Daily Charge Rate - 80/85/90 % ?

[metroplex]

Try not to obsess about the charging level and charging frequency of your Tesla Model Y. Any routine where you charge daily or frequently and maintain the battery state of charge (SOC) between 50% and 90% is fine.

Ask yourself, if you arrive home down 10% from the set maximum SOC at the end of the day how many hours would it take to bring the charge level to 90% for starting out on a longer drive or trip. If longer than a couple of hours perhaps it would be better to raise the daily charge limit so that you can always top up before leaving on a trip with little time or notice.

I have an EVGo within walking distance to me (I also have a CCS 1 adapter), so I always figured that if I needed a lot of charge really quickly, that I could just use one of those for a fast charge.
But I was looking at this NREL report and it showed that for a NCA battery (Slide 8) at 8 years of life, the capacity is down to either about 82% or 85% depending on SOC average. We're talking like 8-15 miles of range difference.

https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy16osti/66708.pdf

Is it really this insignificant/small? If so, I may just stick with 80% or 90% charge limits for more power output. I can't drive it in Chill mode as I can feel a reduction in power all the time and it drives me nuts. I'm pretty sure I couldn't handle 55% SOC every morning.

 

[jcanoe]

I have an EVGo within walking distance to me (I also have a CCS 1 adapter), so I always figured that if I needed a lot of charge really quickly, that I could just use one of those for a fast charge.
But I was looking at this NREL report and it showed that for a NCA battery (Slide 8) at 8 years of life, the capacity is down to either about 82% or 85% depending on SOC average. We're talking like 8-15 miles of range difference.

https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy16osti/66708.pdf

Is it really this insignificant/small? If so, I may just stick with 80% or 90% charge limits for more power output. I can't drive it in Chill mode as I can feel a reduction in power all the time and it drives me nuts. I'm pretty sure I couldn't handle 55% SOC every morning.

My understanding is that, in the US, except for the SR+ Model 3 that uses an LFP battery Tesla Model 3, Y vehicles in the US use the NMC type battery. (From the chart it is unclear why NMC-2 performs so much better than NMC-1 and 3).

If you want full power available on demand the battery SOC need to be at or greater than ~70% (battery temperature also affects maximum available power.) If you set out in winter with the blue snowflake symbol know that the maximum available power will be reduced in addition to limited or no regenerative braking. The lack of regen when the battery SOC is too high or when the battery is too cold is now OBE. You can enable blended friction braking so that when full regen is not available (too full, too cold) the Tesla Model Y will slow as expected when you lift your foot from the accelerator pedal. The blending of the regenerative braking and the application of the friction brakes at the limit of available regenerative braking is seamless. Usually the only way to know is to look at the power band display (starts green for regen and transitions to grey for friction braking) as the vehicle slows.

8 years is a long time. Tesla will have made many improvements to the Model Y in addition to improved battery performance. That is one reason I am not concerned about the battery capacity. At 8 years (even at 6 years) the technology of today's Tesla Model Y will be out of date.

 

[metroplex]

My understanding is that, in the US, except for the SR+ Model 3 that uses an LFP battery Tesla Model 3, Y vehicles in the US use the NMC type battery. (From the chart it is unclear why NMC-2 performs so much better than NMC-1 and 3).

If you want full power available on demand the battery SOC need to be at or greater than ~70% (battery temperature also affects maximum available power.) If you set out in winter with the blue snowflake symbol know that the maximum available power will be reduced in addition to limited or no regenerative braking. The lack of regen when the battery SOC is too high or when the battery is too cold is now OBE. You can enable blended friction braking so that when full regen is not available (too full, too cold) the Tesla Model Y will slow as expected when you lift your foot from the accelerator pedal. The blending of the regenerative braking and the application of the friction brakes at the limit of available regenerative braking is seamless. Usually the only way to know is to look at the power band display (starts green for regen and transitions to grey for friction braking) as the vehicle slows.

8 years is a long time. Tesla will have made many improvements to the Model Y in addition to improved battery performance. That is one reason I am not concerned about the battery capacity. At 8 years (even at 6 years) the technology of today's Tesla Model Y will be out of date.

The US M3LR should be NCA, not NMC according to this:

[Wiki] Akkuwiki - Model 3 / Model Y

Welchen Akku habe ich? <details><summary>COC oder Zulassungsbescheinigung</summary>Feld K → Wir notieren die Version → 13, 14, 15… Feld D.2 → Wir notieren die Variante → E3D, E3CD, E5CD… Type Approval → Wir notieren die letzte Zahl hinter dem Stern → 13, 14, 15… Variant → Wir notieren die...

tff-forum.de

But I know about the colder temps affecting power. Anything below 50F ambient seems to slow mine down. There's reduced brake regen but not so much I have to use my mechanical brakes. I just feel the reduced power is more prevalent. I tried Chill mode even in the summer and it was like driving a slug.
I also have the charts showing power output versus SOC / temperature and there's some noticeable power reduction between 70% to 90%.


I was just curious if that actual capacity delta after 8 years was so small. I can keep my ICE cars for 10-20 years at a time. I don't feel compelled to switch cars all the time.

 

[jcanoe]

I don't know about the capacity delta (after 8 years.) There are so many variables it is impossible to predict what will happen to an EV battery after so many years.

Recently an article noted that early production Tesla Roadsters with the original battery and 200 mile range were still performing as when new. Some of the Roadster vehicles that later received a battery upgrade in 2016 that promised 400 mile range never achieved more than 200 mile range and are now failing.

 

[Thunder7ga]

With the Y, my wife drives about 45 miles a day round trip, which uses about 10% each way. We have been charging it to 70% nightly so it will sit at work for 10 hours at 60% and arrive back home with around 50%, then repeat.

With our 3, it doesn't go many places these days with me working from home. So I keep it around 55% all the time. I drive it to the store and small errands, and about 1-2 times a week charge it back up to 55%. It rarely gets too far below 45-48%, expect on the rare bigger trip at which point it gets charged up higher as needed.

 

[metroplex]

With the Y, my wife drives about 45 miles a day round trip, which uses about 10% each way. We have been charging it to 70% nightly so it will sit at work for 10 hours at 60% and arrive back home with around 50%, then repeat.

With our 3, it doesn't go many places these days with me working from home. So I keep it around 55% all the time. I drive it to the store and small errands, and about 1-2 times a week charge it back up to 55%. It rarely gets too far below 45-48%, expect on the rare bigger trip at which point it gets charged up higher as needed.

Do you have any battery degradation report/data for your 2018 M3?

 

[Thunder7ga]

Do you have any battery degradation report/data for your 2018 M3?

I am at about 295 for 100% charge...but before the pandemic, I was putting 150 miles a day on it and running it hard up and down the highways daily. Had 50k miles on her by 18 months old. It is only since the pandemic that she has been a lower milage queen. She likely needs to be calibrated to reflect any real degradation.

I will note that before starting my charging level to 55% due to the lower needs, the 100% charge was at 278...so it has calibrated itself some with this newish charge schedule/level.

 

[digitaldriver]

I know this is a popular subject, but there still doesn't seem to be a consensus as to what's best for daily charging limits. No official
number from Tesla in the manual other than "the best way to keep your battery healthy is to keep it plugged in ".

So if most folks set it to 80%, why not set it to 90%? Is there any practical reason not to?

None of the above. Panasonic 55%. Lg 60% if you want a compromise that will reduce degradation.