How often do you charge to 100%?

[Black/Black MS]

My charging situation now is that it is convenient for me to charge to 100% once per week and not charge at all the rest of the week (but without having to run the battery below 10%). I know charging to 100% frequently is not recommended, but I also know many think that is out of an abundance of caution and that if you're not doing it daily battery degradation is minimal.

How frequently do you charge to 100%? Comment if you have observations on whether your charging routine has affected your battery capacity.

(software limited S60s excluded)

 

[Lloyd]

I charge to 100 % every time I leave on a longer trip. I don't let it sit here, however. I try an time my charge so I depart immediately after the battery gets to 100%

 

[KidDoc]

If I am leaving town I charge to 100%. The situation black/black is doing is not recommended by Tesla (e.g. they recommend plug in when you can) but I don't know if there is any real data showing it decreases battery life span. I hope to keep my 2014 until 2024 and upgrade to a Roadster so I do what I can to extend battery life.

 

[Black/Black MS]

The issue of long-term battery degradation is sort-of academic for me, as my lease is only a couple years. The being said, with 10k miles on the odometer I haven't yet seen my indicated rated range drop a single mile when I charge it up. I think Tesla is probably very conservative in their battery guidance and also the expectations they set for batter life. You hear stories of people with 100k+ miles who still get 90%+ of their original rated range.

 

[jerry33]

It's more than 4x per year, but less than once a month. However, in four years and 90K miles, I estimate less than 3% degradation, so I don't see it being a problem--as long as you drive shortly after it's full. Leaving it at 100% is going to be bad, although I don't believe anyone actually knows how bad.

 

[xyeahtony]

Anytime i go on a long trip, i charge to 90% the day before, then top off to 100% and try to time it within 1-2 hours before i leave.

 

[sdorn]

Everytime I go on a trip I set it to charge to 99% the night before (usually about 8 - 9 hours before leaving), and then when I get up in the morning it is usually down to 97% or 98% and I start it charging again while I'm showering, etc. so that it is right at 100% when I leave.

I probably do this at least once per month, and sometimes 2 or 3 times a month. I also have a lease and am not really worried about battery degradation, but also don't think what I'm doing is particularly harmful to the battery. The car is kept in a garage, so it isn't experiencing any extreme temperatures while charging or afterwards either.

 

[roblab]

I bought the larger battery. It charges faster. I have lots of range, even at 90%. I have no need to charge to 100%, even on long trip legs. Since I know how far I can go, I don't understand why anyone would charge to 100% for no reason, or drive the car down to 5% or so for no reason (or "reasoning"). The car tells me how far to the next charger or supercharger or address, to the mile. It gives me the charge I have, by the mile, and I know to add a percentage if I plan to drive FAST or UPHILL. It's not that hard. It's not a gas car where you can't tell how far you can go.

So what's the worry about having to charge to 100%? It takes a lot longer, and there is some evidence that it might be hard on the battery over time. Sounds dumb to me. Just like driving it down to low charge numbers. Why do it?

 

[sdorn]

I bought the larger battery. It charges faster. I have lots of range, even at 90%. I have no need to charge to 100%, even on long trip legs. Since I know how far I can go, I don't understand why anyone would charge to 100% for no reason, or drive the car down to 5% or so for no reason (or "reasoning"). The car tells me how far to the next charger or supercharger or address, to the mile. It gives me the charge I have, by the mile, and I know to add a percentage if I plan to drive FAST or UPHILL. It's not that hard. It's not a gas car where you can't tell how far you can go.

So what's the worry about having to charge to 100%? It takes a lot longer, and there is some evidence that it might be hard on the battery over time. Sounds dumb to me. Just like driving it down to low charge numbers. Why do it?

In my case my trips are virtually always day trips that don't involve a stop to charge. I am usually planning to be driving around from time to time all day and am not sure exactly how many miles I might need to go, what detours I might need to take, etc. so I want to have as much range as possible so I don't have to worry about it. That was one of the main reasons I got the 100kWH battery in the first place.

In my part of the country (Southeast) the superchargers are all at least 90 miles apart and unless you are going to a very specific place you likely aren't going to be anywhere near a supercharger when driving around during the day. Even when I take a day trip to Chattanooga to take my kids to Rock City or the Aquarium it is about 30 miles out of the way to drive all the way over to the airport to use the supercharger. Stupid to do that when I can just charge to 100% and make it from Atlanta to Chattanooga and back and still have enough extra range in case we want to make an extra stop somewhere or take the scenic route home.

 

[Black/Black MS]

I charge to 100 % every time I leave on a longer trip. I don't let it sit here, however. I try an time my charge so I depart immediately after the battery gets to 100%

It's more than 4x per year, but less than once a month. However, in four years and 90K miles, I estimate less than 3% degradation, so I don't see it being a problem--as long as you drive shortly after it's full. Leaving it at 100% is going to be bad, although I don't believe anyone actually knows how bad.

Anytime i go on a long trip, i charge to 90% the day before, then top off to 100% and try to time it within 1-2 hours before i leave.

Everytime I go on a trip I set it to charge to 99% the night before (usually about 8 - 9 hours before leaving), and then when I get up in the morning it is usually down to 97% or 98% and I start it charging again while I'm showering, etc. so that it is right at 100% when I leave.

I probably do this at least once per month, and sometimes 2 or 3 times a month. I also have a lease and am not really worried about battery degradation, but also don't think what I'm doing is particularly harmful to the battery. The car is kept in a garage, so it isn't experiencing any extreme temperatures while charging or afterwards either.

This is new info to me. I'm aware that it's better for the battery to charge to 90% rather than 100%, but this is the first I've heard that when charging to 100 it's best to start driving right away (presumably so that the car does not stay at 100% very long). Is that right?

 

[Hugh Mannity]

Anytime i go on a long trip, i charge to 90% the day before, then top off to 100% and try to time it within 1-2 hours before i leave.

Yeah that ^^

 

[tga]

This is new info to me. I'm aware that it's better for the battery to charge to 90% rather than 100%, but this is the first I've heard that when charging to 100 it's best to start driving right away (presumably so that the car does not stay at 100% very long). Is that right?

Yes, charging to 100% in and of itself isn't necessarily bad, it's sitting at 100% that's bad, especially at high temperatures.

If you are charging once a week and then parking the car, it's much better for the battery to stop at 90% (and try not to go below 10% - 20% is better). It may not effect you much during the lease, but the next owner will thank you.

On days I work from home, I leave the charge slider at 60%. The night before a long trip/commute a charge to 90%, then top off before I leave. I bump the slider to 100% on the app when I wake up, and it's at or close to 100% when I leave.

Everytime I go on a trip I set it to charge to 99% the night before (usually about 8 - 9 hours before leaving), and then when I get up in the morning it is usually down to 97% or 98% and I start it charging again while I'm showering, etc. so that it is right at 100% when I leave.

Charging to 99% and letting is sit isn't really any better than going to 100%. Better to go to 90% and top off in the morning, or delay the start time to minimize time spent at a full charge.

 

[TexasEV]

This is new info to me. I'm aware that it's better for the battery to charge to 90% rather than 100%, but this is the first I've heard that when charging to 100 it's best to start driving right away (presumably so that the car does not stay at 100% very long). Is that right?

Then you haven't read about this much on the forums, have you? It's mentioned in replies to every post in which this question is asked.

 

[Black/Black MS]

If you are charging once a week and then parking the car, it's much better for the battery to stop at 90% (and try not to go below 10% - 20% is better). It may not effect you much during the lease, but the next owner will thank you.

Good to know. This is only a temporary situation, so we're talking about maybe 5 or 6 full charges in total. sounds like the fact that temps are in the 60s will help.

 

[sdorn]

Yes, charging to 100% in and of itself isn't necessarily bad, it's sitting at 100% that's bad, especially at high temperatures.

If you are charging once a week and then parking the car, it's much better for the battery to stop at 90% (and try not to go below 10% - 20% is better). It may not effect you much during the lease, but the next owner will thank you.

On days I work from home, I leave the charge slider at 60%. The night before a long trip/commute a charge to 90%, then top off before I leave. I bump the slider to 100% on the app when I wake up, and it's at or close to 100% when I leave.

Charging to 99% and letting is sit isn't really any better than going to 100%. Better to go to 90% and top off in the morning, or delay the start time to minimize time spent at a full charge.

The 99% isn't to protect the battery, its so that I can bump the slider to 100% from the app and tell it to start charging without having to go out to the car so it will be as full as possible when I leave. If I could start it charging again from the app otherwise, I'd just set it to 100% the night before. I'm not worried about it sitting at 100% for less than 12 hours, especially not in a climate controlled garage.

I've done the whole waiting to bump it from 90% to 100% the next morning, but invariably I forget to do it in the morning until 20 minutes before I have to leave and that isn't enough time to get from 90% to 100%. You need an hour or so for that.

 

[boonedocks]

I don't often....but when I do...

 

[suraj1194]

2-3x a week. I charge to 90% overnight and then let it charge to 100% when I wake up on days when I've plenty of driving to do. I don't let it sit at 100%, and drive off pretty much right when it tops up.

 

[kingjamez]

Time spent at high charge voltage is what causes dendrite growth and thus capacity loss. The less often you get your cell above 90%SOC the longer your battery will last. The below chart isn't specific to Tesla batteries, but the basic principle still applies. To extract the most energy out of the battery over its life time the best bet is to cycle it between 75% and 65%. This is not practical though, but widening it to 75%-25% (50% total battery capacity) will still get decent range and really dramatically improve the lifetime of the battery.

Compare the 75-25 and the 100-50 lines below. Same amount of energy used, vastly different lifetime results.

Obviously this is not practical all the time, but keep it in mind when you are planning your overall charging strategy.

-Jim

 

[chibi_kurochan]

Time spent at high charge voltage is what causes dendrite growth and thus capacity loss. The less often you get your cell above 90%SOC the longer your battery will last. The below chart isn't specific to Tesla batteries, but the basic principle still applies. To extract the most energy out of the battery over its life time the best bet is to cycle it between 75% and 65%. This is not practical though, but widening it to 75%-25% (50% total battery capacity) will still get decent range and really dramatically improve the lifetime of the battery.

Obviously this is not practical all the time, but keep it in mind when you are planning your overall charging strategy.

-Jim

This chart explains it all.

Having said that, i charge to 100% everyday! =P since we have software limited MS60 (75kWh pack)!
So never have to worry about this problem.

 

[Max*]

As needed*. I don't hesitate to do it.

*I only need it for road trips though, and we've been driving less, so maybe every 3-4months