Keeping MY plugged in without recharging

[harpac]

I am new to the Tesla experience and I have a question about plugging in a MY when it doesn't need a charge. (I have a MY on order).

There are times when I only drive 20 or so miles a day. With my previous Volt, I found it good practice to not top the battery off every single day, and recharge fully when it was empty (well, 10% reserved by the BMS), in a day or 2 later. I did keep it plugged in on hot days and cold days so the battery management system could do it's thing.

On the MY, is it possible to keep it plugged in without having it recharge for a few days to protect the battery?

 

[jjrandorin]

Yes, you just lower your charge percentage, if thats what you want to do. Its not a volt though so there is no "good practice" reason for not charging it, just personal preference.

 

[JBT66]

Yep set a charge limit, and/or set a charge schedule.

You can set when when charging starts. For me that’s 9:30 PM for lower rates. Or set when charging ends which is probably optimal if you have a routine schedule something like 7:30 AM in the morning so it the battery is nice and warmed up and ready to go.

 

[harpac]

I'm beginning to see that things are a little different with the Tesla. Thanks for the responses.

 

[SQLDevDBA]

“A plugged in Tesla is a happy Tesla”

~Wayne Gretzky
~Michael Scott

 

[Feathermerchan]

We are both retired. We only charge on Sundays unless otherwise needed. I have both cars set to charge at 20A and they stop at 80%. We have no regular schedule or TOU electric rate so the charge scheduling is not helpful to me. There are several Superchargers in the DFW area so if I need a quick charge (haven't yet) it's an option.
Mainly you want to stay away from charging to 90% or more and leaving it sit. That is not good for battery life. Use the % charge instead of miles and you'll be happier.

 

[GeekyDoc]

One thing I read which is why I plug in every day is that if plugged in, the Tesla will use the power to charge the 12v battery. Also, super helpful if you use the scheduled departure setting (if electricity charges are not a concern or if you don't have lower rates at certain times) which then pre-conditions the battery 30 minutes prior to departure.

 

[lyrebird]

Another benefit of keep it plugged in is, all activities, such as update, playing music on external speak, pre-heating, even open/shut the trunk doors, etc, will use the external power rather than using your battery.