Maximizing battery life/ minimizing degradation

[NikolaTs]

Hey folks, so now that I took delivery of my LR MY, I’m curious on how I should be managing my battery for maximum lifespan. I’m sure this has been discussed as nauseum already and I know supercharging isn’t great on battery life, keep it below 80% and above 40% daily, etc etc and I’ve seen some videos like this one

but specifically my question is this:

1. With Covid and wfh currently we’re driving less than 30 miles per day. Most days we use like 3- 4%. I know a plugged in tesla is a happy tesla but is it better to charge once or twice a week from 50 to 70, or a few times a day charge it from 66 to 70? I’d think it’s better to charge less often like every other day or once a week if I don’t need the range daily. I know lithium batteries like being stored around 50% SOC so trying to keep it around there vs an unnecessarily high 70% SOC would be better, no?

2. Is it better to charge when the battery is warm? Like if I can plug in at midday when it’s 50F out vs overnight when it’s 34F, I’d assume closer as possible to like 60F is better for the battery and less wasted energy to bring the battery up to temp? And conversely in the summer I assume it’s better to charge when it’s not 100F out and closer to 60 in the cooler hours?

3. Is there any reason not to charge at 48amps, even if I don’t need the speed? Most of my charging sessions are done in an hour or two, much sooner than the 8-12 hours I have before I need the car again

 

[mswlogo]

It is more efficient to charge when warmer. But keep in mind there is huge lag. Last night’s cold may last all day in the battery.

So if it’s 50F during the day and 32F at night the battery will probably swing between 37 and 43 and it won’t make all that much difference when you charge.

Most efficient time to charge is when you get home with a warm battery. In winter.

Supercharging occasionally I think is good for the battery. Happy Tesla is not an overcharged one (plugged in or not).

 

[jjrandorin]

1. No, its not better to to run it down farther to charge it back up. There is zero benefit to that. If you have to do that, you can, but since you dont have to , there is zero reason to.

2. Its more efficient to charge when its warm, yes, but you are not going to lose enough energy to lose sleep over it. The car manages all that just fine without us working about it.

3. No, there isnt.

I’m sure this has been discussed as nauseum already

As you surmise, yes. There is a 167 page thread (not 167 posts, 167 pages of posts) in the model 3 subforum on this topic, and the battery in the model Y is exactly the same so its the same discussion:

Range Loss Over Time, What Can Be Expected, Efficiency, How to Maintain Battery Health

i the car seems to now take OVC readings and recalibrate preferably WITHOUT sleeping and by keeping the car awake. I have noticed this too. Yesterday i was doing some work in garage and the car was doing some strange sound with radiators fan, maybe trying to equalize the battery ? Car was...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[jcanoe]

You can leave your Tesla vehicle plugged in if you want to follow Tesla's recommendation but for daily driving there is no need to do so more than once per day. It is inconvenient to have to unplug every time you drive and this puts unnecessary wear on the charging port and charging cable and connector.

The battery pack is going to lose some capacity over time no matter what you do; might as well enjoy the ride.

 

[Rocky_H]

3. Is there any reason not to charge at 48amps, even if I don’t need the speed? Most of my charging sessions are done in an hour or two, much sooner than the 8-12 hours I have before I need the car again

3. No, there isnt.

For the car? No, not at all. But for the charging cables? Yes. There is kind of a long history of some shortened life span and higher failure rates with Tesla cables if they are always run at their maximum rated amps every day. It heats them up more, and that frequent thermal cycling can tend to weaken solder joints and connections and electronics, etc. Turning it down by several amps can keep it cooler and reduce how far that daily temperature swing is and extend the life of your equipment.

 

[GtiMart]

Then @Rocky_H , this would apply for a Gen3 wall charger at 48A but for a Gen2 whose max is like 80A, running it at 48A wouldn't even be close to maximum. Am I reading this right?

 

[Rocky_H]

Then @Rocky_H , this would apply for a Gen3 wall charger at 48A but for a Gen2 whose max is like 80A, running it at 48A wouldn't even be close to maximum. Am I reading this right?

Right. Way back when, the old Gen1 mobile cables running at their max of 40A and the older Gen1 and 2 wall connectors running at their max of 80A both had some pretty frequent failure rates. Tesla seemed to have a pretty generous (to themselves) idea of how those should be built to supposedly meet that amp specification, and they were fairly marginal and weak when run at maximum all the time. And we've already seen that their original build for the Gen3 wall connector at max 48A was far worse.

So yes, as you say, running an older Gen2 wall connector at 48A instead of the supposed 80A max rating is leaving plenty of margin to not be as hot. And my almost 8 year old original Gen1 mobile connector is still going perfectly, which I think is due in part to my using it at 31A daily instead of the 40A it can do.

 

[OCJeff]

This is a great topic and I had the very same questions running through my head recently. I often WFH, and dropping off my son at school is no more than a 15 mile round trip. If I know for a fact that I won't use more than 10% in a day, should I keep it charged to ~ 50-60%? Or am I better off charging it to 80%, and then charge it back up to 80% (I assume this is not what I should be doing). I've been keeping the charge limit around 70%, and then when I go to work (50 miles one way) charge it up to 85% and then when I get back home I'm back around 70%.

I'm planning on a long trip this weekend (long for my tesla will be 120 miles). I had planned to charge it up to 90-95% just to give the wife less range anxiety, and then I expect to end up at my destination with about 45-40% charge left (38% according to ABRP). My concern is I don't have home charging infrastructure there. I can access a Gen 2 SC, and get back most of my range, but the car will charge on the NEMA 5-15 overnight until I can get back to the SC and then after that until my return home. Climate is moderate (50*F to 105*F So Cal weather) if that matters at all.

Here are my questions:

1. If I know I won't use > 10% in a day, any reason to charge it over 60%?
2. I know it's bad (not great) to charge to 100%, but if I'm going to quickly use up > 50% of the charge on a drive, is that still bad? Or is it "avoid 100% at all costs)?

Looking forward to the feedback.

Happy driving!

 

[gt2690b]

One rule of thumb I always used was don’t let the battery be cold and dead ... also not hot and charged .. I always tried to end my drives at 45-50% so it was idle there the longest... except in the winter I’d charge right away to 60 or 70 since the battery was already warm... but likely lower in the summer 50 or 60ish depending how far I’m going the next day and I’d schedule those late night / early morning so the battery wasn’t hot

 

[804son]

I have a short commute and typically don't use over 10% in a day. My practice has been to charge to 60% on weekdays when commuting and not much else, then 70% on weekends when I do more driving.

 

[legendsk]

I have a YLR on order that should arrive this month and I'm gearing up for it and have some general questions for which I haven't been able to dig out the answers in the many threads on here, so here goes.
I did get a wall connector, but haven't opened the box yet.
I live in an RV park and have an electric golf cart that I have been using for the short trips around the park - to the office, dumpster, club house, etc., to avoid short trips in my ICE car.
Available to me, close to the carport is a 240v 14-50 outlet and a 120v 1-15 outlet. The 240v circuit is shared with other things, so I would rather not draw more than 15 or 20 amps from it.
My normal driving is 50 miles every 3 weeks or so. 3 or 4 times per year a 100 mile trip.
I'm in deep south Texas where it may reach in the summer 120ºF max and in the winter 30ºF min.

1. I assume the WC or the car(?) can be set to limit the current draw to 15 A?
2. And be set to start charging at a particular level and charge to a particular charge level?
3. What level of charge is most healthy for the batteries to sit at for that down time? I don't need sentry, summon, etc.
4. What level of charge is most healthy for the batteries to get down to, before charging?
5. What level of charge is most healthy for the batteries to charge up to, since I won't be going anywhere near 300 miles. And it will be 3 weeks before I need 50 miles.
6. I assume the Y would thrive on 2 or 3 daily trips of less than 1 mile? And I wouldn't think those would be enough to worry about.

 

[jcanoe]

1. I assume the WC or the car(?) can be set to limit the current draw to 15 A?
2. And be set to start charging at a particular level and charge to a particular charge level?
3. What level of charge is most healthy for the batteries to sit at for that down time? I don't need sentry, summon, etc.
4. What level of charge is most healthy for the batteries to get down to, before charging?
5. What level of charge is most healthy for the batteries to charge up to, since I won't be going anywhere near 300 miles. And it will be 3 weeks before I need 50 miles.
6. I assume the Y would thrive on 2 or 3 daily trips of less than 1 mile? And I wouldn't think those would be enough to worry about.

1) Yes; the Wall Connector is configured for the circuit (15A up to 60A), the Wall Connector limits charging to 80% of the circuit rating (per the national electrical code.) The Tesla vehicle charging settings enables you to set the maximum amperage for Level 1 (120V) and Level 2 (240V) charging, for a location, i.e. home, work etc. Note that you can't set the maximum amperage when using a Supercharger.
2) Yes, vehicle; set to charge daily between 50% up to 90%; Only charge to 100% when you take a longer trip
3) Lots of opinions; take your pick 60%/70%/80%/90%
4) Probably 20% (some would say 30%) as required
5) If only driving short distances 60% daily should be adequate. (Peak power output may be slightly down if the battery is less than 70% but unless you are doing 1/4 mile runs you would never notice.)
6) Short trips are no problem but you get spoiled, want to precondition before driving for 5 to 7 minutes to cool off or warm the interior. That can use 1 to 2% each time you precondition unless plugged in using Level 2 (32A or greater; if less than 32A then you will lose some charge while preconditioning. The Tesla vehicle will charge a bit longer later the next time you plug in.)
7) Tesla recommends plugging in each day (I would follow this recommendation but be prepared to unplug during electrical storms unless you like gambling that your expensive new vehicle won't be damaged by lightning. It is rare but it happens.)

Plugging in does not automatically cool or warm the Tesla battery pack. Battery warming only happens while preconditioning, charging or driving. You may want to use a vehicle cover to help keep the Tesla cooler in summer, keep off dirt and dust.

Rodents can be a problem. Rodents can get inside, underneath, even the HVAC vents and glove box shredding available material for building nests. Rodents can also chew hoses and wire harnesses due to these being vegan, i.e. soy based.

 

[WindPower]

Available to me, close to the carport is a 240v 14-50 outlet and a 120v 1-15 outlet…
My normal driving is 50 miles every 3 weeks or so. 3 or 4 times per year a 100 mile trip.

A friend who has a Y currently only has a 120v 15 amp plug in his garage and he’s perfectly happy using that to charge. He’s driving around 120 miles a week.

So there’s no reason why you can’t use 120v (level 1) to charge.

 

[jcanoe]

So there’s no reason why you can’t use 120v (level 1) to charge.

You can and many do use 120V (Level 1) however charging at 120V has been demonstrated to be significantly less efficient than charging at 240V (Level 2.) Level 1 efficiency is 70% to 80%; Level 2 efficiency is 90% to 94%. You could save at least 10% every month by charging using Level 2, this savings adds up over time.

 

[mswlogo]

I have a YLR on order that should arrive this month and I'm gearing up for it and have some general questions for which I haven't been able to dig out the answers in the many threads on here, so here goes.
I did get a wall connector, but haven't opened the box yet.
I live in an RV park and have an electric golf cart that I have been using for the short trips around the park - to the office, dumpster, club house, etc., to avoid short trips in my ICE car.
Available to me, close to the carport is a 240v 14-50 outlet and a 120v 1-15 outlet. The 240v circuit is shared with other things, so I would rather not draw more than 15 or 20 amps from it.
My normal driving is 50 miles every 3 weeks or so. 3 or 4 times per year a 100 mile trip.
I'm in deep south Texas where it may reach in the summer 120ºF max and in the winter 30ºF min.

1. I assume the WC or the car(?) can be set to limit the current draw to 15 A?
2. And be set to start charging at a particular level and charge to a particular charge level?
3. What level of charge is most healthy for the batteries to sit at for that down time? I don't need sentry, summon, etc.
4. What level of charge is most healthy for the batteries to get down to, before charging?
5. What level of charge is most healthy for the batteries to charge up to, since I won't be going anywhere near 300 miles. And it will be 3 weeks before I need 50 miles.
6. I assume the Y would thrive on 2 or 3 daily trips of less than 1 mile? And I wouldn't think those would be enough to worry about.

Hello? 50 miles every 3 weeks !! You do realize you’ll have about that much in phantom drain, if you are lucky.

Also, no, 2 or 3 trips of less than a mile would not thrive in any car. You’ll spend more energy heating or cooling it for the trip than transportation. Perfect for a golf cart. I have one exactly for that purpose. More fun too.

Sounds to me you don’t really need a car. Certainly wasting money on any Tesla.

Cars are made to be driven. You’ll need to take the car out and turn off regen to keep the rotors from seizing up.

 

[mswlogo]

You can and many do use 120V (Level 1) however charging at 120V has been demonstrated to be significantly less efficient than charging at 240V (Level 2.) Level 1 efficiency is 70% to 80%; Level 2 efficiency is 90% to 94%. You could save at least 10% every month by charging using Level 2, this savings adds up over time.

First, at 50 miles every 3 weeks his efficiency will be such *sugar* it doesn’t matter. Second the difference between level 1 to level 2 charging is not nearly as much as you are indicating.

 

[mswlogo]

1) Yes; the Wall Connector is configured for the circuit (15A up to 60A), the Wall Connector limits charging to 80% of the circuit rating (per the national electrical code.) The Tesla vehicle charging settings enables you to set the maximum amperage for Level 1 (120V) and Level 2 (240V) charging, for a location, i.e. home, work etc. Note that you can't set the maximum amperage when using a Supercharger.
2) Yes, vehicle; set to charge daily between 50% up to 90%; Only charge to 100% when you take a longer trip
3) Lots of opinions; take your pick 60%/70%/80%/90%
4) Probably 20% (some would say 30%) as required
5) If only driving short distances 60% daily should be adequate. (Peak power output may be slightly down if the battery is less than 70% but unless you are doing 1/4 mile runs you would never notice.)
6) Short trips are no problem but you get spoiled, want to precondition before driving for 5 to 7 minutes to cool off or warm the interior. That can use 1 to 2% each time you precondition unless plugged in using Level 2 (32A or greater; if less than 32A then you will lose some charge while preconditioning. The Tesla vehicle will charge a bit longer later the next time you plug in.)
7) Tesla recommends plugging in each day (I would follow this recommendation but be prepared to unplug during electrical storms unless you like gambling that your expensive new vehicle won't be damaged by lightning. It is rare but it happens.)

Plugging in does not automatically cool or warm the Tesla battery pack. Battery warming only happens while preconditioning, charging or driving. You may want to use a vehicle cover to help keep the Tesla cooler in summer, keep off dirt and dust.

Rodents can be a problem. Rodents can get inside, underneath, even the HVAC vents and glove box shredding available material for building nests. Rodents can also chew hoses and wire harnesses due to these being vegan, i.e. soy based.

Precondition for 5-7 minutes for a 2 minute drive?

 

[jcanoe]

Precondition for 5-7 minutes for a 2 minute drive?

In July when the interior of the vehicle can be 140F with the windows closed, I always precondition.

 

[mswlogo]

In July when the interior of the vehicle can be 140F with the windows closed, I always precondition.

I always crack my windows when the sun is out, park in shady spots if I can find one (and usually do), use sun shield if I can’t and park in a garage at home. I never let my cars bake and it’s always comfortable getting in. Much more energy efficient too. Much better for the car in general too. Why waste fuel? Even if my car did bake I’d air it out a few minutes before letting A/C fight it. With new Tesla’s open the windows 5 minutes before you head out. If they are open and it rains close them on your phone. Use Mother Nature to pre condition.

 

[jcanoe]

You’ll need to take the car out and turn off regen to keep the rotors from seizing up.

How exactly would you do that, i.e. turn off regen?