Battery SMEs... Supercharging vs Charging at home (220)

[MSP2023]

A good amount of new Tesla owners may be getting 2 yrs of Free Super Charging (SC) coming up.

Since SC pushes a lot of electrons in a short period of time, does it degrade the battery if we only or mostly SC instead of the slower charging at home...given that we diligently charge only when soc is 30-40 and charge to a max of 90 soc?

Thinking of taking full advantage of the no cost to charge incentive received from Elon because of buying near end of qtr.

I drive near 20k/yr.

 

[Occar]

Just plug it in at home every day, set to 80-90% or whatever. The same people with weird charging habits (like you've described) are always the same ones who report weird reported degradation issues. Is it really worth $600-$1000 per year (don't know your power cost) to go out of your way and waste a half hour or so every ~3 days? Let's assume 45 minutes as the least amount of time such a trip will take (going out of your way, stopping to charge, waiting, and then getting back to wherever you want). That's ~108 trips to the super charger (assuming a LR AWD, and 100% rated efficiency). That's 81 hours in a year that you are wasting to save that amount. Let's say you'd save $1,000 of electricity. That's a whopping $12.30 per hour for your efforts. It isn't worth it (would you take a second job that you worked most of an hour every 3 days for $12.30/hr?). You're also taking up a charging slot that is meant for people on trips where they *need* the fast charger, and giving up the massive benefit of starting each day with a full charge.

 

[acarney]

Use it as an excuse to go on more road trips, even if just day trips and supercharger then. Charge at home.

Supercharging is more rough on the battery then charging at home. Can the battery take it? Who knows. There are some reports of supercharging causing the max rate to be limited down the road, there are some reports of ride services supercharging daily or twice daily and being fine. But you do take a spot for someone that needs the fast charge while out on travel, and you're staying there a lot longer then most.

 

[user212_nr]

A good amount of new Tesla owners may be getting 2 yrs of Free Super Charging (SC) coming up.

Since SC pushes a lot of electrons in a short period of time, does it degrade the battery if we only or mostly SC instead of the slower charging at home...given that we diligently charge only when soc is 30-40 and charge to a max of 90 soc?

Thinking of taking full advantage of the no cost to charge incentive received from Elon because of buying near end of qtr.

I drive near 20k/yr.

The battery degradation thing is an unknown. There is probability involved, so some people do poorly and are fine, others do well and get degradation anyway, but minimizing your changes you would want to supercharge less.

The more important thing than saving money is the convenience of not going to the SC. You'd think its not a big deal, and its not a deal-breaker, but the little inconveniences do add up.

You are looking at charging to 80% in 30 minutes, so that cuts down your range and it becomes like a gas-station where you have to fill up before you hit empty for peace of mind. The last 20% takes another 30 minutes so you would avoid that.

 

[ewoodrick]

If I had free Supercharging, I still would charge at home. It's a lousy experience to go charge all the time at a Supercharger.

 

[pdx_m3s]

In my opinion, (1) it’s not worth the inconvenience, and (2) it’s not worth the increased battery degradation.

Part of the reason for getting a Tesla was to do away with gas station stops. I’d only SC if I had to on a long distance trip.

 

[jjrandorin]

A good amount of new Tesla owners may be getting 2 yrs of Free Super Charging (SC) coming up.

Since SC pushes a lot of electrons in a short period of time, does it degrade the battery if we only or mostly SC instead of the slower charging at home...given that we diligently charge only when soc is 30-40 and charge to a max of 90 soc?

Thinking of taking full advantage of the no cost to charge incentive received from Elon because of buying near end of qtr.

I drive near 20k/yr.

Read this thread, if you are interested in the topic, and watch the video that is posted in it. The video is made by someone in the "large format battery" industry. It does not specifically talk about tesla's batteries, but about battery chemistry and what causes degradation.

I found it interesting, and since you posted a question about the topic, you might find it interesting as well (or not, shrug).

The referenced thread should be a sticky imo.

Battery Degradation Scientifically Explained