Model 3: Charge to 80% or 90%?

[CharleyBC]

80 is better unless you need 90.

The data I have seen shows significant growth in the degradation curve above 80.

Could you share those data? I’ve mostly seen anecdotes and conjectures. I’d love some actual data.

 

[robo_robb]

 

[George702]

My model 3P has less than 2000 miles on it and I was getting 279 miles at 90% charge until 40.50 update. Then it dropped overnight to 265 miles at 90%.

Reading this just made me feel slightly better, except mine dropped to 262 miles. I had thought my battery was going to shi.t after 2 weeks of use.

 

[Pvitale]

My mind has been boggled by the debate on this subject. So, let's see. 80% in my left hand, 90% in my right. Slap them together and voila' ... 85% and no worries.

Lmao exactly

 

[I<3URANUS]

Lol I just charge to 90% daily and call it a wrap. There's really no sense in overthinking it.

When I go on long trips I charge to 100% before leaving. I haven't even looked at "mile" range since first getting it. I just focus on the percentage and drive it like a normal person. Literally stress free.

 

[I<3URANUS]

I've watched this debate for longer than I've owned the car (almost 1.5 years). I choose 80 or 90 depending on mood. Sometime 83 looks really good. There are more important things to worry about.

It's rather funny tbh.

 

[RayCanuck]

I like to keep my battery on its toes it never knows what’s coming!
Some days it’s 90% others 80% then I’ll throw it a curveball & go for 70%....
My daily commute is only 50-60km max (30-40miles)
If I am on a long trip I’ll charge to whatever I need to get me to the next SC plus some bonus charge for the unexpected.....

 

[dmurphy]

Lol I just charge to 90% daily and call it a wrap. There's really no sense in overthinking it.

When I go on long trips I charge to 100% before leaving. I haven't even looked at "mile" range since first getting it. I just focus on the percentage and drive it like a normal person. Literally stress free.

Been my strategy since day 1... 10,500 miles and I feel fine.

 

[HyperionMark]

+1 to all the folks saying to switch your display over to percentage. Takes so much stress off!

 

[CharleyBC]

+1 to all the folks saying to switch your display over to percentage. Takes so much stress off!

I’m retiring next year. I’ll need something to stress over! This seems good as any.

 

[PACEMD]

I’m retiring next year. I’ll need something to stress over! This seems good as any.

A certain percentage of people prefer to fret over this, rather than to stress, so that may be an option. As always, your mileage may vary.........

 

[duanra]

I use the %, but sometimes I think, i am being an ostrich !

 

[jjrandorin]

Much of my reading seems to indicate that we should be charging to 80% to maximize long-term battery life. I don't know if that has changed with the Model 3. The reason for the question is that the "Trip" indicator on the charging slider is 90%. There is still room to go to 100% and I get that I should avoid that if at all possible.

I would think that I should be trusting Tesla and be comfortable charging to 90%, but I'm looking for confirmation. Most of our driving is longer distances and the 90% would make a difference, but wouldn't be critical. Going to 80% might have me return up at less then 20% (when the indicator is orange).

What's the better option?

OP are you still here, or was this just a post on a hot button topic to get people talking about it again?

 

[DrMatt]

+1 to all the folks saying to switch your display over to percentage. Takes so much stress off!

totally. I just cant get used to the mile range and don’t trust it, feels a bit like having a battery indicator on the mobile telling me how much talk time I had left instead of charge. Wouldn’t trust that either.

And yep charge to 90% every time unless it’s a really long trip. No idea if my millage has dropped ;-)

 

[Rockster]

OP, if you’ve read this far you’ve already spent more time than the issue is worth. Drive and enjoy.

 

[CharleyBC]

OP are you still here . . . ?

Apparently not. OP still shows a Messages count of 1.

 

[BrakeDome]

I charge to 90% because I get better performance from the car at higher SoC

 

[eli_]

One reason to charge to 90% is this allows pack balancing to happen. Service manual says the BMS will only try to balance the modules when the cell voltage is above 4volt, which is equivalent to around ~85% SoC, and there's an imbalance between modules of at least 5mV.

The best way to balance the Model 3 pack is to set charge limit to 90% or higher and let the vehicle sit idle for hours (plugged in or not). 24 hours of balancing can reduce imbalance by 1mV.
​

So basically just be aware if you never charge above 80% for a long time, the pack will never balance and you may see less available capacity as a result.

 

[dmurphy]

One reason to charge to 90% is this allows pack balancing to happen. Service manual says the BMS will only try to balance the modules when the cell voltage is above 4volt, which is equivalent to around ~85% SoC, and there's an imbalance between modules of at least 5mV.

The best way to balance the Model 3 pack is to set charge limit to 90% or higher and let the vehicle sit idle for hours (plugged in or not). 24 hours of balancing can reduce imbalance by 1mV.
​

So basically just be aware if you never charge above 80% for a long time, the pack will never balance and you may see less available capacity as a result.

... and there we have it. Can I ask where you quoted that from? This would very simply explain why I'm not seeing any "degradation" (I hate overusing that term; 99% of the time it's just an imbalance) because I've got my Model 3 on "set it and forget it" mode at 90%.

 

[eli_]

... and there we have it. Can I ask where you quoted that from? This would very simply explain why I'm not seeing any "degradation" (I hate overusing that term; 99% of the time it's just an imbalance) because I've got my Model 3 on "set it and forget it" mode at 90%.

It's from the service manual theory of operation stuff, it's not publicly viewable: Brick Balancing