I just got a model 3 SR+ and I am trying to determine if charging everyday or every other day is better. I was planning on charging to 90 percent daily but I am figuring out I might not need all the range and 80 percent might be fine. Which is the best way? Is there even really a difference? Thanks.
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Best way to charge?
- Thread starter Sags224
- Start date
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
There's nothing magical about 80% vs 79% or 81%, or 90% vs 89% or 91%.
The rule of batteries are that they are healthiest maintained and operated around mid state of charge. So that's *roughly* around 30-70%.
If you want to prioritize battery life, practice however you want that conforms around those conditions.
The rule of batteries are that they are healthiest maintained and operated around mid state of charge. So that's *roughly* around 30-70%.
If you want to prioritize battery life, practice however you want that conforms around those conditions.
@Sags224
I plug my cars in every night for two reasons:
1) The car can use grid electricity to keep the battery cool while parked during summer, and to pre-warm the cabin and battery before departure in the winter.
2) At the start of every day the car has an 80% charge, enough to drive anywhere that might be required, or to start an unplanned road trip.
People have different needs and priorities, so this is not the best charging strategy for everyone, but it has worked well for my needs.
GSP
I plug my cars in every night for two reasons:
1) The car can use grid electricity to keep the battery cool while parked during summer, and to pre-warm the cabin and battery before departure in the winter.
2) At the start of every day the car has an 80% charge, enough to drive anywhere that might be required, or to start an unplanned road trip.
People have different needs and priorities, so this is not the best charging strategy for everyone, but it has worked well for my needs.
GSP
Set to 80 percent and have it plugged in. It's that easy. If you need more range than 80 percent then charge to 90 percent.
Mine is set at 80 percent since I picked it up, easy and works great for me every night. Went on a trip so I charged up to 100 percent using super chargers along the way takes a bit longer to get from 80 to 100. Maybe its there way of making us stay hooked for more money not sure but I have notice this problem at every supercharger I used. Gets to 80 precent in 20 mins???
There are technical reasons that the battery charges more slowly from 80 to 100 percent, but “making us stay hooked for more money” is not one of them. In fact, in most states supercharging is charged by the amount of energy you consume (per kWh) and not by the amount of time on the charger. If these states, the most revenue is generated by increasing the charge speed (to potentially increase throughout), not decreasing it.
RayK
Active Member
MarsOrBust
Member
Won't the battery last longer if you have less charging cycles?
If a daily driver (work and back) plugged in every night as suppose to just charging every friday back to 80%?
If a daily driver (work and back) plugged in every night as suppose to just charging every friday back to 80%?
i don't see any upside to just plug it in for plugging it ins sake...
if you charge to 90% and drive it down to 80% ... why plug in again at 80% instead of doing another day of driving and getting it down to 60% or so? opening/ closing the charge port 2x daily every day... that's 730 mechanical functions per year... 3,650 over 5 yrs... now if you charge every other day that's cut in half. Not sure what reliability ratings are for the chargeport ... but open/close well over 3k times is a lot. eventually it'll break
if you charge to 90% and drive it down to 80% ... why plug in again at 80% instead of doing another day of driving and getting it down to 60% or so? opening/ closing the charge port 2x daily every day... that's 730 mechanical functions per year... 3,650 over 5 yrs... now if you charge every other day that's cut in half. Not sure what reliability ratings are for the chargeport ... but open/close well over 3k times is a lot. eventually it'll break
I've heard that Elon recommends keeping the battery between 30-80% but not positive on that one. When you have a long trip then you charge to 100%, supposedly lets the batteries last longer.
If anyone has better information than this, please correct me since I'm still a newbie (only had my car 3 weeks). I charge to 80% every other day or so when needed, but try to keep it above 30%.
If anyone has better information than this, please correct me since I'm still a newbie (only had my car 3 weeks). I charge to 80% every other day or so when needed, but try to keep it above 30%.
1 charge cycle = using the full capacity of the battery and charging it back up. It does not matter if you go 100% to 0% and back to 100%, or if you use/charge 10% a day for 10 days. That's still 1 charge cycle.
Keeping the battery somewhere in the middle is what's best for a lithium battery, but not so great for keeping an accurate estimate of charge level. For an accurate charge level, you need to occasionally drain very low, and charge very high so the computer can keep itself calibrated. Furthermore, (based on what I've read) the car needs to sit at that low or high level for a few hours for the computer to make note of it. Also, pack equalization (an internal maintenance operation of the battery pack) only occurs at charge levels 85% or higher, and again only when the car sits for hours unused. So you have a small conundrum of what's best for the battery vs what's best for the accuracy of the computer.
Shallow discharges are gentler on batteries than deeper discharges. (charge every day if reasonable to do so)
Charging to 100% should be done only as needed. It's just unnecessary extra wear on the pack. Honestly, while I have done it a few times just to try it out, I've never needed it. That extra 10% doesn't get you all that far... maybe 25 miles tops? Plenty of superchargers all over the country if you need one where you can charge up 40-75 miles of range in just 5 minutes. So save the 100% for when you're going somewhere where chargers are truly scarce and that extra 25 miles is needed. Odds are 90% will get you almost anywhere you'll need to go.
Case in point, we went on a mini road-trip to Vegas last week. It was last minute and unexpected. We left with a 57% charge and had to stop about halfway to charge up a bit (we live 260 miles from Vegas). Had I charged to 100% before leaving, we still would've had to stop and charge along the route, so charging to 100% would've been nearly pointless other than to have a shorter stop. For the record, traffic was moving at 90+ MPH, and there's a lot of uphill, so that's why we wouldn't have made it with a 100% charge.
At the end of the day, it's likely that all the battery best-practices that we all share probably have very little effect on overall longevity. As long as you're not deliberately abusive, you should be just fine. Enjoy the car, charge it frequently to a level that best fits your lifestyle, and stay sane out there...
Keeping the battery somewhere in the middle is what's best for a lithium battery, but not so great for keeping an accurate estimate of charge level. For an accurate charge level, you need to occasionally drain very low, and charge very high so the computer can keep itself calibrated. Furthermore, (based on what I've read) the car needs to sit at that low or high level for a few hours for the computer to make note of it. Also, pack equalization (an internal maintenance operation of the battery pack) only occurs at charge levels 85% or higher, and again only when the car sits for hours unused. So you have a small conundrum of what's best for the battery vs what's best for the accuracy of the computer.
Shallow discharges are gentler on batteries than deeper discharges. (charge every day if reasonable to do so)
Charging to 100% should be done only as needed. It's just unnecessary extra wear on the pack. Honestly, while I have done it a few times just to try it out, I've never needed it. That extra 10% doesn't get you all that far... maybe 25 miles tops? Plenty of superchargers all over the country if you need one where you can charge up 40-75 miles of range in just 5 minutes. So save the 100% for when you're going somewhere where chargers are truly scarce and that extra 25 miles is needed. Odds are 90% will get you almost anywhere you'll need to go.
Case in point, we went on a mini road-trip to Vegas last week. It was last minute and unexpected. We left with a 57% charge and had to stop about halfway to charge up a bit (we live 260 miles from Vegas). Had I charged to 100% before leaving, we still would've had to stop and charge along the route, so charging to 100% would've been nearly pointless other than to have a shorter stop. For the record, traffic was moving at 90+ MPH, and there's a lot of uphill, so that's why we wouldn't have made it with a 100% charge.
At the end of the day, it's likely that all the battery best-practices that we all share probably have very little effect on overall longevity. As long as you're not deliberately abusive, you should be just fine. Enjoy the car, charge it frequently to a level that best fits your lifestyle, and stay sane out there...
SageBrush
REJECT Fascism
- I minimize the cumulative time the battery sits at over 80% or under 20%
- I avoid over 90% or under 10% unless I have a good reason; and I don't let the battery sit at those SoC any longer than I have to.
- I try to give the battery cycles of ~ 60% (80 to 20) for my convenience and to give the battery data for calibration
Extra credit: In the winter I charge after a drive, and in the summer I charge in the early AM hours. These habits are to avoid battery lithium plating in the winter, and to avoid high SoC at high battery temperature in the summer.
SageBrush
REJECT Fascism
They are both counted as one cycle, but their effect on battery aging is far from the same
This is poor advice if it results in keeping the battery at a high SoC. Look at
https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy16osti/66708.pdf, chart #18. Cycling from ~ 80% to ~ 20% is much better. Shallow cycling at a high-ish SoC should be avoided. If you want to shallow cycle, do it around 50% SoC. That will be good for battery life although calibration will be poor over time.
Excellent summary and advice from Battery University
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One charging cycle is 0% to 100%. When you charge from 40% to 60%, that is one fifth of one charging cycle. If doesn't matter if your charges are short or long. Short charges do not count as a full charging cycle.
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