Limiting the maximum amount that a battery can be charged extends its life.
Historically, utilities for this have been provided by the manufacturer (i.e. on Sony and Lenovo). Does Windows 8 or 8.1 provide facilities to do this now for all mobile computers in general?
If not, how can I limit battery charging on my Surface Pro in order to extend its (non-replaceable) battery's life?
I have searched but have found no settings in Windows 8 for battery charging - the battery is designed to charge up to 100%.
Some manufacturers (including Sony and Lenovo) provide a utility which limits the battery from fully charging, but I have not been able to find any such utility by Microsoft for the Surface Pro or for Windows 8 in general. The advanced Power Options seem to be the only available mechanism.
A look at the WMI Win32_Battery class has found that one can consult the battery state or set the desired power state as in Power Options, but not much else.
A visit to the Apps for Windows website has found nothing as regarding battery charging.
It seems to me that unless Microsoft will improve battery-handling in Power Options at some future release, if you wish to stop charging the battery before 100% then your only choice at the moment is to unplug the adapter from the mains.
After much searching for similar capabilities on other devices, I've concluded that both software and firmware (or hardware) support is needed for this to happen. Specifically, that means the vendor must do something.
I've summarized the problem in a post on surfaceforums.net:
Optimizing Battery Health for Surface Pro (2)
Additionally, Microsoft has posted about some of the new features of the Surface Pro 2, including some details about the battery, and I've made a note there about this as well:
What’s new in Surface Pro 2
Starting in Q4 2018, Microsoft has started rolling out a Battery Limit feature for Surface devices, enabled via the UEFI bios:
It is not fully-featured because it setts battery charging to 50% rather than allowing selection of an arbitrary level, but it is better than nothing. The Surface 3 and Pro 3 are the earliest devices to support this.
Dell has a battery manager where it is possible to switch OFF charging completely! Best way to extend battery life span like in the good days where a battery could simply taken out.
Turn Off Battery Charging to Extend Laptop Battery Lifespan : Dell Quickset
