Battery Degradation?

[rodrego]

Got my Model 3 LR RWD in May. Since then I put on about 9k miles. Just this past week I noticed that the displayed range has dropped. If I charged up to 50% it used to show 155 - 156 miles. Now it shows 149. Charged to 60%, same thing. Used to see 186 - 187 miles, now I see 180 miles. Went on a long trip this weekend and had to charge to 100%. It only charged to 304 miles. I have seen it hit 312 when I charged to 100% in the past.

Anyone else experiencing similar battery degradation? I know the first year is the worst and then it levels off. Just curious what others are experiencing.

 

[roblab]

The battery charge display is highly imaginary. No, I shouldn't say that, but it is just a calculation that is in reality an estimation. Or an estimation based on a calculation. It resets itself when you charge, and is more accurate after a charge from nearer zero to nearer full.

In other words, it is recalculating depending on your driving and charging. It most likely is not your battery degrading, but the estimation evolving as it gets more data.

Don't worry about it. Just charge up and enjoy the heck out of it. Use the displayed charge as an estimate as to when you need to charge again. And if you need more miles on a charge during a long leg of a trip, slow down!

Mine charged to 318 (estimated from a 90% charge) once, but the only question is whether or not that's enough to make it to the next charger at 65 mph.

 

[Krazaak]

The battery charge display is highly imaginary. No, I shouldn't say that, but it is just a calculation that is in reality an estimation. Or an estimation based on a calculation. It resets itself when you charge, and is more accurate after a charge from nearer zero to nearer full.

In other words, it is recalculating depending on your driving and charging. It most likely is not your battery degrading, but the estimation evolving as it gets more data.

Don't worry about it. Just charge up and enjoy the heck out of it. Use the displayed charge as an estimate as to when you need to charge again. And if you need more miles on a charge during a long leg of a trip, slow down!

Mine charged to 318 (estimated from a 90% charge) once, but the only question is whether or not that's enough to make it to the next charger at 65 mph.

In case you're not aware, rated range is not adjusted for your driving. Rated range is based on the standard efficiency of the vehicle and the calculated usable kWh charge of the battery. The Model S and X energy display show a projected range, which is based on your actual 5/15/30 mi average, but I don't believe that is available on the Model 3.

You are correct though that it can fluctuate a little bit based on cell balance of the pack and is most accurate after a larger charging session. In either case, it's under 2.5% degradation and not outside of what could be expected for the 1st year of ownership. 9k miles is close to typical annual mileage.

 

[hpartsch]

Got my Model 3 LR RWD in May. Since then I put on about 9k miles. Just this past week I noticed that the displayed range has dropped. If I charged up to 50% it used to show 155 - 156 miles. Now it shows 149. Charged to 60%, same thing. Used to see 186 - 187 miles, now I see 180 miles. Went on a long trip this weekend and had to charge to 100%. It only charged to 304 miles. I have seen it hit 312 when I charged to 100% in the past.

Anyone else experiencing similar battery degradation? I know the first year is the worst and then it levels off. Just curious what others are experiencing.

It's likely colder also? Heating yourself and the battery likely more?

 

[apacheguy]

It will lose about 2% fairly quickly. It seems reasonable given your current mileage. I wouldn’t be concerned; however, should it continue to drop at this same rate then I would start asking questions.

 

[golfpilot]

I have had my car exactly 2 months now and 5,500 miles. According to Teslafi, my car has degraded 2.5%. I have yet to add more than 45kwh in one charge. so that may deter its ability to calculate correctly...

 

[woodisgood]

Our battery undergoes basically the same exact charge cycle every weeknight, going from roughly 40% to 80% (via a 30A circuit). We are at 6.5k miles now, had the car for almost three months. Up until a week ago, it would always charge to 248 @ 80%. In the last week, we started seeing some nights where it would charge to 247. And this morning, saw 246 for the first time.

So clearly there's a slight degradation going on. Expected and nothing to worry about unless of course it continues well beyond the observed 5% in the first year.

 

[gzerninplatz]

From tesla corporate support:
We have found that in cases where the battery is consistently charged to a lower state of charge, between 60-80% capacity, estimation becomes less accurate and tends to underestimate the true capacity of the battery. The result is an incorrect reduction in the displayed range estimate. This does not affect the true range of the vehicle, as the end-of-drive conditions are based on real-time battery measurements of reducing battery power, rather than software estimates. In any case, we recognize the inconvenience and negative user experience associated with this incorrect and reduced range estimate, and we are developing more accurate estimation algorithms which will be pushed over the air to the car when available. In the meantime I would recommend scheduling a service appointment through your Tesla account online and our technicians can assist in a kind of re-calibration for the range estimates you are current seeing.
Best regards,
XXX, Executive Care

 

[golfpilot]

According to Tesla Fi, I just used 17kwh and that was measured at 25%...
Only 68 usable. Estimated full charge range is 282. My 80% charge is consistently in the 220’s

Owned for 2 months now. 6500 miles. 241w/mile average. 3-4 times a week I charge from 20-30% to 80%.
If it was just a GOM I would be fine with it, but the way the numbers look I think I have lost 7kwh in the first 6500 miles. Sort of stinks

I’m probably going to let a few more updates come out before I bring it up with Tesla as there is still a ton of warranty left

 

[Jedi2155]

So I've been monitoring this for a bit and there are 3 potential things (or a combination thereof ) I'm thinking the variation comes from.

• Colder temperatures affect relative capacity: If your battery is being subjected to 10-30 F cooler than it was during the summer, the ability of the battery to be charged to the same level decreases. This is only temporary and based on temperature. If you charge it in same environment, you would get the original capacity.
• Battery Pack Imbalance: If you don't fully cycle your pack regularly and charge to the same 30-80 or 40-80 as some are doing, there module imbalance can occur overtime and the system just needs a slight reset. This simply done once every 3-6 months (my recommendation here is a guess rather than empirically determined). You would simply drive it down as low as possible (<10% is prety good) and charge it up to 100% at a lower charge rate (say 10-32A). This gives battery time to re-balance the modules for any difference within the pack.
• Actual Degradation: This is the one everyone is afraid of. The first few months/cycles is when a battery degrades the fastest, and after that it should slow down significantly. If start dropping below 295 miles (at 100% charge) within the next 6 months or so, I'd be concerned. According to the charts presented by some news sites, The S/X pack seems to degrade about 5-10% over 2 to 5 years (279 miles range for our 3). Much beyond that there'd be some serious concerns.

 

[paulvinh]

6 months with the car. When I first got the car it charged to 282mi, then two months later 279mi, and now recently with v9 update its at 276mi when charging to 90%.

 

[VLTWGGN]

I'm also only getting about 282mi on a full charge (100% SOC). That said, I'm fairly confident it's a calibration error...another member on this forum observed the same behavior from multiple shallow charges (keeping SOC between 65-75% daily). He/she re-calibrated it by doing multiple deep charge cycles over the period of a week...30% to 80% daily for a week. He/she claims 100% went from initially showing 279mi to 307mi a week later.

 

[Kcharwood]

I'm also only getting about 282mi on a full charge (100% SOC). That said, I'm fairly confident it's a calibration error...another member on this forum observed the same behavior from multiple shallow charges (keeping SOC between 65-75% daily). He/she re-calibrated it by doing multiple deep charge cycles over the period of a week...30% to 80% daily for a week. He/she claims 100% went from initially showing 279mi to 307mi a week later.

I’m getting 252 at 90%. I have a service appt Monday for them to look at it.

 

[Jedi2155]

I’m getting 252 at 90%. I have a service appt Monday for them to look at it.

Thats pretty bad and sounds like a failed module.

 

[Brentt]

Picked up the car May 4th, currently has about 19,000 miles. I charge to 90% daily @ 48 amps and currently get about 265 at 90% and 293 at 100%. Figures out to about 5% loss. I’ve charged to 100% less than 6 times. The biggest losses begin to occurr at about 17,000 miles.

 

[Kermee]

Just about to cross over 7,000 miles. 100% charge shows 306 miles (2018.42.3) so about a loss of 1.3%.

 

[Skysurfer]

I'm also only getting about 282mi on a full charge (100% SOC). That said, I'm fairly confident it's a calibration error...another member on this forum observed the same behavior from multiple shallow charges (keeping SOC between 65-75% daily). He/she re-calibrated it by doing multiple deep charge cycles over the period of a week...30% to 80% daily for a week. He/she claims 100% went from initially showing 279mi to 307mi a week later.

Strange, I am also stuck in the 282 at 100% club. Just did a 600 mile round trip and barely made a 200 mile stretch between chargers (100%-3%) due to a slight headwind, rain, cold, and the reduced capacity. Granted on the way back I had a tailwind (but still rainy and cold) and managed to stretch it from 90%-2%. Interesting part was that it started charing at at rate of ~65kW from 2% SoC when I arrived. That tells me there is likely a little more capacity on the bottom end which is not being reported but not sure if it would be 6-7kWh worth.

At any rate, had three cycles from >90% to < 5% over the weekend to make the trip and it still is showing 282 at 100%. Curious if anyone else has been stuck at 282 and noticed it improve.

 

[ratsbew]

With 2018.42.3 I'm now showing 313 miles for 100% according to TeslaFi.

 

[Stretch2727]

I was at 280 @100%.

I stopped shallow charging (15-20 miles) and it has corrected back to 306 miles. It did take a while though. I had a long trip where I cycled <10% to 90% and it did not correct. Seems to take some time to correct. I just don't charge unless I am under 100 miles and this seemed to work after a few weeks. I charge to 80% only.

 

[Jedi2155]

Strange, I am also stuck in the 282 at 100% club. Just did a 600 mile round trip and barely made a 200 mile stretch between chargers (100%-3%) due to a slight headwind, rain, cold, and the reduced capacity. Granted on the way back I had a tailwind (but still rainy and cold) and managed to stretch it from 90%-2%. Interesting part was that it started charing at at rate of ~65kW from 2% SoC when I arrived. That tells me there is likely a little more capacity on the bottom end which is not being reported but not sure if it would be 6-7kWh worth.

At any rate, had three cycles from >90% to < 5% over the weekend to make the trip and it still is showing 282 at 100%. Curious if anyone else has been stuck at 282 and noticed it improve.

What temperature were you operating around?