If one is retired and only travels to grocery store Costco Home Depot etc. all within less than 10 miles and occasional longer trips in the city how often do you plug in at home? after every trip? Is it a PITA plug in when you arrive home? do you plug in like once a week? If not plugging in every time and developing that habit I could envision a problem of forgetting. does the car warn you that you need to charge when you get home if low?
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charging, how often do you plug in at home?
- Thread starter RidgeRunner
- Start date
Midnightsun
Active Member
I have a plug at the office so I plug in there every day since it is free. I have mine set to 90% and may only be down to 85 but still plug it in. Takes literally seconds. I have a wall connector at home and do use it on the rare occasion when required. Very easy to plug in not to mention light in weight. Right now I am at my desk at the office, looking at the Valet for Tesla app, it tells me I am at 90% right now so fully charged. 
It is just like a car with a gas tank as there is a gauge so no issue for when a charge is required. It will tell you when you are getting very low similar to a low fuel level warning.
It is just like a car with a gas tank as there is a gauge so no issue for when a charge is required. It will tell you when you are getting very low similar to a low fuel level warning.
For local, daily driving you don't need to plug in every day. I suggest setting the charging limit to 70% - 80% (but not more than 90% for daily charging.) Plug in and charge when the state of charge (SOC) is at or below 50%. (I suggest changing the Tesla Display option to display the battery SOC % instead of estimated miles.) This way you may only need to plug a few times per week. Keep Sentry Mode set to not be active when parked at your home location. Sentry Mode forces the Tesla vehicle to remain active, i.e. not enter sleep mode. The Tesla vehicle consumes ~10X more 12V power (~250W) when Sentry Mode is active than when the Tesla vehicle enters sleep mode (~25W.) When Sentry Mode is active this causes the Tesla vehicle to have to more frequently draw power from the battery pack to maintain the 12V battery.
My driving pattern is similar to your driving, i.e. usually less than 12 miles per day. I plug in daily to charge at 200V/30A (6kW) for 60 to 90 minutes where I go to eat breakfast or lunch (because the public charger is free to use for up to 2 hours.) If I do not use the Level 2 public charger I only charge at home every 3rd or 4th day. My home charging setup is 240V/32A for an estimated ~25 miles per hour of charging (my estimate not Tesla's estimate.)
My driving pattern is similar to your driving, i.e. usually less than 12 miles per day. I plug in daily to charge at 200V/30A (6kW) for 60 to 90 minutes where I go to eat breakfast or lunch (because the public charger is free to use for up to 2 hours.) If I do not use the Level 2 public charger I only charge at home every 3rd or 4th day. My home charging setup is 240V/32A for an estimated ~25 miles per hour of charging (my estimate not Tesla's estimate.)
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I automatically plug in whenever I park at home. I set the charge level to 50% when I am driving only locally.
That has been my practice since early 2015 when JB Straubel said "a plugged-in Tesla is a happy Tesla" IIRC.
Keeping the car always connected compensates for vampire drain and is automatic once you get used to the practice.
That has been my practice since early 2015 when JB Straubel said "a plugged-in Tesla is a happy Tesla" IIRC.
Keeping the car always connected compensates for vampire drain and is automatic once you get used to the practice.
When we first got our Y, I plugged it in almost every time we got home or at least every night. It became my nightly routine to go out and plug it in before bed. We were charging to 80%.
But most of the time, we had only used 10% - 20% at most of the battery and didn't really need to charge for our driving the next day. We have short errands and trips like you.
So now, I've switched to charging to 70% and only plugging in when we get down to around 40% or if I know we are going to be doing a lot of driving the next day. Our schedule is such that we don't really need to be able to make a long drive at a moments notice, so getting down to 40% isn't an issue. It sits in an enclosed garage, so no sentry and no temp management needed. I lose very little battery charge sitting in the garage even if I go a few days without plugging in.
Knowing that the battery likes to be around 50%, I figured lowering to 70% max charge and driving to around 40% keeps it in its happy place for most of our use. It may not be much of a difference for battery longevity long term, but I figured if I don't need the higher charge, why not extend it as much as possible.
ETA:
I realized when driving the car out and about (or to work if I didn't work from home) that it would sit unplugged for most of the day anyway. At the very least, only plugging in at night reduces wear and tear on the charging port, plus it's nice to not have to constantly unplug/plug when doing multiple errands during the day.
Also, I figured I didn't constantly go and fill up my gas cars after every day of driving unless I knew I wasn't going to have enough gas for my driving the next day. Might as well treat my electric car the same way unless it became an issue. So far it hasn't.
One thing I find interesting is that it goes into the same deep sleep whether it is plugged in or not, so plugging in doesn't give my any benefit for having the car wake up faster after sitting for a while.
But most of the time, we had only used 10% - 20% at most of the battery and didn't really need to charge for our driving the next day. We have short errands and trips like you.
So now, I've switched to charging to 70% and only plugging in when we get down to around 40% or if I know we are going to be doing a lot of driving the next day. Our schedule is such that we don't really need to be able to make a long drive at a moments notice, so getting down to 40% isn't an issue. It sits in an enclosed garage, so no sentry and no temp management needed. I lose very little battery charge sitting in the garage even if I go a few days without plugging in.
Knowing that the battery likes to be around 50%, I figured lowering to 70% max charge and driving to around 40% keeps it in its happy place for most of our use. It may not be much of a difference for battery longevity long term, but I figured if I don't need the higher charge, why not extend it as much as possible.
ETA:
I realized when driving the car out and about (or to work if I didn't work from home) that it would sit unplugged for most of the day anyway. At the very least, only plugging in at night reduces wear and tear on the charging port, plus it's nice to not have to constantly unplug/plug when doing multiple errands during the day.
Also, I figured I didn't constantly go and fill up my gas cars after every day of driving unless I knew I wasn't going to have enough gas for my driving the next day. Might as well treat my electric car the same way unless it became an issue. So far it hasn't.
One thing I find interesting is that it goes into the same deep sleep whether it is plugged in or not, so plugging in doesn't give my any benefit for having the car wake up faster after sitting for a while.
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dedicatedtek
Member
Unless the Tesla vehicle is left plugged in during an electrical storm. Then the Tesla vehicle may be very unhappy.
does the car warn you that you need to charge when you get home if low?
The Tesla will send a text message to the Tesla app on your phone when the state of charge (SOC) is less than 20%. If you are driving the Tesla regularly, plugging in at least a couple of times per week the SOC should never get that low.
If you charge or plan to charge using the Tesla Mobile Connector that comes with the Tesla vehicle and the included NEMA 5-15 plug adapter (for a standard 120V/15A receptacle) this will enable charging at ~3 miles added to the battery's range per hour of charging. If you have 8 hours or more to charge then the Mobile Connector and 120V/15A circuit will enable you to add at least ~24 miles of range to the Tesla. Since you stated you currently drive ~10 miles per day you could plug in every day or every other day. There are faster charging options for the Tesla vehicle for home charging. These faster charging options utilize 240V and between 20A and 60A circuits.
The Tesla will send a text message to the Tesla app on your phone when the state of charge (SOC) is less than 20%. If you are driving the Tesla regularly, plugging in at least a couple of times per week the SOC should never get that low.
If you charge or plan to charge using the Tesla Mobile Connector that comes with the Tesla vehicle and the included NEMA 5-15 plug adapter (for a standard 120V/15A receptacle) this will enable charging at ~3 miles added to the battery's range per hour of charging. If you have 8 hours or more to charge then the Mobile Connector and 120V/15A circuit will enable you to add at least ~24 miles of range to the Tesla. Since you stated you currently drive ~10 miles per day you could plug in every day or every other day. There are faster charging options for the Tesla vehicle for home charging. These faster charging options utilize 240V and between 20A and 60A circuits.
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I plug in each night even with similar errand running <20m per day I would say. I take the Dog out each night last thing so is super easy routine for me, but certainly isn't needed. I have also read many times it is 'better' to be plugged in, but no real deficit if you only plug in when (before) you need it or as you remember to do so. Once you get into ownership you're soon realize how charging and range anxiety is a non issue for probably 95% of owners if you have home charging capability.
+1
Charging is so easy, cheap, and convent that I do so frequently.
Charging is so easy, cheap, and convent that I do so frequently.
I have a plug at the office so I plug in there every day since it is free. I have mine set to 90% and may only be down to 85 but still plug it in. Takes literally seconds. I have a wall connector at home and do use it on the rare occasion when required. Very easy to plug in not to mention light in weight. Right now I am at my desk at the office, looking at the Valet for Tesla app, it tells me I am at 90% right now so fully charged.
It is just like a car with a gas tank as there is a gauge so no issue for when a charge is required. It will tell you when you are getting very low similar to a low fuel level warning.
TL DR: I plug in every time I get home.
I'll preface this with... I am in the minority of Tesla owners.
I live in VERY rural Wisconsin. I'm 39 miles away from the closest supercharging station. I work 48 miles away (one way), outside of Saint Paul. I bought my LR Model Y two months ago, so it hasn't seen the bitter cold of winter up here yet, but even in March, driving only to and from work, I would use over 50% of the battery round trip. Needless to say, I charge it every night. In the couple weeks a year that it is stupidly cold here (-40 degrees actual temp), I'm not even sure if I'll be able to make it round trip to work and back because of the ~40% range loss in really cold weather. We have two ICE (ha no pun intended) vehicles that I could use if it gets too cold to make it to work and back that time of year. Now that the weather is starting to get a little nicer, I only use about 17% battery each way on my commute, so I'm not worried if I need to make a few errands while I'm out. Once I'm home from work, we rarely take the car anywhere on week nights because the town we live in only has 1242 people and we usually just walk anywhere we need to go.
So, to sum up, our Tesla gets plugged in every time it returns home, but that is usually only once a day, and just on the days I actually go into the office or after we've gone somewhere on the weekend.
I'll preface this with... I am in the minority of Tesla owners.
I live in VERY rural Wisconsin. I'm 39 miles away from the closest supercharging station. I work 48 miles away (one way), outside of Saint Paul. I bought my LR Model Y two months ago, so it hasn't seen the bitter cold of winter up here yet, but even in March, driving only to and from work, I would use over 50% of the battery round trip. Needless to say, I charge it every night. In the couple weeks a year that it is stupidly cold here (-40 degrees actual temp), I'm not even sure if I'll be able to make it round trip to work and back because of the ~40% range loss in really cold weather. We have two ICE (ha no pun intended) vehicles that I could use if it gets too cold to make it to work and back that time of year. Now that the weather is starting to get a little nicer, I only use about 17% battery each way on my commute, so I'm not worried if I need to make a few errands while I'm out. Once I'm home from work, we rarely take the car anywhere on week nights because the town we live in only has 1242 people and we usually just walk anywhere we need to go.
So, to sum up, our Tesla gets plugged in every time it returns home, but that is usually only once a day, and just on the days I actually go into the office or after we've gone somewhere on the weekend.
I figured by your questions that you don't have your car yet - when do you take delivery? Exciting times.
I plug in every time I return home. I’ve got it set to start charging at 9:30 PM when my electricity rates are lower.
whisperingshad
Active Member
I plug in everyday when i get home(or when i get back from errands after work etc). Only a standard 120v so based off what you are saying this should work fine for you. (i set to 80% but you could probably do 70%). I supercharge as needed or use a lvl2 charger on my lunch for 45 mins at work to help catchup.
Puma2020
Member
I plug in on most days. If the Y is fully charged (80% usually) and I drive it a short distance, I might not plug it in... unless it's going to be cold that night, then I definitely plug it in. I also adjust what full means about once a month. Sometimes 65% or 70%, mostly 80% but sometimes up to 85% or even 90%. In winter, higher is better. Cold air is more dense and it takes more energy to push through it (ICE or EV).
However, as I work from home, I have the car set to start charging at 10AM. That is when the solar panels (if it is sunny) will be producing close to the max they can. It seems that around 5PM is the cut off. If I return before that time and plug in, it'll start charging. After 5, it waits for the following day. If I know I'll need the car the next day, I'll tell it to start charging now.
However, as I work from home, I have the car set to start charging at 10AM. That is when the solar panels (if it is sunny) will be producing close to the max they can. It seems that around 5PM is the cut off. If I return before that time and plug in, it'll start charging. After 5, it waits for the following day. If I know I'll need the car the next day, I'll tell it to start charging now.
When plugged in the Tesla vehicle does not warm the battery pack unless you initiate preconditioning via the Tesla app. The exception is when you have set up Scheduled Departure in the Charging Settings inside the Tesla vehicle. When you set up Scheduled Departure the Tesla vehicle will automatically start preconditioning about 20 minutes (sometimes longer) before the scheduled departure time.
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