I leased my 70D. Should I really care about charging only to 90%??

[fabeneag]

I got my 70D delivered at the end of June. For tax deductions purposes, leasing it made far more sense than buying the car. I am going to turn this car in at the end of 36 months. Bottom line is that I don't really care about "battery life" being affected in year 4+ of ownership.

So, is there any other logical reason why I shouldn't charge my battery to 100% each time and maximize the number of miles I can drive for each overnight charge? I don't drive much more than 40 miles per day with the exception of one or two days a month when I drive around 160 miles. Charging to 90% gets me around 212-214 miles and a full charge gets me around 235. Obviously I don't NEED to charge to 100% each time but I can't for the life of me figure out why I wouldn't WANT to charge the car fully?

Does charging the last 10% of battery cost me the same as the prior 90%?

Thanks!

 

[ChadS]

The last few percent of charge is less efficient so it might cost you a little more, though I doubt it will be much.

If you really needed that last 10% I might have a different view, but since it sounds like you don't I think the best thing would be to treat your rented property as the manufacturer recommends - charge to 90% except on days when you really need more.

When I can, I try to avoid damaging anything regardless of whether I think I will get stuck with the bill.

 

[PtG62901]

Should I help destroy something expensive for no reason or not? Let me think? What kind of question is this?

 

[gregd]

The last 10% costs a lot of time so it will cost more (fixed overhead for longer time), and there are downsides besides the loss of battery life. For one, you will lose your regenerative breaking for the first few miles, until the pack discharges enough to have some place to put the energy. That can be a significant safety issue. Also, all the charging, driving, etc. is logged, so Tesla will know what you've done. If there are any questions about how the car was cared for (for example, as indicated by a low estimated range at end of lease), all the logs are there for the inspection. I don't know what the lease agreement says, but I expect such a thing is discussed.

Also, don't forget that someone else will inherit what you have done as a CPO. Could you look him/her in the face and explain why you treated the car that way? This is a Tesla, after all.

 

[ChadFeldheimer]

I have a lease as well. I charged to 100% for a while, but reverted to 90% as a result of the regular reminders on the center console regarding daily charging to 100%. For me, the benefits of having a 100% charge didn't sufficiently offset the annoyance of dismissing the reminder.

Tesla leases aren't particularly cheap. In my humble opinion, as a leasee, you ought to charge the car as you see fit.

 

[gene]

You folks who lease may at the end, decide to actually buy the car.

Why treat anything regardless of who owns it, in reckless manner?

 

[NWeHunt]

I got my 70D delivered at the end of June. For tax deductions purposes, leasing it made far more sense than buying the car. I am going to turn this car in at the end of 36 months. Bottom line is that I don't really care about "battery life" being affected in year 4+ of ownership.

So, is there any other logical reason why I shouldn't charge my battery to 100% each time and maximize the number of miles I can drive for each overnight charge? I don't drive much more than 40 miles per day with the exception of one or two days a month when I drive around 160 miles. Charging to 90% gets me around 212-214 miles and a full charge gets me around 235. Obviously I don't NEED to charge to 100% each time but I can't for the life of me figure out why I wouldn't WANT to charge the car fully?

Does charging the last 10% of battery cost me the same as the prior 90%?

Thanks!

Yes that last 10% is more expensive.

Back when you had an ICE, would you top off your gas tank every day and choose to use the most expensive gas to do so? Somewhat equivalent except that you'd also be adding more annoyance (must dismiss warnings), hurting the value of the car (should you change your mind or circumstances change when lease ends), and not to mention if you didn't keep the car it is a d!(k move.

But to answe that e question, yes it will definitely cost more and over the three year lease it will add up.

 

[pjoseph]

IIRC, the 70 cars were upgradeable to 75 kWh for $3,000 not too long ago. If true, then a 100% charge in reality is ~93%.

Only slightly different than all of the recent 60 owners charging to 100%.

 

[Canuck]

Tesla leases aren't particularly cheap. In my humble opinion, as a leasee, you ought to charge the car as you see fit.

Why would you see fit to treat something recklessly just because it's expensive. I can possibly see your argument in relation to cheaper things but even then it doesn't really make sense. Now, if I was being put out by charging to 90% daily then I can see your point, but the OP is not being put out at all by charring to 90% since he never needs the full 100%.

Why treat anything regardless of who owns it, in reckless manner?

Should I help destroy something expensive for no reason or not? Let me think? What kind of question is this?

These are the thoughts that went through my mind too. The fact that the question is even asked is mindbogglingly.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

IMO doing the right thing is to only charge 90%. But since there is probably nothing in the lease agreement that says you can't charge to 100% everyday if you don't need it, go knock yourself out and do whatever you feel like. Just know it is not the right thing to do.

 

[Max*]

From your question, you never NEED to charge to 100%, you just want to do it... because you can. Sigh...