they pump a massive amount of power into your battery very quickly, generating significant heat. Heat is the number one enemy of battery longevity. For your regular, day-to-day charging needs, Level 2 AC charging (the kind you'd have installed at home or find at many workplaces and shopping centres) is the gold standard.
This slower, gentler charging method produces far less heat, putting minimal stress on the battery cells. Think of it as the difference between sipping water throughout the day versus chugging a gallon in two minutes. One is sustainable and healthy; the other is a shock to the system. Make overnight AC charging your default routine.
3. Use DC Fast Charging Strategically, Not Daily
Following on from the previous point, it's crucial to view DC fast chargers as a tool for a specific job: enabling long-distance travel. Relying on them for your daily "fill-ups" is like exclusively eating energy bars for every meal. It works, but it's not ideal for long-term health. The high temperatures and voltages involved in rapid charging contribute more significantly to battery degradation over time.
When you do use a DC fast charger on a road trip, a great pro-tip is to charge only as much as you need to comfortably reach your next stop or your destination. Often, charging from 20% to 70% is much faster than waiting for that last slog from 80% to 100%, as charging speeds taper off dramatically to protect the battery.
4. Schedule Your Charging for Smarter Power
Your EV is a smart device on wheels, so use its intelligence! Most electric vehicles allow you to schedule your charging sessions. This is beneficial for two key reasons. First, you can set it to charge during off-peak electricity hours, often late at night, which can save you a significant amount of money on your utility bill.
Second, it allows the car’s Battery Management System (BMS) to work its magic. By telling the car your departure time, it can intelligently manage the charging session. It might charge part of the way, pause, and then resume to hit your 80% target just before you're ready to leave. This process can also be timed with battery preconditioning (more on that later), ensuring the battery is at its optimal operating temperature when you unplug.
5. Don't Let it Linger at 100% (or 0%)
If you absolutely must charge to 100% for a big trip, time it so the charging session finishes as close to your departure time as possible. Letting an EV sit for hours or days at a 100% state of charge is highly stressful for the battery chemistry. The same is true for the other extreme; never leave your car parked for an extended period with a nearly empty battery.
If your car is going to be sitting unused for a week or more (for example, if you're on vacation), the ideal state of charge to leave it in is around 50-60%. This is the most stable state for the battery cells, ensuring minimal capacity loss while it's parked.
6. Master the Art of One-Pedal Driving
One of the most magical features of an EV is regenerative braking. When you lift your foot off the accelerator, the electric motor essentially runs in reverse, using the car's momentum to generate electricity and send it back to the battery. This not only recaptures energy that would be lost as heat in a traditional car's brakes but also saves wear and tear on your brake pads.
Most EVs offer adjustable levels of regenerative braking, with the strongest setting often enabling "one-pedal driving." It takes a little getting used to, but once you master it, you can handle most of your slowing and stopping just by modulating the accelerator. It's more efficient, smoother, and a genuinely satisfying way to drive.
7. Be a Smooth Operator
Your driving style has a direct and immediate impact on your range. Jack-rabbit starts and aggressive acceleration may be fun, but they draw a massive amount of power from the battery. Likewise, slamming on the brakes at the last second means you're using the friction brakes instead of giving the regenerative braking system time to work.
Cultivate a smooth driving style. Anticipate the flow of traffic, look far ahead, and aim for gentle acceleration and gradual deceleration. This not only maximizes your range but also makes for a much more comfortable and safer ride for you and your passengers.
8. Respect the Laws of Physics: Mind Your Speed
There's no getting around it: aerodynamic drag is a major consumer of energy, and it increases exponentially with speed. The difference in energy consumption between driving at 100 km/h and 120 km/h is not 20%—it's significantly more. On the highway, slowing down by just 5-10 km/h can often add 20, 30, or even more kilometres to your total range.
When you're not in a hurry, sticking to the speed limit or cruising just below it is a simple way to make a big difference. This is especially critical in cold weather or when driving into a strong headwind, as these conditions already reduce your efficiency.
9. Use Cruise Control Wisely
Adaptive cruise control is a fantastic feature for reducing driver fatigue on long, flat stretches of highway. By maintaining a constant speed, it can be more efficient than a human foot that is constantly making micro-adjustments.
However, on hilly or rolling terrain, cruise control can be less efficient. It will often aggressively apply power to maintain speed up a hill, whereas a human driver might ease off slightly and allow the speed to dip a little, saving energy. Pay attention to the terrain and be ready to take over from the cruise control when you know you can drive more efficiently yourself.
10. Tire Pressure is Your Secret Range-Booster
This habit is as old as the automobile itself, but it's even more critical for EVs. Your tires are the only connection to the road, and their rolling resistance has a direct effect on your energy consumption. Underinflated tires create more friction, forcing the motor to work harder to move the car forward.
Check your tire pressure at least once a month (and before any long road trip) and inflate them to the manufacturer's recommended PSI, which you can find on a sticker inside the driver's door jamb. Properly inflated tires are crucial for safety, handling, and getting every last kilometre of range from your battery.
11. Seek Thermal Shelter: Park Smart
Your EV's battery, much like a human, has a preferred temperature range where it operates most efficiently. Extreme heat and extreme cold are its nemeses. In the sweltering summer months, the battery's cooling system will have to work overtime to keep it from overheating, both while driving and while parked. In the freezing winter, a cold battery is sluggish and can't deliver its full power or range.
Whenever possible, park in the shade on hot days or in a garage during both summer and winter. This simple act of seeking shelter reduces the amount of work the car's thermal management system has to do, which saves energy and reduces long-term stress on the battery pack.
12. Precondition Your Cabin (and Battery) While Plugged In
One of the biggest auxiliary power draws in an EV is the climate control system. Blasting the heat on a frigid morning can slash your range significantly. The brilliant solution is preconditioning. While your car is still plugged into the charger, you can use the app to turn on the heat or AC.
This uses power from the grid—not your battery—to get the cabin to a comfortable temperature. As a bonus, this process also warms or cools the battery itself, bringing it into its ideal operating temperature range before you even start driving. A happy, warm battery is an efficient battery. A few minutes of preconditioning can save you a surprising amount of range.
13. Lighten the Load
It’s simple physics: the heavier the car, the more energy it takes to get it moving and keep it moving. While you can't change the car's base weight, you can control what you carry inside it. Don't treat your trunk like a mobile storage unit. Remove any heavy, unnecessary items like golf clubs, toolboxes, or sports equipment if you're not using them on that trip.
The same goes for external accessories. A roof rack or cargo box can be incredibly useful, but it also creates a huge amount of aerodynamic drag, severely impacting your range, especially at highway speeds. When you're not using it, take it off.
14. Get to Know Your 'Eco Mode'
That 'Eco Mode' button isn't just a decoration. Engaging it typically makes several adjustments to your car's behaviour to prioritize efficiency. It will often dampen the throttle response, encouraging smoother acceleration. It may also reduce the power sent to the climate control system, finding a more efficient balance between comfort and energy use.
Using Eco Mode for your daily city driving is a fantastic habit to get into. You'll barely notice the difference in performance for stop-and-go traffic, but you'll definitely see the positive impact on your range estimate. Save 'Sport Mode' for when you really want to enjoy the instant torque.
15. Be Smart About Climate Control
As mentioned, heating the entire cabin of a car is very energy-intensive, especially in EVs that don't have a traditional engine producing waste heat. If it's just you in the car on a chilly day, using the heated seats and heated steering wheel can keep you perfectly comfortable while using a fraction of the energy required by the main cabin heater.
Think of it as targeted heating. Warming yourself directly is far more efficient than trying to warm all the air and surfaces around you. In the summer, using the ventilated seats (if your car has them) can also help you feel cooler without having to run the AC at full blast.
16. Monitor Your Battery's State of Health (SOH)
While State of Charge (SoC) is how full your battery is right now, State of Health (SOH) is its long-term capacity relative to when it was new. All batteries degrade over time, but by following these habits, you can dramatically slow that process. Many EVs will show you a basic battery health indicator in their menus.
For those who want more data, a simple OBD2 (On-Board Diagnostics) dongle paired with a smartphone app (like A Better Routeplanner or Power Cruise Control) can give you incredibly detailed insights into your battery's SOH, cell temperatures, and more. Watching this number stay high over the years is the ultimate reward for your Kilowatt-Kindness.
17. Don't Skip Your Software Updates
Your EV is more like a smartphone than a traditional car. Manufacturers are constantly refining the software that controls everything from the infotainment to, most importantly, the Battery Management System (BMS). These over-the-air (OTA) updates can include improvements to charging algorithms, thermal management, and efficiency calculations.
A software update can genuinely unlock better performance and longevity from the exact same hardware. As a long-time EV enthusiast and writer for the Goh Ling Yong community, I've seen firsthand how updates can improve charging speeds and even add a few kilometres of usable range. Always install them when they become available.
18. Plan Your Routes Intelligently
Range anxiety is much less of an issue in 2025, but smart planning is still a key habit. Before a long trip, use an EV-specific mapping tool like A Better Routeplanner (ABRP) or your car's built-in navigation system. These tools do more than just find chargers.
They account for factors like elevation changes (going uphill takes a lot of energy!), ambient temperature, and even your planned cruising speed to give you a much more accurate prediction of your battery usage. This lets you plan charging stops with confidence and avoids the stressful situation of desperately searching for a charger with only 5% battery remaining.
19. Follow the "Vacation Mode" Protocol
If you're going to be leaving your EV parked for an extended period (a week or longer), don't just leave it plugged in or parked with a low battery. The best practice is to charge it to a "storage" level, which is typically between 50% and 60%.
This middle-ground state of charge is the most chemically stable for the battery cells and will result in the least amount of degradation while it sits idle. Check your owner's manual for any specific long-term storage recommendations. When you return, you'll still have plenty of charge to get going, and your battery will be much happier for it.
Your Battery's Best Life Starts Today
There you have it—19 habits that form the foundation of 'Kilowatt-Kindness.' They aren't burdensome rules but rather a mindset shift towards working with your EV's technology, not against it. By adopting these practices, you're not just maximizing your daily range; you're making a long-term investment in the health, performance, and value of your vehicle.
Treating your battery with care ensures that your EV will continue to deliver the performance and freedom you love for hundreds of thousands of kilometres to come. It’s about driving smarter, not harder, and enjoying the journey with complete peace of mind.
Now it's your turn. What are your go-to battery-saving habits or range-extending tips? Share your best advice in the comments below and let's help the entire EV community drive further, together
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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