4 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Li-Ion Batteries

 oday, Lithium-ion batteries are all the rage. Different types of devices use them, such as EVs, power tools, laptops, and smartphones, just to name a few. Since they are commonly used in mobile devices, people are looking for ways to prolong their life. At the University of Michigan, experts studied a lot of user manuals and papers to know about best practices when it comes to using Li-ion batteries. Read on to know more.

1. Don't Expose them to Extremely Low or High Temperatures

Prolonged exposure to high temperatures can make every battery degrade a lot faster. Besides, they may cause these units to catch fire and explode. If your cellphone or laptop is too hot, make sure it's not plugged in.

In the case of EVs, all manufacturers suggest that their vehicles shouldn't be exposed to high temperatures. Some of them suggest that EVs must be parked in the shade and shouldn't be plugged in when it's hot outside.

In cold weather, it's better to plug in the car to allow the battery heater to work on the grid power.

2. Avoid Too Low or Too High Charge

If you keep the battery extremely low or absolutely full, you put a lot of stress on your batteries. Ideally, you may want to store your battery when it's 80% of the charge left. As an alternative, you should unplug your smartphone the moment it hits 100%.

The smartphone giants LG and Samsung that their smartphone should be plugged in as soon as the battery charge drops to 20%. Similarly, Sony and Nokia revealed that their phones may get damaged if they are left on charge even after the battery is fully charged.

Similarly, the majority of laptops stop charging when the battery is 100% charged, and they resume charging once the battery level drops to 95%.

3. Don't use Fast Chargers

If you want to reduce the discharge rate, you can close power-hungry apps, disable location services, and lower screen brightness. If you have a wireless power tool, don't store it with the batteries in it. Similarly, using fast chargers will reduce the life of the battery significantly.

Plus, using these chargers won't make the battery last longer. In fact, if you use regular chargers, your battery will last much longer on a single charge. Therefore, there is no use in charging with fast chargers.

4. Don't Store the Battery in Moist Environments

Generally, battery degradation is of two types: power fade and capacity fade. Power fade refers to a reduction in power the battery offers. On the other, capacity fade refers to a reduction in the power a battery pack can store.