MASTER THREAD: 2021 Model 3 - Charge data, battery discussion etc

[Terrydesc]

Charging advice.
Just picked up our new M3 LR we leave for Arizona for 4 months during the winter. Wondering if someone can advise me the proper technique for leaving the car while sitting in the garage.
One dealer said plug it into 120 and leave it at about 70%, another dealer said use the Tesla wall connector and leave it at about 85% as that will help keep the 12 volt charged (I do have the new Lithium 12 volt) A side note the garage would be just right around freezing temps for most of the winter. I find 85% a little high but really hoping someone with some good knowledge of battery care can chime in.
Thanks in advance
Terry

 

[Lindenwood]

Charging advice.
Just picked up our new M3 LR we leave for Arizona for 4 months during the winter. Wondering if someone can advise me the proper technique for leaving the car while sitting in the garage.
One dealer said plug it into 120 and leave it at about 70%, another dealer said use the Tesla wall connector and leave it at about 85% as that will help keep the 12 volt charged (I do have the new Lithium 12 volt) A side note the garage would be just right around freezing temps for most of the winter. I find 85% a little high but really hoping someone with some good knowledge of battery care can chime in.
Thanks in advance
Terry

Everything I can find says 50% is fine. As to keeping 12v charger, even the Owners Manual talks about the 12v not being charged if the High Voltage battery reaches 0%. This indicates to me that the HV battery will continue charging the 12v battery even at low SOC.

I’d probably go with 50%.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Tesla wall connector and leave it at about 85% as that will help keep the 12 volt charged (I do have the new Lithium 12 volt)

Nonsense from that guy. 12V has to be recharged periodically, regardless of SOC, until the HV battery is completely discharged.

A side note the garage would be just right around freezing temps for most of the winter.

Perfect conditions for the battery! Leave it plugged in at 50%; that is what the current best known practices elsewhere in threads here suggests is the best option.

 

[Terrydesc]

Thanks so much for that info guys, will pug it in a set it to 50%, maybe a dumb question would it be wise or acceptable to put a battery tender on the !2 volt while gone away for the winter?
Once again thanks for your info.
TD

 

[Lindenwood]

Thanks so much for that info guys, will pug it in a set it to 50%, maybe a dumb question would it be wise or acceptable to put a battery tender on the !2 volt while gone away for the winter?
Once again thanks for your info.
TD

From what I have read, the car will periodically check all of its systems and may get confused by the atypical voltage across the 12v battery.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

maybe a dumb question would it be wise or acceptable to put a battery tender on the !2 volt while gone away for the winter?

If you could make it work correctly so that the car never detects it and rarely has to come out of sleep to recharge it, you’d potentially save a lot of energy (at least 30kWh over four months). But practically speaking this is not possible, and you’ll have the lithium “12v” as I recall, so it would be hard to find an appropriate tender in any case. In the end the car will serve very well as an optimal battery tender, one which will consume an average of about 10-15W (value is for older vehicles; not optimal from that standpoint; no idea if improved for newer vehicles).

There is no need to tend the battery; the car takes care of it, waking up periodically to recharge it.

 

[Terrydesc]

Perfect thanks a bunch for the info

 

[Lindenwood]

you’d potentially save a lot of energy (at least 30kWh over four months).

to be clear, this is maybe $5 .

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

to be clear, this is maybe $5 .

In California it could be as much as $15, depending on your marginal rate. And it adds up.

But the tender would also use energy, I’d estimate you’d save something like 150Wh/day. In any case not worth it. And it would be hard to make work.

 

[NiNJaMoNKeH21]

Hi all, I am new here. Owner of a 2021 Model 3 Performance in US, took delivery October 2021. I am trying to figure out the size of the battery pack in my car, as I have been noticing my car's actual range is nowhere near the 315 mile EPA rating.

I looked under the car and got this number from the battery pack sticker: 1104422-00-W

I've done the formula to calculate battery capacity from this thread: 203 Wh/mi * 284 mi projected range / .80 (SoC) = 72065 Wh, which gives me 72kWh.

I am wondering if my car should have the 82kWh battery, or is it 75kWh?

 

[eivissa]

Hi all, I am new here. Owner of a 2021 Model 3 Performance in US, took delivery October 2021. I am trying to figure out the size of the battery pack in my car, as I have been noticing my car's actual range is nowhere near the 315 mile EPA rating.

I looked under the car and got this number from the battery pack sticker: 1104422-00-W

I've done the formula to calculate battery capacity from this thread: 203 Wh/mi * 284 mi projected range / .80 (SoC) = 72065 Wh, which gives me 72kWh.

I am wondering if my car should have the 82kWh battery, or is it 75kWh?

Just by the time it was produced and confirmed by the part number it is the Panasonic 2170L 82kWh pack. This battery pack was introduced in October 2020 worldwide in the M3P and is still used in the latest 2022 US made cars.

 

[Lindenwood]

Hi all, I am new here. Owner of a 2021 Model 3 Performance in US, took delivery October 2021. I am trying to figure out the size of the battery pack in my car, as I have been noticing my car's actual range is nowhere near the 315 mile EPA rating.

I looked under the car and got this number from the battery pack sticker: 1104422-00-W

I've done the formula to calculate battery capacity from this thread: 203 Wh/mi * 284 mi projected range / .80 (SoC) = 72065 Wh, which gives me 72kWh.

I am wondering if my car should have the 82kWh battery, or is it 75kWh?

Unless you are gently driving around at 40mph, just like gas cars, you’ll almost never get close to the EPA range (or EPA highway MPG). Most of us are getting 220-250 miles at highway speeds.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Hi all, I am new here. Owner of a 2021 Model 3 Performance in US, took delivery October 2021. I am trying to figure out the size of the battery pack in my car, as I have been noticing my car's actual range is nowhere near the 315 mile EPA rating.

I looked under the car and got this number from the battery pack sticker: 1104422-00-W

I've done the formula to calculate battery capacity from this thread: 203 Wh/mi * 284 mi projected range / .80 (SoC) = 72065 Wh, which gives me 72kWh.

I am wondering if my car should have the 82kWh battery, or is it 75kWh?

As @eivissa said, you have the “82kWh.”

You have an estimated 11% capacity loss but there are a few instances (rare) for this pack where this has been overly pessimistic, and then apparently recovered. Just have to see whether your ~280rmi at 100% (you can charge to 100% and see whether this is correct - the 80% method of the Energy Screen does introduce some extrapolation error) drifts up much.

You should probably expect more like 3-4% loss at this point, but depends on your habits (avg SOC).

 

[NiNJaMoNKeH21]

As @eivissa said, you have the “82kWh.”

You have an estimated 11% capacity loss but there are a few instances (rare) for this pack where this has been overly pessimistic, and then apparently recovered. Just have to see whether your ~280rmi at 100% (you can charge to 100% and see whether this is correct - the 80% method of the Energy Screen does introduce some extrapolation error) drifts up much.

You should probably expect more like 3-4% loss at this point, but depends on your habits (avg SOC).

Thanks for the information. I will try charging to 100% and see what the estimated miles say. I believe it says 315mi.

I have also installed lighter 19 inch wheels, same tire setup as the Long Range model with Sport wheels, so I was expecting some better range as well.
Been running them since December. I changed up the wheel configuration on the display to the 19 inch sport wheels, and this has updated the rated distance in the energy app (the gray rated line) down to ~240 miles. I wonder if this affects the calculations in any way.

Is the estimated 11% capacity loss something to worry about?

 

[Apprunner]

Thanks so much for that info guys, will pug it in a set it to 50%, maybe a dumb question would it be wise or acceptable to put a battery tender on the !2 volt while gone away for the winter?
Once again thanks for your info.
TD

Honestly, you probably won't lose much charge. The battery probably likes to actually be under 50%. I would plug it in and turn off all scheduled charging. I would check the battery level once a week and if it dips below 20%, get it back up a bit. I left my car at 50% unplugged for a couple weeks and it lost 2%.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Is the estimated 11% capacity loss something to worry about?

No. It's not confirmed in your case anyway.

I believe it says 315mi

I'd be surprised based on what you have said so far, unless you made a mistake with the energy screen method.

I changed up the wheel configuration on the display to the 19 inch sport wheels, and this has updated the rated distance in the energy app (the gray rated line) down to ~240 miles. I wonder if this affects the calculations in any way.

That would be interesting; didn't think it did that with 2021 models (the rated line I thought only changed for the 2020 Performance when changing wheels, but I could definitely be wrong about that; I don't own a vehicle of this year, and people tend to not share all the relevant details, so I may just not have the information). And I don't know what you mean by "down to ~240 miles" - that's the wrong units (it's Wh/mi).

Anyway, would be good to see a picture in each case.

I have also installed lighter 19 inch wheels, same tire setup as the Long Range model with Sport wheels, so I was expecting some better range as well.

I wouldn't necessarily expect a significant change. It'll be difficult to notice on a road trip in any case. You'll basically have 200-mile range or so starting at 100%, assuming it's flat. If you cram 18" aero wheels on there and loosen and push in then tighten and then shave your calipers, you might notice that.

 

[AAKEE]

Thanks for the information. I will try charging to 100% and see what the estimated miles say. I believe it says 315mi.

I have also installed lighter 19 inch wheels, same tire setup as the Long Range model with Sport wheels, so I was expecting some better range as well.
Been running them since December. I changed up the wheel configuration on the display to the 19 inch sport wheels, and this has updated the rated distance in the energy app (the gray rated line) down to ~240 miles. I wonder if this affects the calculations in any way.

Is the estimated 11% capacity loss something to worry about?

There was a bug that set the whole system off this winter on the 2021 M3P
Selecting any other wheels than the 20” Überturbine did cause a lot of strange things: The SOC was lower, the range was much lower( even if the 18 or 19” selection was used)
Calculating the capacity with the energy screen gave corrupt very low numbers.

Maybe this is not fixed yet.
Change the setting to the 20% Überturbine and make the calculation again.
When you charge to 100%, use the 20” Übers, otherwise you probably get a corrupt number.
I think it is much more probable that the bug still is present than that your capacity is 72kWh.

I guess you will se 77-79 kWh or so and 485 or more km ( 303-305 or more miles).

 

[NiNJaMoNKeH21]

There was a bug that set the whole system off this winter on the 2021 M3P
Selecting any other wheels than the 20” Überturbine did cause a lot of strange things: The SOC was lower, the range was much lower( even if the 18 or 19” selection was used)
Calculating the capacity with the energy screen gave corrupt very low numbers.

Maybe this is not fixed yet.
Change the setting to the 20% Überturbine and make the calculation again.
When you charge to 100%, use the 20” Übers, otherwise you probably get a corrupt number.
I think it is much more probable that the bug still is present than that your capacity is 72kWh.

I guess you will se 77-79 kWh or so and 485 or more km ( 303-305 or more miles).

Looks like changing to 20" Uber wheels did the trick! Will check the calculation again after charging to 100%. Thanks!

Before: 219 *239 / .73 = ~71.7kWh


After: 219 * 260 / .74 = ~76.9kWh

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Looks like changing to 20" Uber wheels did the trick! Will check the calculation again after charging to 100%. Thanks!

Before: 219 *239 / .73 = ~71.7kWh
View attachment 811930

After: 219 * 260 / .74 = ~76.9kWh
View attachment 811931

Great. So about 4-5% loss, which is perfectly normal at this point (if you want to slow it down just charge to 50% only, routinely - if you can do so without it being a huge pain, which many people cannot). You should see about 301 miles when charged to 100%.

Nice catch @AAKEE - I remembered this issue but I thought it had been fixed. Maybe I should coordinate an add-on post to the Energy Screen sticky to flag this as an ongoing issue. Can't believe they haven't addressed it yet...fallen through the cracks I guess.

 

[jackmott]

Does the Model 3 actively cool the battery when it gets very hot outside? And at what temperature does it kick in? I am wondering if leaving the car plugged in when it is in my garage would cause the car to keep the battery cooler, or whether it would never get that hot anyway.