Battery Care & Maintenance

[TylerCA]

Thanks for the tip, I'll see if I notice any difference.



I think Tesla wants people to have a "set it and forget it" mentality. If Tesla officially makes the process overly complicated like some of us here are doing (including myself), then it might have a negative impact on sales. Most consumers aren't as OCD as I am, therefore I appreciate these nuances more than most of the people I know. The ICE industry would probably also use any complicated charging regimen against Tesla.

If that is the case, I think Tesla should rethink that strategy. On ICE vehicles, there are maintenance schedules with the engine, drive train, etc. With the Tesla battery being a very important feature of the car, I would imagine that Tesla should create some type of battery maintenance regimen so that Tesla owners can prevent long-term degradation.

 

[qphan79]

Slightly off topic, but I had gotten into the habit of manually turning off the vehicle power from the on screen control panel. I only do this when I park at work because of the vampire drain before the recent software upgrade. This would really minimize the vampire drain but now I'm wondering if I'm disabling any of the cars battery temperature monitoring system. Any opinions on that?

 

[AmpedRealtor]

If that is the case, I think Tesla should rethink that strategy. On ICE vehicles, there are maintenance schedules with the engine, drive train, etc. With the Tesla battery being a very important feature of the car, I would imagine that Tesla should create some type of battery maintenance regimen so that Tesla owners can prevent long-term degradation.

I don't think most consumers would be willing to jump through hoops or follow any specific battery maintenance regimen. Consumers view the battery as equivalent to a gas tank. On an ICE vehicle, you fill up and go. You don't have to do anything to maintain your gas tank, so you shouldn't have to do anything special to maintain your battery. This is how consumers think and how Tesla needs to market the car. Otherwise, it creates an obstacle for consumer acceptance. I am very interested in battery care, however I am also not the typical consumer. Tesla also promotes the car as being largely maintenance free, so equating a complicated battery maintenance regimen to ICE maintenance goes against Tesla's claim of little or no maintenance with this car.

 

[kendallpb]

I think Tesla wants people to have a "set it and forget it" mentality. If Tesla officially makes the process overly complicated like some of us here are doing (including myself), then it might have a negative impact on sales. Most consumers aren't as OCD as I am, therefore I appreciate these nuances more than most of the people I know. The ICE industry would probably also use any complicated charging regimen against Tesla.

Also the differences are (for some of these tips) very, very minor. For example, the 50% thing you mentioned: I've read others quoting this or that person at Tesla saying that, and almost every time, the quote was followed quoting the Tesla person saying that the benefits of lower %s versus 90% being very small or even negligible. The biggest benefit seems to be 90% versus 100%.

OCD as I am, this is why I use 80%; minimal stress from unexpected usage, but also a teeny tiny bit better than 90%. ;-)

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OCD as I am, this is why I use 80%; minimal stress from unexpected usage, but also a teeny tiny bit better than 90%. ;-)

Hmm, thinking about my typical usage and islandbayy's explanation of why to balance...well, my battery's generally between 50% and 80%...how out of sync can individual cells get? With my overall pack reporting 50%, for example, after a day's driving...are any cells actually even capable of being at such a low voltage that it's bad for them? How is the SOC measured--lowest cell, highest cell, or average of all cells?

(Yeah, I'm over thinking this to try to avoid range charging. Penny wise, pound foolish, probably. ;-) )

 

[bonnie]

You guys are WAYYYY over-thinking this. Seriously. Enjoy the car. Range charge if you think you're completely out of balance. Otherwise, just don't think about it.

Making this far too complicated.

 

[Gear]

Hmm, thinking about my typical usage and islandbayy's explanation of why to balance...well, my battery's generally between 50% and 80%...how out of sync can individual cells get? With my overall pack reporting 50%, for example, after a day's driving...are any cells actually even capable of being at such a low voltage that it's bad for them? How is the SOC measured--lowest cell, highest cell, or average of all cells?

(Yeah, I'm over thinking this to try to avoid range charging. Penny wise, pound foolish, probably. ;-) )

Yes, you're way over thinking this. It's like asking "What percentage of my windshield should I allow to be covered by dead bugs before I wash it?" If it's to the point that it bothers you, wash it. You'll see lower rated range than normal when your pack is out of balance, simple as that. If it gets to the point that it bothers you, do a range charge. If you're only ever discharging to 50%, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

 

[AZ Desert Driver]

I have a question about battery safety. I have some Li-Po batteries (in my drone) that come with a warning that they could explode if overcharged. Do Tesla batteries explode? What is it about Tesla that keeps batteries safe? (ARE they?)

 

[S'toon]

I have a question about battery safety. I have some Li-Po batteries (in my drone) that come with a warning that they could explode if overcharged. Do Tesla batteries explode? What is it about Tesla that keeps batteries safe? (ARE they?)

No. There has never been a Tesla battery that has ever exploded. There have been a couple of fires that have occurred when the cells have been externally breached, or driven off a cliff in one case. Tesla manages their batteries so they can't be overcharged, and they are thermally regulated with a liquid cooling system.

The odds of a gasoline car burning are much greater. I've witnessed 2 myself.

Here's something to put it into perspective:

U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated average of 152,300 automobile fires per year in 2006-2010. These fires caused an average of 209 civilian deaths, 764 civilian injuries, and $536 million in direct property damage.

http://www.nfpa.org/safety-information/for-consumers/vehicles

<snip>

The 50,000+ Chevrolet Volts now have over 390,000,000+ electric miles and 625,000,000+ total miles driven, the 100,000+ Nissan LEAFs now have over 420,000,000+ electric miles driven, and the 30,000+ Tesla Model S sedans have over 125,000,000+ miles driven. With the remaining Ford Energi series, Toyota PiP and other combined plug-in models, we are well over one billion electric miles driven.


With these new so-called experimental vehicles, we have nowhere near the 90 vehicle fires per billion miles caused in ICEs, no deaths, and nowhere near the fire related injuries.


Of those 4 brands with the most miles driven; the Chevrolet Volt recorded the first famous fire when obliterated by the NHSTA in a parking lot due to a failure to discharge the battery after crash testing. This would be equal to leaving gas in the tank of a crashed vehicle which NHSTA NEVER does so we count this one with an asterisk. Of the billion combined miles of the LEAF, Volt, and Ford Energi series, no fires have broken out for customers while parked, driving, charging or collisions of these plug-ins.


As for the five Model S fires in question, the true cause of one is still under investigation, but with well over 125,000,000 Tesla miles, we would still need 11 Tesla fires to equal the fires of the tried and true Internal Combustion Engine.

Full article at:
http://insideevs.com/number-of-fire-related-deaths-per-year-caused-by-evs/

So, if anything, the odds of your Tesla burning are actually less than an ICE car.

 

[ecarfan]

Battery Care &amp; Maintenance

Do Tesla batteries explode? What is it about Tesla that keeps batteries safe? (ARE they?)

There have been no instances -- reported on TMC or online anywhere that I know of -- of a Telsla battery "exploding" or spontaneously catching fire. There are a few cases of batteries burning AFTER the battery compartment was punctured by a violent impact. But they did not "explode".
Tesla's software controls the battery temperature by circulating coolant the rough the battery pack as needed.

 

[Tennisballer]

Thank you Islandbayy for posting this thread I have enjoyed reading the entire thread and the video Gracie was making me laugh and the story about the cop watching you lock your kids in your truck lmao. All of this worry about degradation is insane in IMO. The fact that they changed the Warranty to 8 years unlimited miles tells me they have so many safety mechanisms built into that battery/software that the "degradation" is basically non existent. They obviously are monitoring this and the actuaries have determined that the amount of warranty claims will be extremely low. You want to know how safe something is talk to the people who insure something, they know exactly what the costs are and failure rates. Also like the Prius and now the Leaf when they first came out the batteries were insanely expensive the fact that my 2008 Prius battery was 10k when I bought it if it needed to be replaced and now it is 1800 tells me as the technology changes it will become much cheaper. The Leaf battery is now only 5k and it still has a huge warranty left. I bet the Tesla replacement battery in 10 years will be around this price as well, as they make more and learn how to do it more cost effective. I discharge my Leaf all the time and full charge it hell the new Leafs don't even have the energy save mode its 100% charge all the time lol. The fact that the Tesla battery is so temperature regulated tells me it will last a long long time with minimal degradation I would be more concerned about not charging it all the way once in a while to balance it. I happen to totally agree with Islandbayy the car is not a trophy go drive the hell out of it and stop worrying 8 year unlimited mile warranty no matter how you charge it tells me to do whatever I want with it lol. If you had a 2016 $100k+ MB and needed an engine in 8 years it will cost more than a replacement Tesla battery that you can be sure of. In an ICE car you can be an idiot and blow the engine up from many things such as lack of Oil or overheating they have no safeties built in. This Tesla battery has every safety imaginable it literally stops you from driving to keep it from bricking. The only way I could see to damage it would be to store it with no charge and even that is covered by the warranty.

Short version just drive you car and stop worrying about Battery degradation no way in hell would I own a car like this and only charge it halfway screw that I will be using the hell out of the car if it ever gets here lol.

 

[Rocky_H]

You are drawing a false conclusion, because you are basing it on incomplete or incorrect information. Have you not seen this part of the warranty text, where degradation of capacity of the battery is specifically EXCLUDED from being covered?


“The Battery, like all lithium-ion batteries, will experience gradual energy or power loss with time

and use. Loss of Battery energy or power over time or due to or resulting from Battery usage, is

NOT covered under this Battery and Drive Unit Limited Warranty. See your owner documentation

for important information on how to maximize the life and capacity of the Battery.”


So don’t rely on the 8 years and unlimited miles as being relevant in any way to degradation of battery capacity.

 

[jerry33]

So don’t rely on the 8 years and unlimited miles as being relevant in any way to degradation of battery capacity.

True, but as far as I can determine I'm down three or four percent at 65K miles and three years. The fastest degradation is supposed to occur in the first year, so unless something bad happens I'm likely to see well over ten years before range has reduced enough to be a concern. Whether I will last the ten years is a whole 'nuther subject.