Ownership · Charging Guide

EV Charging Tips: How To ChargeNMC and LFP Batteries The Right Way.

Most of the stress around EVs is actually about charging. How often, how much, and whether a normal 15A socket is enough. The answers depend a lot on your battery chemistry and your daily running, not on fancy hardware.

1. First step: know your battery chemistry

Most Indian EVs today use either a nickel-based battery (NMC / NCA) or an LFP battery (lithium iron phosphate). They behave differently when it comes to charging, so the rules are different.

Nickel-based packs do not like sitting at 100% state of charge for long periods. Multiple studies and OEM guides suggest keeping daily charge limits around 80–90% to reduce long-term stress on these cells, because high voltage and high temperature together accelerate aging significantly.

LFP packs are more relaxed. They can handle high state of charge better, and brands like Tesla explicitly say 100% daily charge is fine for LFP cars and even recommended regularly for cell balancing. Technical guides on LiFePO₄ also note that full charges help the BMS keep individual cells in sync.

2. NMC vs LFP: ideal daily charge bands

Putting this into simple rules you can follow:

NMC / NCA packs

  • • Daily use: keep the car mostly between roughly 20% and 80%.
  • • Set a charge limit around 80–90% in the app or infotainment.
  • • Go to 100% only when you actually need the full range.
  • • Try not to leave the car parked at 0% or 100% for days.

LFP packs

  • • Daily 90–100% is fine for most use cases.
  • • A full 100% charge once in a while helps the pack balance cells.
  • • LFP can tolerate high SoC better, but avoiding extreme heat still helps.
  • • Check the owner’s manual; many LFP cars simply say “charge to 100%”.

These patterns match OEM advice and field experience: nickel-based packs are usually limited to around 80–90% for daily use, whereas LFP packs are designed for regular 100% charging, especially for proper BMS calibration.

3. Why a simple 15A plug is enough for most people

In India, a standard 15A socket or basic 3.3 kW AC charger is already considered a proper EV “slow” charger. It is the same kind of outlet you use for heavy appliances. These sockets are rated around 16 A at 230 V, which is about 3.3 kW of power, and many certified EV smart sockets and AC001 chargers are designed exactly around this limit.

If you plug in overnight for around 8–10 hours, a 3.3 kW charger will comfortably push roughly 20–30 units of energy into the car. Real-world Indian EVs, like Tiago.ev, Nexon.ev, Creta EV and others, typically give somewhere between 6 and 8 km per kWh in mixed driving, depending on size and driving style. Even if you assume just 5 km per kWh to be safe, those 20–25 units already give you well over 100 km of usable range every night.

For a normal office commuter doing 30–60 km a day, this is more than enough. You plug the car in after dinner, it slowly charges while you sleep, and you wake up with a full battery for your daily band.

4. AC wallbox (7.2 kW) vs 15A socket

Many manufacturers and dealers push a 7.2 kW AC wallbox as an “upgrade”. These units can be ₹30,000–₹50,000 or more in India, depending on brand and installation. They roughly halve the AC charging time compared to a 3.3 kW plug, but that does not mean every driver needs one.

15A / 3.3 kW makes sense if

  • • You have private parking with a reliable socket.
  • • Your daily running is under ~100 km on most days.
  • • Long trips are occasional, not every second day.
  • • You are okay leaving the car to charge overnight.

Upgrade to 7.2 kW wallbox if

  • • You regularly do back-to-back long highway trips.
  • • You return late at night and need a full battery again by morning.
  • • Multiple EVs share the same parking spot and socket.
  • • You simply do not have 8–10 free hours to charge at night.

For a single EV in a typical Indian household, the default 15A or 3.3 kW charger is usually enough. The wallbox is mainly a convenience feature for people doing high mileage with very tight turnaround times.

5. What about long road trips?

The main worry people have is: “If I reach home late after a long trip and only have a slow 15A charger, will I be stuck the next day?”

In practice, long road trips already involve DC fast charging on the highway. You will reach home with some usable charge left, not at 0%. If you then plug into a 3.3 kW charger overnight for 8–10 hours, you gain enough additional range for your regular office commute the next day. This is true even for heavier SUVs as long as your daily run is in the 40–80 km band.

You only truly need an AC wallbox if your lifestyle regularly looks like: “Long highway day, come home late, and again 200+ km early next morning”. Most people doing that are fleet or taxi operators, not average city users.