Charging @ Home & Charging Before Driving in AM

[A-Wimoweh]

I'm pretty predictable, and leave about the same time every morning, and drive about the same distance every day. It usually takes about 75 to 90 minutes to recharge my car to its set limit of 80%. So I get it to 80%, leave, get to work and it sits at about 70% for 10 hours, then get home and it sits at 60% for about 11 hours or so. I think this gives me a good low average state of charge, while still having plenty of excess range in case of an emergency. If I just started charging right when I got home, it would be a much higher average state of charge. I do plug it in right after arriving home, so it doesn't have to use the battery to run the car while in the garage.

It might be overkill, but it's incredibly easy to adopt this habit, so why not?

 

[TexasEV]

It might be overkill, but it's incredibly easy to adopt this habit, so why not?

You’re treating yourself, not the battery. Just plug in whenever you get home and don’t think any more about it. The battery will be just fine.

 

[A-Wimoweh]

You’re treating yourself, not the battery. Just plug in whenever you get home and don’t think any more about it. The battery will be just fine.

That's exactly what I do. I just plug it in whenever I get home, and the car charges when it is scheduled.

 

[TexasEV]

That's exactly what I do. I just plug it in whenever I get home, and the car charges when it is scheduled.

My point is there’s no benefit to scheduling the charge 11 hours after you get home thinking the 10% difference will matter for anything. If you have TOU rates and schedule to take advantage of charging at off peak time, then sure.

 

[jerry33]

My point is there’s no benefit to scheduling the charge 11 hours after you get home thinking the 10% difference will matter for anything. If you have TOU rates and schedule to take advantage of charging at off peak time, then sure.

In winter it makes quite a difference to have the battery warmer when you start driving. In summer you're helping the grid (according to OnCore) plus charging at the coolest time means less cooling during charging is required.

 

[BerTX]

In winter it makes quite a difference to have the battery warmer when you start driving. In summer you're helping the grid (according to OnCore) plus charging at the coolest time means less cooling during charging is required.

I think what @TexasEV means is that it doesn't help the battery longevity, but I'll let him answer.

We all have differing circumstances that may affect our charging habits, like climate or driving habits. I used to try to charge slowly during the day on sunny days when my solar could provide the power. My utility does not really play fair in doing net metering, so it saved money to do that. One day I was walking through the parking lot at the movies and saw a quarter laying on the pavement. "Nah," I thought, "it's not worth the trouble to pick it up".

Then I realized that's about how much I was saving with my weird charging efforts. Now I just plug it in.

 

[jerry33]

I think what @TexasEV means is that it doesn't help the battery longevity, but I'll let him answer.

Right. There's no conclusive evidence that it helps the battery. AFAIK, only leaving it at 100%, less than 20%, and storing it at something other than 50% affect battery life. However, TOU is not the only factor in using a scheduled charge time.

 

[A-Wimoweh]

My point is there’s no benefit to scheduling the charge 11 hours after you get home thinking the 10% difference will matter for anything. If you have TOU rates and schedule to take advantage of charging at off peak time, then sure.

Actually, its usually at least a 20% different instead of 10%. That means sitting at 60% SoC for almost half the day, vs sitting at 80% SoC for half the day. Yeah, maybe I will get an extra week out of my battery, or maybe I'll save 5 miles of degradation in the end. But once you set this up, it takes no extra effort. Maybe it takes 15 minutes to figure out just how long you need to charge up on average everyday?

Also, if I do charge immediately upon arriving home, I don't start out the next day with a full charge. It will usually drop one to two % overnight.

 

[bob_p]

With so many vehicles in use since 2012, Tesla has a lot of experience with various charging & supercharging practices.

As long as charge is typically maintained between 10-90%, the only charging that appears to be causing any noticeable damage to the battery pack is non-Tesla DC fast chargers - which Tesla will limit in software.

Any home charging at up to 72-80A is significantly slower than supercharging - and there are many vehicles that exclusively use superchargers for all of their charging.

Scheduling charging to take advantage of free or low cost electric rates makes sense economically (but has no impact on the batteries).

If you're going to charge to 100%, if you can do that immediately before leaving you'll minimize the time the battery pack is at a full charge, and that should protect the battery, especially if this is done frequently.

Preheating when the temperatures are cold also makes sense - so the pack is at a reasonable temperature when driving.

Otherwise... Keep it simple... Owners that want to make battery management a hobby - they can do that, but it probably won't have any noticeable impact on long term battery capacity.

 

[AwlBidnz]

A happy Tesla is a plugged in Tesla! Charge & go. There are ALWAYS options on the way to personal preference ;0)

 

[maxse]

Appreciate the insight on this.

It seems the majority of folks scheduling charges is due to the financial benefits.

Unfortunately in eastern Massachusetts we lost TOU a few years ago I believe. My rate is .30/kW which is pretty high from what I am reading.

 

[maximizese]

Appreciate the insight on this.

It seems the majority of folks scheduling charges is due to the financial benefits.

Unfortunately in eastern Massachusetts we lost TOU a few years ago I believe. My rate is .30/kW which is pretty high from what I am reading.

My brother's in Belmont and they offer a deal with a $250 rebate for the purchase of a WiFi enabled level 2 EVSE, and you get an $8 per month credit if you charge during off-peak hours between 10pm-1pm or the entire weekend.

https://www.belmontlight.com/energy-solutions/electric-vehicles/

 

[maxse]

Not a great offer but better than nothing!

I didn’t buy a Tesla to save money but it sure would be nice to see a lower rate on my bill for charging during non-peak times.