Can I charge to 100% in this case and still have maximum battery life?

[Mikedrives]

I have been following the recommendation to only charge to 100% for trips, and to charge to the top of the daily driving range the rest of the time.

But our Model 3 SR started life as a Model 3 SR+ and then took a software downgrade. I had them dial back the 20 miles of range and some AP features to bring the car back to the $35K SR price when we bought it in June, 2019.

So, since it can't charge to 100% of the true battery capacity even when we set it at 100% of what our software package allows, does that mean we can charge to the top all the time and still be on track to attain maximum long-term battery life?

 

[SoManyM3s]

Yes charge to 100% daily

 

[vickh]

Yes, it's been confirmed in other threads by @GigaGrunt and others who know the battery pack is "top protected". One of the few perks for owning the SR!

I'm curious what your SR range is @100% since I also bought in 6/19 and have 202 miles @ 10K miles.

 

[Mikedrives]

Yes, it's been confirmed in other threads by @GigaGrunt and others who know the battery pack is "top protected". One of the few perks for owning the SR!

I'm curious what your SR range is @100% since I also bought in 6/19 and have 202 miles @ 10K miles.

Alright, thanks, that's good news. I think our range is about there, but it went down with the temperature, and am assuming it will be going back up. We are at 11,400 miles right now. Started out at 220, but I haven't seen that since winter hit. We are in Chicago.I will get back to you when I charge it up next, maybe tonight.

 

[Rocky_H]

I would just say "kind of". Yes, people are correct that it is leaving the top end hidden, so 100% on your SR is lower than 100% of the real battery capacity in the SR+. But I can't remember how much capacity is being locked off, and I think it's fairly small, so that may be equivalent to a little over 90%. So for the same reason some people don't like to use 90% all the time on the regular cars and leave it down a little farther near 80 or 85, it's up to you if you want to also have that a little farther down.

 

[vickh]

I would just say "kind of". Yes, people are correct that it is leaving the top end hidden, so 100% on your SR is lower than 100% of the real battery capacity in the SR+. But I can't remember how much capacity is being locked off, and I think it's fairly small, so that may be equivalent to a little over 90%. So for the same reason some people don't like to use 90% all the time on the regular cars and leave it down a little farther near 80 or 85, it's up to you if you want to also have that a little farther down.

I think about 10% is locked since it's 240-220/220

 

[Rocky_H]

I think about 10% is locked since it's 240-220/220

20 miles reduced out of 240 to start with is only 8.3% reduced. You don't divide by the 220. So yeah, that is a little over 90% if you top it all the way up.

 

[Mikedrives]

Ha, right, I forgot to actually try to do any actual math- I just assumed I had enough cushion.

So, 240miles X 80% = 192 miles. Tonight I put the slider at the end of the daily driving range, and at 40º, it stops at 190 miles. I switch to percentage and it says that is 90%. I assumed that the break between daily driving and trip charging was 80%, but that is not the case here, and it was just an assumption. But that 190 miles *IS* about 80% of 240 miles. 80% of 220 miles is 176 miles.

I moved the slider to the end of the trip range and it just topped out at 210 miles, charging complete, at 40º, at 11,400 miles. Switching to percentage, it is 100%

But wasn't there an update last fall that boosted the range of the SR+ to 250 miles? Presumably, if I paid 5K for the software upgrade I'd get that 250 mile range, minus whatever battery degradation we've experienced. 250 X .80 = 200 miles.

Charing just topped out at 210 miles, battery at 100%.

I guess if I keep the slider at the end of the daily driving range, that's 90% of the SR range, and 80% of the SR+ range.

 

[Mikedrives]

Yes, it's been confirmed in other threads by @GigaGrunt and others who know the battery pack is "top protected". One of the few perks for owning the SR!

I'm curious what your SR range is @100% since I also bought in 6/19 and have 202 miles @ 10K miles.

I charged last night to 100% and got 210 miles, in 40º weather, with 11,400 miles.