90% the new recommended SOC?

[Vintre]

RTFM (The part of the battery section IN UPPER CASE LIKE THIS) then come back and tell us the answer.

Really, how many times can this same question be asked? Even if someone doesn’t RTFM, don’t they read this forum or justpost?

I see you had an early VIN Model S and have an early VIN Model 3 and over 7,000 posts and a member since 2013. A long time owner. Good for you.

I am a new owner and excited about the vehicle. I join forums like this so that I can learn as much as I can and access the knowledge of people like you.

I did read the manual but without the expletive you use. It says to keep the car plugged in. Doesn't answer my question though, but thanks.

You have a real opportunity as a long time owner and active poster to be a Mentor to newbies like me. Why don't you look that up and come back to tell us what you find.

Maybe, you just need a break from the forum.

Vin

 

[TheDom]

I did read the manual but without the expletive you use. It says to keep the car plugged in. Doesn't answer my question though, but thanks.

Vin

Yes it did. It says plug it in, which means charge it whenever you get home. Just plug it in and don't worry about it is the official Tesla recommendation.

 

[SigNC]

@Vintre Welcome to the forums and tesla ownership. The more you hang around you will find that @TexasEV is kinda like a surely clint eastwood character sitting on his front porch complaining about everybody around him being lazy. He is however full of knowledge and will give it to you unfiltered. I find it quite entertaining once you know what to expect

 

[woodisgood]

We've been doing 30 to 80% every weeknight with charging on a 30A circuit (24A actual), car charges to 247 or 248. Now have 10K miles/4 months, so very similar to Kim's car in the video. Will try charging to 100% for the first time this weekend and see what we can get to.

I suspect, and this is kind of reading between the lines because I don't think she explicitly stated this unless it's in the comments somewhere, part of the issue in the video above was not just that they were charging to 70%, but also that the discharges were shallow. In other words, if every time you charge you're going from 60 to 70% or 50 to 70%, it's a lot more confusing for the car's interpretation of its battery capacity than if you're going from, say, 30 to 70%.

 

[Vintre]

@Vintre Welcome to the forums and tesla ownership. The more you hang around you will find that @TexasEV is kinda like a surely clint eastwood character sitting on his front porch complaining about everybody around him being lazy. He is however full of knowledge and will give it to you unfiltered. I find it quite entertaining once you know what to expect

SigNC,

Thanks for that. As I said I join forums to be able to talk to people with knowledge deeper than mine so that I can learn.

I am an active member on other forums and we have people like you describe.

Takes all kinds to make a village.

Vin

 

[derotam]

Hell All,

I have a Model 3 LR and love it!

So I am sold on the 90% SOC when charging.

What I am confused about is when to start the charging.

My daily commute, round trip, is around 25%.

At what point do you think I should recharge to 90%? When I am at 75%? 50%? or other?

Many thanks in advance,

Vin

Though you didn't like the answer you got, you got the official recommendation from Tesla.

Now, here is another take...being it is winter time, and if you are concerned with having full regen and full available capacity when you leave in the morning.. set your charge rate/time to start charge so that your car will still be charging or will have very recently finished by the time you leave in the morning. This will ensure that the battery is fully warm.

 

[skhenry81]

I've been doing this from day 1. Tesla Toronto advised me to charge to 90% during orientation.

 

[Eno Deb]

I suspect, and this is kind of reading between the lines because I don't think she explicitly stated this unless it's in the comments somewhere, part of the issue in the video above was not just that they were charging to 70%, but also that the discharges were shallow. In other words, if every time you charge you're going from 60 to 70% or 50 to 70%, it's a lot more confusing for the car's interpretation of its battery capacity than if you're going from, say, 30 to 70%.

You can't really generalize from an individual case. I've been charging to 70% with fairly shallow discharges (usually around 30 miles worth) daily since I got my car, only charging to 90+% and discharging deeper on the occasional long trip. My rated range has been spot on since firmware 42.x fixed the estimator. I will continue doing this since all the available research on batteries with lithium chemistry as well as opinions from experts associated with Tesla (such as Jeff Dahn) suggest that keeping the battery in a moderate SoC is best for longevity. Of course, this should not come at the cost of convenience, so if you need more range daily, you should not feel bad about charging to a higher SoC. In my case, 70% (~215 miles) is more than enough for my daily needs, and I can quickly charge up to 90+ for longer trips, so I'll follow the expert advice.

 

[Big Dog]

I just watched this video. Battery charging recommendations seem to have changed to charge to 90% daily from Elon?

Need to work on those critical reading and listening skills, Dad.

 

[BobAbooey]

Most of us know the 30 - 80% recommendation from Elon, as well as what is reinforced from Jeffrey Dahn in regards to charging behaviors and battery chemistry.

Seems recommendations have shifted, and Elon is saying with 2170 chemistry 90% SoC is acceptable vs what was previously stated.

Thoughts?

I charge 90%. I know someday I’m going to be glad I had that extra mileage. I don’t worry that much about the battery health unless your going to run the car into the ground... i’ll probably keep mine around four/five years or maybe less .

 

[Kichwas]

There’s a lot of stuff I have read the manual for but I still like to talk about.

I am a software developer and a Star Trek geek so my analogy is pretty geeky...

Next Gen episode where Jordie uses a hologram of the engineer that designed the ship to help solve an issue. Jordie is a mechanic like me, and all Star Trek Engineer characters... got a problem; bang it with awrench and chat about it. The designer he summons is like the girlfriend of my best friend: read the manual, look at the blueprint, if that doesn’t fix it your data is wrong and you are imagining the problem... (OK my mechanic-bias there...)

Ps: In my experience most real life engineers are the manual and research types. Us wrench bangers get shown as characters in TV because we’re drama magnets and you can write dialog for us without needing tech terms...

Basically some of start by being physical or social, and some of us start by researching. I think a forum best serves those of us who are social, and will forever frustrate those who are researchers...

Keep banging your wrench in the forum here... I’m over here banging mine too...

 

[skhenry81]

You can't really generalize from an individual case. I've been charging to 70% with fairly shallow discharges (usually around 30 miles worth) daily since I got my car, only charging to 90+% and discharging deeper on the occasional long trip. My rated range has been spot on since firmware 42.x fixed the estimator. I will continue doing this since all the available research on batteries with lithium chemistry as well as opinions from experts associated with Tesla (such as Jeff Dahn) suggest that keeping the battery in a moderate SoC is best for longevity. Of course, this should not come at the cost of convenience, so if you need more range daily, you should not feel bad about charging to a higher SoC. In my case, 70% (~215 miles) is more than enough for my daily needs, and I can quickly charge up to 90+ for longer trips, so I'll follow the expert advice.

I'm pretty sure Elon's an expert. lol

 

[Eno Deb]

I'm pretty sure Elon's an expert. lol

What he actually wrote is that Dahn is correct, but that in his (Elon's) opinion the benefit from going below 80% is not worth sacrificing convenience. In my case 70% is no inconvenience at all. There is simply no need for me to go higher if I'm not going on a longer trip (in fact I could go even lower without sacrificing anything), so why should I?

Besides, I bet that my usage pattern is pretty typical. I think if there is an issue with the rated range estimation, Tesla should fix that rather than asking drivers to adopt a specific behavior. At least in my case firmware 42.x has apparently done just that.

 

[skhenry81]

What he actually wrote is that Dahn is correct, but that in his (Elon's) opinion the benefit from going below 80% is not worth sacrificing convenience. In my case 70% is no inconvenience at all. There is simply no need for me to go higher if I'm not going on a longer trip (in fact I could go even lower without sacrificing anything), so why should I?

Besides, I bet that my usage pattern is pretty typical. I think if there is an issue with the rated range estimation, Tesla should fix that rather than asking drivers to adopt a specific behavior. At least in my case firmware 42.x has apparently done just that.

We also know from Kim that charging to 70% threw off her battery and caused it to think that it was full at 70%.

 

[Eno Deb]

We also know from Kim that charging to 70% threw off her battery and caused it to think that it was full at 70%.

Yes, and I know from my own car that it deals with it just fine. Now what?

 

[dhanson865]

Just don't use the same charge percentage every time you charge until you get rid of your car. Pick a strategy

A. If you take long trips regularly. Charge to a higher percentage just before long trips.
B. Charge to 100% periodically just to do it and balance the pack.
C. Charge to a lower percentage in the summer, a medium percentage in the spring/fall, a higher percentage in the winter.

Whatever the method, change it up.

It doesn't have to be exact, For me I think I'd slide to or stab somewhere around 65-70% for summer, 75-80% for spring/fall, 85-90% for winter.

I know the battery pack likes lower SOC if temps are higher. I know range will take a hit in the winter, so I'll need more charge in the winter.

I figure changing the charge percentage from time to time will avoid the issue she had using 70% all the time.

 

[TheLocNar]

I have a flat rate for electricity, so it doesn't matter when I charge. Before I go to bed at night, my car is charged to 70%. Before I leave in the morning, I bump it up to 80% since I am in Chicago and its very cold right now. I set climate to 78 degrees. Takes 35 minutes or so to go from 70-80%. During the summer, I just keep it at 70% as that's more than enough range for my daily needs. I give it an extra 10% in winter just in case. My SOC vs range is right on the money. I have had the car (a P+) since 9/8 of this year. I only charged the car to 100% once more than a month ago.

 

[Johnabis]

I plan on keeping my car for 10 to 14 years. I was charging to 80% but wondering if I should bump it up to 90% now

 

[SpudLime]

I plan on keeping my car for 10 to 14 years. I was charging to 80% but wondering if I should bump it up to 90% now

Nope.

Jeff Dahn's recommendation on long term battery preservation

 

[Johnabis]

Nope.

Jeff Dahn's recommendation on long term battery preservation

per the video by Kim Tesla is now saying 90%. but then Elon said 80 or 90 so that is why i'm confused.