Lithium-ion batteries have greatly advanced since it’s inception and made favourable changes to all industries across the globe, increasing the lifespan, performance and longevity of all the energy requiring elements we build.
However as the importance of lithium-ion batteries have grown, the practice of care and how we use these resources are not quite there yet. Batteries work better in certain parameters – including temperatures, voltages and depth of discharge (DoD) cycles.
“Similar to a mechanical device that wears out faster with heavy use, the depth of discharge (DoD) determines the cycle count of the battery.” – Battery University
Manufacturers take a certain approach by limiting the number of life cycles ranging from 500 – 800 cycles for larger smartphone batteries and reducing the number to 300 cycles for smaller consumer electronic devices such as smart watches.
Simply put – how heavily we use our batteries before recharging it again is a key contributing factor to how fast we wear out our batteries. The smaller the depth of discharge (DoD) the longer the battery will last.
Here’s why,
Capacity is everything.
At 100% DoD, the user would use their battery all the way from 100%-0% and then recharge it back up, by following this practice the battery will be at 70% capacity after 600 cycles, meaning after two years our batteries would have used up over 1/4 of our batteries capacity.
At 20% DoD, the user would use his battery from 100% to about 80% and recharge it all the way back to 100%, by following this practice the battery will be at 70% capacity after 9000 cycles!
The math
100% DoD = 100% of power consumed per day.
20% DoD = 5 x 20% top-ups consumed per day OR 100% of power consumed per day
20% DoD / 100% DoD x 9,000 cycles = 1,800 cycles.
1,800 cycles / 365 days = 5.14 years
“Increasing the healthy battery years from 2 years following normal practices, to 5 years following 20% top-ups. 1,800 to 600 cycles — that’s tripling your “good battery capacity” years.” – Tyton Energy Co
Making impractical practices, practical.
We agree. How could we charge our smart phones every moment our batteries drop by 20%, there are no charging outlets everywhere or wireless chargers in every corner we arrive at. As a matter of fact, it’s extremely difficult to keep doing it as we’re constantly on the move and being stationery to charge our phones for a quick 20% top-up would not be an unpleasant routine to follow.
That’s why we’ve developed Daily cycles; Daily 10’s (80% – 90%) and Daily 20’s (70% – 90%) to create an easy way for you to effortlessly adapt healthy battery practices to your daily routine and while altogether keeping our smartphone automatically active for an easier day moving forward.