We leased a 2024 EQB 300 with 532 miles 4 months ago, after multiple issues developed with our '17 GLC. We like the EQB, except for the frequency of charging, given the current summer/fall range of ~ 200 miles when charged to 80% capacity. We are charging to that level given the recommended normal maximum for maintaining battery life.

Since we are leasing it, and likely not going to buy it at the end of the lease, I am wondering if it makes more sense to just charge it routinely to 90 or 100%. I would appreciate any input from the forum.

If we were going to purchase it at lease end, I would just continue to treat it as if we were planning on keeping it for a long time, however that approach doesn't make sense to us given the pace of battery range improvements both near and longer term. It appears that we may end up with a GLC-electric (or whatever clumsy name they come up with when it arrives in the US) in 20 months when our lease is up. We have just one car as we are retired, and most of our driving is local or on day trips.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

 

One of the big issues for lithium battery longevity is the combination of high temperatures and high charge levels for extended periods of time. (And even 100% is not really 100% as there is a small buffer of capacity reserved.) A related, but slightly different issue is the rate of charging as slower AC (Level 2) charging is better than fast (DC) charging (Level 1).

So....we also leased our EQB and started off only charging to 80% for the above reasons, but during the depths of winter in Minnesota the range drops off a cliff so we routinely charge to 100% seasonly. We have not given it a second thought given the ambient temperatures and only charging at home. We still charge to 80% the rest of the year, just because that’s good enough for us.

IMHO, if you have no plans to buy the EQB, just go ahead and charge as needed for your purposes. Battery health could be a factor in resale value, but it’s not your problem and battery health can be determined by a future buyer.

 

Are you really driving over 200 miles a day on local trips? And are you not able to charge overnight at home? Seems that you are in an odd situation.

One of the other reasons not to charge above 80% is the extra time required as the charge rate falls off a cliff around 80% charge.

 

When charging to 80%, the predicted range is ~ 200 miles as I mentioned in the original post . We drive about 720 miles per month. And we can charge at home (although still working thru the $1K allowance from MB at public charging stations like EA). If we go on longer trips, we will rent an ICE vehicle, to keep the mileage total within the lease max.

 

I charge my leased EQB to 100%. Resale value or battery longevity is MB's problem-- not mine.I imagine MB will be stuck with these lease returns and will just dump them cheaply anyway.

 

Charge the way it suits you best and don't worry about battery degradation. Enjoy your ride. It is very unlikely that the residual value plus the buyout fee will be less than market value at the end of the lease in 2028.

 

Yah, same as everyone else. Charge away to 100% if you don't plan to keep it. Based on your stated modest driving needs, I don't think it is necessary, but if it makes you more comfortable go ahead. It is so easy to plug in in your garage, but do what works best for you.

 

Thanks everyone! I will start to charge it up to 100% .

Already looking ahead to June '27 when the lease is up and getting another model with better range. If I had my way it would be a CPO 2024 or 2025 EQS model, yet my spouse likes the smaller size of the EQB, so it might be the new GLC EV model. She liked the size of the GLC 300. I miss my ML250 and its range ;-)

 

You are driving about 24 miles per day. At that rate, you could plug the car into your existing 120V socket (which would be level 1 charging) each night and be fine. It will recover all the battery you expended in less than 8 hours charging. No need for fast charging at all, and you certainly never need to charge to 100% at that usage. Save your time and just charge to 80%.

When I first got my EV I was concerned about range, but as I used the car, which I drive significantly farther than you do each month, I found that charging once or twice a week was not a problem. I only charge to 80% and found a charging location that allowed me to do some shopping and other tasks at the same time as I was charging. In fact, I frequently found I had to rush because the car finished charging before I was done with my tasks. I had to hurry to avoid idle fees - charging did not cost anything as I had free charging for two years.

Since you use less than 12% of the car's range a day and can charge every day at home at level 1 (or possibly level 2 if you have a handy dryer socket), or once a week at level 3, you will never need the small additional distance you get when charging to 100%. You are doubling your charge time to get perhaps 50 miles of additional range. Not worth it.

The hardest thing for me to learn was that I did not need to charge to 80% every time I charged; I was so used to filling the gas tank to full in my ICE cars that I did not think about what I really needed with the EV and the two years free charging. The free charging is based on a timed session, not the energy put into the battery. If I exceeded the time, then I paid a hefty fee (64¢/kWh) for the remaining energy to go to 80%. It was better for me to stop charging at the session time limit no matter the charge level than to keep charging to 80% and pay a fee. I might need to charge again one day earlier, but since I went near the charge station every day, it didn't matter.
Once the free charging ended, the picture was slightly different. It is far less expensive to charge at home every night than to charge at a DCFC station. I could have used the 120V outlets in my garage (using the dryer outlet was not an option due to the layout of the house) and an occasional DCFC, but since adding a 50A circuit and level 2 EVSE was trivial I went that route. Now, the car is charged to 80% every morning - I needed the level 2 circuit as I drive more than you do per day on average, so would have needed more than eight hours on a level 1 EVSE.

 

Ehildum, MB changed the free charging offer when we leased our EQB to a choice of 1) a free MB wall charger or 2) the $1K allowance at Electrify America and other select non-Tesla charging stations. Fortunately we have several EA chargers nearby, plus some (unreliable) EVgo stations (and many more Tesla stations).

We installed an Emporia charger at home (heavily incentivized by the utility) and we are using up the $1K MB charging allowance. The MB wall charger was apparently heavily backordered when we leased the car, per the dealer, so it worked out for us to have the dual option of home charging and the $1K allowance. By charging to 100% rather than 80%, I will just go less frequently to the EA chargers. So that will be worth it to me. At home, yeah, it doesn't matter that much, and the Emporia charger is great.

 

Charge to 100 as you're not keeping it. Also with the recall, you're probably not charging to 100 every time as they reduced the maximum.

With mine we charged to 100 every week and drive till under 10%.