Model 3 SR+ LFP Battery Range, Degradation, etc Discussion

[zumoney515]

I am also looking for an answer on this, should I be charging to 100% every day even with low mileage? I will be commuting 40 miles twice per week with a charger at work (after 20 mi)

Or should I charge to 70/80% and then to 100% once or twice per week?

I have a 2023 model 3 SR that I just picked up on 10/31 - I was charging it to 100% daily and after the first 1000 miles, I noticed it dropped from 273 miles to 271 miles @ 100% (I know, it's only 2 miles or 0.73%), so I stopped charging it to 100% daily. I only charged it to 70% - 90% daily and to 100% once a week (but drive it within 30 mins of it reaching 100% as I've heard that we shouldn't leave it @ 100% for a long period of time), my range has stayed at 271 miles @ 100% after the next 2000 miles, so it seems like my range is not dropping anymore at the moment.

 

[zumoney515]

Here is my experience with an LFP battery Model 3:

• ~9.5 months since delivery.
• ~11,500 miles since delivery.
• Mostly economical driving, averaging similar to or better than the EPA rating.
• Scheduled departure charging -- usually drive off 0-2 hours after charging finishes.
• Usually charging to 65-70%.
• Charging to 100% approximately once per week, usually when expected use is >30%.
• Current displayed rated range at 100% is 266 miles, down from original 272 miles (-2.2%).
• Initially fluctuated between 271 and 273 miles, then declined over the next several months, but has been at 266 for a few months.Note that

Note that the above minimize time parked at 100%, and avoid overnight parking at >70%.

Would it be different with different driving or charging habits?

thank you for sharing...I have 3000 miles on my 2023 M3 SR and I saw it dropped from 273 miles to 271 miles when I charge it to 100% daily on my first 1000 miles (commute is roughly 70 miles/day), so I switched to charging it to 70%-90% daily and only to 100% once a week (drive it within 30 min after it reaches 100%). the range stayed at 271 miles for the next 2000 miles. So I'm going to keep it that way for now.

 

[karlos22]

I just did a long drive and thought I’d calibrate the bms as I can’t really do it at home. Charged to 100%, drove 1200km and let it sit at 9% for 2 hours then charged back to 100%. Range estimate didn’t change, still at 425km after 17,000km. About 3% drop from new. Seems in line with my expectations.

 

[DuncanM]

I've been L1 charging my 2022 M3 RWD (build date = March 2022) to 100% every few days and now have 15943 (25658 km) miles on the clock which included over 2500 miles (all SC/DCFC) of high speed Hwy driving, since Nov 27 for our winter migration to SE Arizona. Indicated 100% range is fluctuating between 266/265 miles (426-428km).

 

[karlos22]

I've been L1 charging my 2022 M3 RWD (build date = March 2022) to 100% every few days and now have 15943 (25658 km) miles on the clock which included over 2500 miles (all SC/DCFC) of high speed Hwy driving, since Nov 27 for our winter migration to SE Arizona. Indicated 100% range is fluctuating between 266/265 miles (426-428km).

Yep, everyone seems to be hovering around the same. I charge to 100% every few weeks, usually sits around 60%. Doesn’t seem to make any difference at all. LFP seems pretty robust.

 

[PianoAl]

Tesla's wording has always bothered me:

If your vehicle is equipped with an LFP Battery, Tesla recommends that you keep your charge limit set to 100%, even for daily use, and that you also fully charge to 100% at least once per week.

That says: Charge to 100% every day and also once per week. Logically, that doesn't make sense.

I think they mean:

If your vehicle is equipped with an LFP Battery, Tesla recommends that you keep your charge limit set to 100%, even for daily use, BUT IF YOU DON'T DO THAT, THEN YOU SHOULD fully charge to 100% at least once per week.

 

[pipestem]

Yes.

I’ve seen other reports in this cold wave the same - high consumption and bad charging. Even here in NC I got 350 wh/mi for a while today in about 18F before it settled down to 270. It’s going to be an EV issue, I can just hear all my in-laws see I told you so. Uggg

 

[Dave EV]

Update #5: it is -32 but the car was out in the cold all day. Took it to the supercharger and it would not charge at all. Left after 25 minutes of battery warming with zero kWh added. Warning to all other cold weather people out there! I'd be completely ****ed if I didn't have a heated garage.

One other trick to quickly warm up the battery is to "yo-yo" if road conditions and SOC allow. This means accelerating as quickly as possible to a set speed (be safe in the winter when roads are slippery!), regen (or coast or brake if regen is not available) to a lower speed, and repeat.

When the battery is cold, internal resistance is high, so aggressive acceleration should warm up the pack pretty quickly, certainly faster than trying to use the motor to generate waste heat.

I believe that RWD cars also have a disadvantage when it comes to generating heat for the battery. When driving, I don't think the car is able to run in a less efficient manner to generate extra heat, only when stopped. AWD cars use the front motor to generate heat when moving. So a RWD LFP car is going to have a hard time warming up the battery driving normally in cold temperatures.

Would be very interesting to get scanmytesla on your car in these conditions!

 

[Pichon G2M]

Have a 2023 rwd I took delivery of 2 weeks ago and got a bit of a nasty surprise. I was aware that LFP batteries struggle with range loss in the cold but never expected that to be an issue in Southern Florida. I drove 152 miles across the state with temperatures hovering between 44 and 53 degrees and a speed of 79mph on I75 and you can see the results in the photos. Teslas disclaimers discuss sub freezing temperatures but they need to expand disclaimers if this is a consistent experience. Some range loss was due to the speeds but most seems to be the cold or unaccounted for. Needless to say I needed an extra supercharger stop (152m each way). Also charging seed was limited to 50kwh wich sucked. Anyone else have similar experiences? At what temperatures do you start experiencing range degradation and reduced charging speeds (ex 60,50)?

 

[DuncanM]

Have a 2023 rwd I took delivery of 2 weeks ago and got a bit of a nasty surprise. I was aware that LFP batteries struggle with range loss in the cold but never expected that to be an issue in Southern Florida. I drove 152 miles across the state with temperatures hovering between 44 and 53 degrees and a speed of 79mph on I75 and you can see the results in the photos. Teslas disclaimers discuss sub freezing temperatures but they need to expand disclaimers if this is a consistent experience. Some range loss was due to the speeds but most seems to be the cold or unaccounted for. Needless to say I needed an extra supercharger stop (152m each way). Also charging seed was limited to 50kwh wich sucked. Anyone else have similar experiences? At what temperatures do you start experiencing range degradation and reduced charging speeds (ex 60,50)?

Did you let the nav direct you to a supercharger? It should have preconditioned the battery. What was the SOC when you began charging? Also tire pressure will drop and should be boosted for cold weather.

I haven't noticed much range loss in somewhat colder temps (average ~0F or less = ~-10%) in central BC. Driving fast is the big range killer, but still results in an overall reduction in travel time, as SCing at at low SOC should result in fast charging.

It's best to use a % display rather than miles, for consumption.

 

[Pichon G2M]

Did you let the nav direct you to a supercharger? It should have preconditioned the battery. What was the SOC when you began charging? Also tire pressure will drop and should be boosted for cold weather.

I haven't noticed much range loss in somewhat colder temps (average ~0F or less = ~-10%) in central BC. Driving fast is the big range killer, but still results in an overall reduction in travel time, as SCing at at low SOC should result in fast charging.

It's best to use a % display rather than miles, for consumption.

I made two super charger stops and pre conditioned both times. The first stop was leaving my home with a 12min drive time and even though pre conditioning started immediately the drive was not long enough to warm up the battery in 45 degree weather resulting in reduced charging. The second charge occurred on way back. Because charger was a 30min drive from departure point it seems it warmed up enough to charge full speed (thank god). Photos taken represent final leg of journey after second charge (started with 100%).

 

[3sr+buyer]

Have a 2023 rwd I took delivery of 2 weeks ago and got a bit of a nasty surprise. I was aware that LFP batteries struggle with range loss in the cold but never expected that to be an issue in Southern Florida. I drove 152 miles across the state with temperatures hovering between 44 and 53 degrees and a speed of 79mph on I75 and you can see the results in the photos.

Driving 79mph will result in worse economy and range compared to the rated economy and range, regardless of weather and HVAC use.

 

[DuncanM]

I made two super charger stops and pre conditioned both times. The first stop was leaving my home with a 12min drive time and even though pre conditioning started immediately the drive was not long enough to warm up the battery in 45 degree weather resulting in reduced charging. The second charge occurred on way back. Because charger was a 30min drive from departure point it seems it warmed up enough to charge full speed (thank god). Photos taken represent final leg of journey after second charge (started with 100%).

You can precondition the car before leaving and battery using the Tesla cellphone app. I'm charging now in lordsburg NM at an EA station. I drove 127 miles at ~84 mph to and from Deming NM at an average 291wh/mile = ~198 miles. Outbound was ~60f (then 1.5 hrs shopping) and return 46f. Upon return to lordsburg NM we started charging at 90 kw at 18% SOC and peaked at 106kw. We did get a warning that the battery was cold upon starting the charge.

 

[gtg465x]

Have a 2023 rwd I took delivery of 2 weeks ago and got a bit of a nasty surprise. I was aware that LFP batteries struggle with range loss in the cold but never expected that to be an issue in Southern Florida. I drove 152 miles across the state with temperatures hovering between 44 and 53 degrees and a speed of 79mph on I75 and you can see the results in the photos. Teslas disclaimers discuss sub freezing temperatures but they need to expand disclaimers if this is a consistent experience. Some range loss was due to the speeds but most seems to be the cold or unaccounted for. Needless to say I needed an extra supercharger stop (152m each way). Also charging seed was limited to 50kwh wich sucked. Anyone else have similar experiences? At what temperatures do you start experiencing range degradation and reduced charging speeds (ex 60,50)?

This doesn’t seem all that bad. You got 75% of EPA combined range while doing 79 mph in 44-53 degree temps. I think the NCA / NMC batteries would lose a similar amount of range in those conditions.

For what it’s worth, my ‘23 RWD can do above the EPA estimate at 42 degrees, but that’s doing 55 mph on a 2 lane hwy with a battery that probably started at 60-70 degrees because I keep it in my garage and precondition it before leaving.

 

[Pichon G2M]

This doesn’t seem all that bad. You got 75% of EPA combined range while doing 79 mph in 44-53 degree temps. I think the NCA / NMC batteries would lose a similar amount of range in those conditions.

For what it’s worth, my ‘23 RWD can do above the EPA estimate at 42 degrees, but that’s doing 55 mph on a 2 lane hwy with a battery that probably started at 60-70 degrees because I keep it in my garage and precondition it before leaving.

Honestly I just was under the mistaken impression that temperature issues only kicked in at sub freezing temperatures as that was where most of the discussions seemed to focus. Lesson learned. Can the battery be preconditioned efficiently while charging at 120v 15a ?

 

[DuncanM]

Honestly I just was under the mistaken impression that temperature issues only kicked in at sub freezing temperatures as that was where most of the discussions seemed to focus. Lesson learned. Can the battery be preconditioned efficiently while charging at 120v 15a ?

You might lose 1 or 2% SOC after a ~30min precondition whilst charging at 15A/120V.

 

[lowercase]

You might lose 1 or 2% SOC after a ~30min precondition whilst charging at 15A/120V.

More like 4-5% for me.

 

[DuncanM]

More like 4-5% for me.

You're probably at ~0F or lower vs ~45F.

 

[Mamacass]

With all the discrepancy about charging I called TESLA to find out about how often to charge my 223LR.

He told me to charge it as much and as often as I want and it won't affect the battery. ???????

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

With all the discrepancy about charging I called TESLA to find out about how often to charge my 223LR.

He told me to charge it as much and as often as I want and it won't affect the battery. ???????

Good advice for sure, even if it isn’t true.

It doesn’t really matter. Just enjoy and use sensibly according to recommendations, unless you want to minimize capacity loss (not really needed).