What does SoC (State of Charge) mean?

Explanation

State of charge is simply your battery percentage. When your car dashboard shows 65%, that means 65% of the usable battery capacity has energy in it. You will see SoC on your car's dashboard, on the charger screen during a session, and in most charging apps.

SoC is important because charging speed changes depending on where your battery percentage sits. Most EVs charge fastest between 10% and 50% SoC, then the speed gradually decreases as the battery fills up. Charging from 80% to 100% can take almost as long as charging from 10% to 80%. This is why most charging advice says to charge to 80% on road trips and move on.

Your car may show a slightly different SoC percentage than the charger screen. This is normal. The car and charger communicate constantly, but they may calculate and display the percentage differently. Trust your car's reading as the primary source.

Read more at International Energy Agency.

Where you'll see this

• On the charger screen
• On your car dashboard
• In charging network apps

Common confusion

People often think their car is broken when charging slows down above 80%. This is completely normal. The battery management system reduces power to protect the battery as it fills up.

Example

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