BatteryBasics

Somebody asked for a short easy to understand "what/not to do to the batteries" post.

Batteries for dummies: the short version of what not to do.
(look at previous posts for details):

There are basically two ways to shorten the life of your battery pack by a bunch
1. Always charge to 100% and then let it sit around for days, especially when it's hot out.
2. Run it dead every time. Drive until the range shows '---' on a regular basis.

And another couple ways to shorten it's life a little bit:
3. If you have ChaDeMo fast charging use it all the time. Every charge if possible.
4. Never let it charge all the way. (yes I know, seems to conflict with #1 but the key parts are 'always' and 'let it sit in the heat at 100% for days')
Note: We're really only talking about chewing off an extra 10-20% of the battery capacity here, absent an actual cell failure. Some folks would barely notice...

OK smart guy, so what --should-- I do?
      Well for starters, if you know you're going to need something close to max range, especially in the cold rainy winter, go ahead and charge to 100% (16 bars on an iMiev, 12 ona Leaf). It's considerably less damaging to have it sit at 100% (especially when cold) than to run it flat and drag home in turtle mode.
      It's actually good to get it fully charged every 2-4 weeks since the battery balancing system works during that last hour of charge, Just try not to let it sit out in the hot at 100% for long periods on a regular basis.
      Every several (6?) months you should run it down to 'two bars' (iMiev) on the battery display (Leaf: when it just starts flashing, around 14 miles remaining?) and then charge it to 100%. It resets the battery/range assumptions in the controller.
      If you have it, use fast charging on long trips or when away from home. Just not all the time, eh?

Most of the time just try and keep it between 4 bars and 14 bars (iMiev) 2 up from the bottom and 2 down from the top on a Leaf on the battery meter. Sure you can go slightly more in each direction regularly with no -real- problem, but that's not giving yourself much error room.
....AND.... don't stress about it!