I usually charge it to 90%, and it stays between 40% and 90% most of the time. There was one time where it dropped to 1%. Charged a few times a year to 90% at supercharger.
Average temperature, parked inside garage always
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Model 3 SR+ LFP Battery Range, Degradation, etc Discussion
- Thread starter Baluchi
- Start date
I usually charge it to 90%, and it stays between 40% and 90% most of the time. There was one time where it dropped to 1%. Charged a few times a year to 90% at supercharger.
Average temperature, parked inside garage always
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
Your car is doing great and it sounds like the cool temperatures are doing it good. You can continue to get good results by keeping it below 55% most of the time, which sounds like it would be easy for you to accomplish. If you barely use it you could consider even lower but given the long periods where you leave the car and cannot charge it, it might make sense to just leave it at 60% initially or whatever.
It sounds like he chargers to 90% then parks it where there is no L2 charger available (apartment complex for example) for months on end. That’s not suitable for low SOC due to vampire drain.
Considering how he is treating the battery (high SOC storage, although temp is good) it has held up extremely well.
Considering how he is treating the battery (high SOC storage, although temp is good) it has held up extremely well.
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
montvna
Member
Hi all, I was wondering if there were any drawbacks to not charging the battery to 100% , aside from the BMS not being calibrated? Over my three months of ownership I've only charged it to 100% once. Most days i've only been using 10%, and have been keeping the SOC between 40% and 60% or so. If im only charging to 100% on a quarterly basis, am I damaging the car?
You won't damage the car, but if you unexpectedly have to do a long drive, you may prematurely run out of power. From what most owners have experienced, charging to 100% weekly seems to have no impact on battery degradation. Battery degradation seems to quite consistently track with battery age.
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
No drawbacks. Just keep it below 65-70% for LFP, in general. There’s no issue at all with going to 100% - just use it afterwards.
I think the software has been modified to suck up range if you don’t charge to 100% so the resultant large buffer should ensure no issues with premature shutdown. Presumably this shows as a loss of range but I don’t pay any attention to how the flexible buffer size works. It could also show as lower energy content displayed miles that are used more quickly so underperform on range.
Just be sure to charge to 100% if you think you’ll be taking it to low SOC.
See: Some new data from research on Tesla model 3 cells
Cycling within a narrow SOC range on LFP batteries can cause "reversible degradation". This is a problem because reversing this is actually quite difficult. Therefore I suggest cycling 100-0% to avoid LFP-specific quirks.
I wouldn't cycle a LFP exclusively between 40 and 60%. This is good for long term storage but not for daily use. Just make sure you charge it to 100% every 1-2 weeks.
I have changed my charging behaviour a bit now, I charge to 100% before long drives or even before the weekend if I know I will use the car a lot (even if the SoC will be >70% for a few days), and not charge again until ~20%. Basically I am treating it a bit more like a gas car now. It means I am charging to 100% more often and the SoC is >70% more than it used to be, however it is also at low SoC a lot more than it used to be. It is also easier to manage.
After 2 years my range loss has stopped (for now....).
I have changed my charging behaviour a bit now, I charge to 100% before long drives or even before the weekend if I know I will use the car a lot (even if the SoC will be >70% for a few days), and not charge again until ~20%. Basically I am treating it a bit more like a gas car now. It means I am charging to 100% more often and the SoC is >70% more than it used to be, however it is also at low SoC a lot more than it used to be. It is also easier to manage.
After 2 years my range loss has stopped (for now....).
I replaced my 2020 M3SR+ with a 2024 M3SR Highland two weeks ago. The range seems to be considerably better and pretty much everything about the car is superior to my previous M3. However, there is something weird going on with charging speeds. Not very scientific examples, but let me explain.
With my previous M3 (advertised range around 400km) I could easily charge 70-80% in 12h, even in cold weather at home through a normal power outlet. I never really paid much attention to the speed, but have always used 13A current. With the new M3 the same amount takes at least 3h more in warm summer weather. The battery size in both cars should be the same, right? I have also charged in two other locations and in both the charging speed ws significantly lower, around half what it used to be in the same location. While these two locations might have recently changed the current, everything is exactly the same at home.
Is this something I should ask Tesla about or is this normal because different battery types?
With my previous M3 (advertised range around 400km) I could easily charge 70-80% in 12h, even in cold weather at home through a normal power outlet. I never really paid much attention to the speed, but have always used 13A current. With the new M3 the same amount takes at least 3h more in warm summer weather. The battery size in both cars should be the same, right? I have also charged in two other locations and in both the charging speed ws significantly lower, around half what it used to be in the same location. While these two locations might have recently changed the current, everything is exactly the same at home.
Is this something I should ask Tesla about or is this normal because different battery types?
The 2024 M3 RWD uses an LFP HV battery where the 2020 used lithium-ion chemistry with some cobalt for better charging performance in colder weather. However, you're not specifying an exact target SOC and the difference in charging time between 70% SOC and 80% SOC at 13A/220v is about 2-2.5hrs. Also, the LFP HV battery is recommended to be charged to 100% on a weekly basis.
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
No they are completely different sizes and types. Your old one was NCA and started at 52.5kWh. It was probably at about 48kWh when you sold it. Your new one is around 60.5kWh, LFP. (You are in Europe so not 100% sure of the size but if it is 272-mile EPA range, then it is.) This is a 25% difference (increase).
Seems very reasonable to see a 25% difference in charging time for the same
SOC and charge power.
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That's interesting, thank you. Typical longer charging has been from 20-30% to 90% or 100% before longer trips. I didn't realize that the new battery was larger and thought that the range improvements were because of other reasons. Because of how long it takes to charge (I don't charge every day) I will reach 100% for the first time tomorrow morning 
85,000 mile (136,800 km) update for my Sep 2021 SR+ LFP. The car is now 2 years 9 months old and was originally rated at 253 miles on a full charge. The Tessie app shows a battery capacity of 50.7 kWh (down 7.1% from my original Oct 2021 post of 54.6 kWh), and a max range of 234.8 miles (down 7.2% from my original range of 253 miles, and down ~1 mile since my 80,000 mile update). I've had Tessie since my first day or two or ownership, so this data shows the entire life of the car.
According to the car's screen, I'm averaging 211 Wh/mi over the life of the car (no change since the 80,000 mile update). In cold winter weather I can expect 240+ Wh/mi when it's below 30f, and in ideal temps (75-85f) I routinely manage 200 Wh/mi on my 100 mile round-trip commute. Assuming I could tap into the current 50.7 kWh battery at my lifetime average 211 Wh/mi efficiency, that gives me a real-world range of 240.2 miles (down one mile since my 80,000 mile update).
I had to change my 12V battery for the first time this week. The warning message popped up last week and mobile service did it yesterday for $116. The main things I noticed while the battery warning was lit: the phone chargers were powered off, and the battery would drain a little while the car was idle (because the high-voltage battery maintains contact in order to keep the 12V charged).
I also did an 1,800 mile road trip last month. I averaged 221 Wh/mi for the entire trip, including a lot of mountains in the eastern US. It was a very pleasant driving experience.
According to the car's screen, I'm averaging 211 Wh/mi over the life of the car (no change since the 80,000 mile update). In cold winter weather I can expect 240+ Wh/mi when it's below 30f, and in ideal temps (75-85f) I routinely manage 200 Wh/mi on my 100 mile round-trip commute. Assuming I could tap into the current 50.7 kWh battery at my lifetime average 211 Wh/mi efficiency, that gives me a real-world range of 240.2 miles (down one mile since my 80,000 mile update).
I had to change my 12V battery for the first time this week. The warning message popped up last week and mobile service did it yesterday for $116. The main things I noticed while the battery warning was lit: the phone chargers were powered off, and the battery would drain a little while the car was idle (because the high-voltage battery maintains contact in order to keep the 12V charged).
I also did an 1,800 mile road trip last month. I averaged 221 Wh/mi for the entire trip, including a lot of mountains in the eastern US. It was a very pleasant driving experience.
Just noticed that my home solar has generated more power in the last year than my Model 3 has used over its 85k mile lifetime.
17.96 MWh used by the car.
18.91 MWh generated by the sun.
Groovy.
17.96 MWh used by the car.
18.91 MWh generated by the sun.
Groovy.
Interesting. Having not really been following LFP batteries before I am curious. Are there any research/graphs of degradation of LFP? Is it still the conclusion they degrade less than NCA?
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