[Bruce Tanner]

As far as I know I don't think keeping it plugged in or not has much effect on battery life. In fact, charging frequently when the battery is only slight depleted could possibly have a detrimental effect as it keeps the battery at full (or as near as the car allows) but I have heard that it makes little difference so not 100% sure of this one.

I think this is precisely why the car doesn't charge to full or discharge to empty. In fact hats off to GM engineering for not succumbing to the inevitable marketing pressures to allow a near-100% charge/discharge and claiming a much larger range, and also for not allowing fast charging for the same reason. The same cannot be said of some other EV manufacturers. A few years down the line we will be thankful!

 

[Bruce Tanner]

You will know more than me about Lithium Ion batteries in EVs - I'm an electronics repair engineer and my comments were based on experience with Lithium Ion power tools, which often do not last long and are fast-charged, and general (mis?-)conceptions in the world of electronics engineering. But did find on wikipedia:

A federal class action lawsuit was filed by a California Leaf owner accusing Nissan of concealing in its advertising that its Leaf vehicles have a design defect that causes them to prematurely lose battery life and driving range. The class action suit says that “before purchase or lease, Nissan failed to disclose its own recommendations that owners avoid charging the battery beyond 80% in order to mitigate battery damage and failed to disclose that Nissan’s estimated 100 mile range was based on a full charge battery, which is contrary to Nissan’s own recommendation for battery charging.”

Idon't know where this 80% charge recommendation comes from - you will know more than me.

Paul as a matter of interest, do you know if other EVs have the battery heating/cooling capability of the Ampera?

Speaking personally there is one other thing that would stop me purchasing an i3: looks!