Charging. Home or Supercharger?

[upkerry14]

OK, I get I'm supposed to use a SC when I'm going on a long trip and charge up to 100% if I want to. Does it make any difference if I charge to 100% at home and go on a long trip or use a SC? The SC charges faster (?) than home but both can charge to 100% so is there a recommendation on this? Thanks, Bill (who doesn't even have his car yet)

 

[brkaus]

Charging at home will generate less heat in the battery. So less wear and tear on the cooling system and better on the battery.

It will also take a long time for the Supercharger to get to 100%. It slows down pretty dramatically, but esp over 90%.

You should also, generally, plan your trips to be in the ~10-80% (or even 10-70%) range. Unless you have a long break for dinner or something.

If I'm headed on a long trip I will charge 100% at home (or at least 95%). Saves time on the road.

 

[JulienW]

1) Charging to 100% is stressful to the battery and should only be done when you need to.
2) Many SCers limit charging to 80% if busy.
3) SCing to a high state (>80%) each time will take longer and extend trip time.
4) Trip Routing will tell you the amount you need to charge at each stop in order to arrive at the next SC with a low SoC (usually <20%) to charge faster making trip time faster.

Also this was posted in the wrong forum.

 

[JasonR67]

First.. Relax and take a deep breath.

If you are going on a trip, tap on the navigation box on the dashboard and type your destination. It will not only tell you the best route, but it will include every SC you need to stop at. It will tell you the SOC (State of charge) you will arrive to the charger at. As you approach the next SC will tell you exactly how long you will need to charge (and what level of SOC you need) to get to the next SC.

This channel has several road trip videos that concentrate on SCs and the process: Out of Spec Motoring

And to reiterate on what's been said above:
When leaving on a trip, it's ok to charge at home to 100% if you need to. Don't leave it at 100% for long and remember you will have zero regenerative braking for the first part of your trip (Regen braking will feel natural to you very quickly.. when it's off because of 100% charge it can be a surprise).

In general you'll charge to 80% nightly, and have 250mi range in the morning. I think about level of charge much less than I used to think about how much gas I have.

As mentioned above after 80% SOC superchargers slow down charging so they don't damage the battery.

 

[JasonR67]

I forgot to mention A Better Routeplanner which, if you tell it you are using a tesla, and want to use superchargers, will give you a rough idea of what it would be like.

 

[upkerry14]

All great information. Thank you very much!

 

[upkerry14]

1) Charging to 100% is stressful to the battery and should only be done when you need to.
2) Many SCers limit charging to 80% if busy.
3) SCing to a high state (>80%) each time will take longer and extend trip time.
4) Trip Routing will tell you the amount you need to charge at each stop in order to arrive at the next SC with a low SoC (usually <20%) to charge faster making trip time faster.

Also this was posted in the wrong forum.

What forum should I post it?
Bill

 

[JulienW]

What forum should I post it?
Bill

Model 3: Battery & Charging