Battery Care

In Version 1.3 and below it is called “Battery Features”.

The purpose of battery care on laptops is to reduce the loss of capacity due to wear from ongoing battery operation i.e. to prolongate the battery lifespan. This can be achieved by:

  1. Limiting the maximum charge level to below 100%: stop charge threshold

  2. After a short discharge, prevent the charging process from continuing as soon as the charger is connected: start charge threshold

  3. Recalibration: helps keeping charge level (SOC) readings and battery runtime estimates accurate by setting new “full charge” and “full discharge” anchors in the battery controller

Battery care does not comprise additional power saving.

See also

  • The level of battery care support as well as battery names and allowed charge threshold values depend on laptop vendor or brand, Linux kernel version and TLP version - consult Battery Care Vendor Specifics for details

  • For further advice please visit the FAQ: Battery Care

START/STOP_CHARGE_THRESH_BATx

START_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT0=75
STOP_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT0=80

START_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT1=75
STOP_CHARGE_THRESH_BAT1=80

Set battery charge thresholds for main/internal battery BAT0 and auxiliary/Ultrabay battery BAT1:

  • Charging starts when connecting the charger, but only if the battery charge level is below the start charge threshold (START_CHARGE_THRESH_BATx); it will not charge when the level is above the start charge threshold

  • Charging stops when reaching the stop charge threshold (STOP_CHARGE_TRESH_BATx)

  • Thresholds always go with a lower usable battery capacity, therefore the settings are disabled by default and must be enabled explicitly by removing the leading #

Important

You must always specify both charge thresholds - start and stop - for a battery, otherwise TLP will ignore the setting completely (and up to version 1.3.1 silently). If you want to apply only one threshold (or your hardware does support only one), then use the value 0 to skip the other one.

RESTORE_THRESHOLDS_ON_BAT

RESTORE_THRESHOLDS_ON_BAT=1

Restore configured charge thresholds when AC is unplugged:

  • 0 – disable

  • 1 – enable

Default when unconfigured: 0

Hint: after the commands tlp fullcharge/recalibrate the charge thresholds will stay at the vendor specific defaults until the next reboot. Use this feature to restore them prematurely.

NATACPI/TPACPI/TPSMAPI_ENABLE

NATACPI_ENABLE=1
TPACPI_ENABLE=1
TPSMAPI_ENABLE=1

Control battery care drivers:

  • 0 – disable

  • 1 – enable

Default when unconfigured: 1 (all)

Scope:

  • NATACPI: all supported laptops

  • TPACPI_ENABLE, TPSMAPI_ENABLE: ThinkPad specific