More worries! S 75D 2 days old charges to 251mi not 259.

[michidragon]

So, I've had my MS 75D for about two days now. It was made on 10/22/2018; (I have no idea how they keep them charged when stored.)

I noticed when I picked it up at delivery the SC had it charged to 222 miles. Thought that was a weird number.

Last few days I've been charging to 80%... which ends up being something around 201 miles. 70% is 175.

I have not charged to 100%.

But the tesla "Stats" app on my phone, and my calculations, say that 100% is "251" not "259".

Would that mean that my brand new battery pack is already degraded by 3% and a loss of 8 miles? I know that that meter does not take your driving habits, the cold, etc. into account.

I know the 'run it down, charge it to 100%' calibration trick is probably something I should try -- but should I be worried at this point?

 

[Drlev]

This is normal. My November 2017 75D never charged past 253 rated miles when brand new. I asked at the service center at the time, they said that’s normal. The vagaries of the BMS and however the heck it calculates range means that what it shows has only a limited basis in reality.

See what happens if you do a rebalancing and concern yourself more with degradation over time. I’m 16,000 miles into my ownership and I’m consistently down to 247 or so rated miles now and I’m not particularly worried.

 

[michidragon]

Looks like my rated range at 100% estimate keeps popping between 251-253. Found a thread from last year where many 75D owners were reporting 253 at max. Wonder why this is? Apparently there was a 100D range recalculation and that seemed to coincide?

Still getting used to figuring out what the real range is. I have a 150 mile (round trip) trip planned, soon, thing is I live on the top of a mountain, and this person's house is at the bottom (75 miles away). That's kind of my benchmark. If it can handle that, I'm good. (There IS a Supercharger in the middle of the trip in case it looks like it's not going to work.) My biggest worry of course is up the mountain on the way back, but on the way down, consumption/power should be very low. (it should 'even out' somewhat.)

EVTripPlanner seems to think it'll work out with about 50 rated miles remaining; maybe for the first run I should supercharge in the middle anyways and just do the math... (something like 55 rated miles down and 100 rated miles up...; so around 155 RM for the 150 mile trip..)

 

[N..8]

You need to really not look at that as an exact number, it's much like when your ICE says you have this many miles left in the tank of gas. It changes all the time. Your car has 18650 batteries and the BMS it trying to figure out about how many miles you can travel. No true way to really know unless you drive it in perfect conditions. You never drive an ICE from full all the way to empty just like you will never drive your Tesla from 100 to empty so no need to worry about it.

 

[Joelgjr]

8 miles? Its almost silly to be worried about that.

I don't even put my energy display on miles, just percentage. Because the miles are an estimate theyre often wrong.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Part of it could be the cold or the current software algorithms and how they estimate range. When I took delivery of my S 90D, my 100% charge would go to 293. Six months later, when it was warmer, my 100% charge was up to 295 miles.

Looks like my rated range at 100% estimate keeps popping between 251-253. Found a thread from last year where many 75D owners were reporting 253 at max. Wonder why this is? Apparently there was a 100D range recalculation and that seemed to coincide?

Still getting used to figuring out what the real range is. I have a 150 mile (round trip) trip planned, soon, thing is I live on the top of a mountain, and this person's house is at the bottom (75 miles away). That's kind of my benchmark. If it can handle that, I'm good. (There IS a Supercharger in the middle of the trip in case it looks like it's not going to work.) My biggest worry of course is up the mountain on the way back, but on the way down, consumption/power should be very low. (it should 'even out' somewhat.)

EVTripPlanner seems to think it'll work out with about 50 rated miles remaining; maybe for the first run I should supercharge in the middle anyways and just do the math... (something like 55 rated miles down and 100 rated miles up...; so around 155 RM for the 150 mile trip..)

Since you are at the top, you should be able to regen and gain miles when going downhill so that should help with your range in that direction. We often do a drive of about 40 miles and since it is downhill, we only use a few miles of range to get home.

 

[quickstrike12]

It’s important to remember that battery “potential” energy can’t be measured. At least not without discharging it and measuring as it is used down to empty. The system does a remarkable job of estimating potential battery energy based on its size number of cells, voltages etc.....but it’s still and estimate. That’s why the number is always moving around a bit and changes somewhat depending on your charging habits and use.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen my car show the 249 miles the website said it would have when new. But when driven in the right circumstances I can go over 260-270 miles

 

[AustinP]

I read your other post on you cold feet before delivery.
As other said, congratulation on your decision. You really should not worry, especially if you have a SuC in between.
I’d recommend using it on the way back IF needed. On your way down, you probably will barely consume kwh, hence you will arrive at the SuC with a highly charged battery, which means slow charging time.
If really you are worried, maybe check if you can plug at your destination, even on a standard plug.
Note that in your navigation, when you plan a trip, it will announce the battery state at your destination, but also on your way back from where you started your trip. Of course, that does not take into account local driving at your destination. But it will help.

You are at your second day of ownership, and it is normal to be cautious. Soon, you will grow confidence and all will be good.

Enjoy you car, you’re driving historical moments.

 

[demundus]

This is like saying the manual in my car says the fuel tank holds 22 gallons but I can only get 21.824 gallons in it before it overflows at the fill neck

 

[iCharge]

This is like saying the manual in my car says the fuel tank holds 22 gallons but I can only get 21.824 gallons in it before it overflows at the fill neck

may be the remaining is in the fuel lines

 

[quickstrike12]

Makes me laugh a little.
Nobody ever would take an ICE car put 20 gallons in it and see if it went exactly 400 miles because the dealer told them it was rated at 20mpg on hwy.
I’m not laughing AT the original poster, I had many of the same questions when I just got mine.
It’s much more fun now that I don’t sweat the details and I just drive it like I stole it

 

[Leewx]

Thank you to the OP and all the responses. I've had my S for 2 months now and have not reached 259 mi when charged to %100 as I thought I should. Thought maybe I had a defective battery or something. I feel much. better now
Thanks again!

 

[MarcusMaximus]

Looks like my rated range at 100% estimate keeps popping between 251-253. Found a thread from last year where many 75D owners were reporting 253 at max. Wonder why this is? Apparently there was a 100D range recalculation and that seemed to coincide?

Still getting used to figuring out what the real range is. I have a 150 mile (round trip) trip planned, soon, thing is I live on the top of a mountain, and this person's house is at the bottom (75 miles away). That's kind of my benchmark. If it can handle that, I'm good. (There IS a Supercharger in the middle of the trip in case it looks like it's not going to work.) My biggest worry of course is up the mountain on the way back, but on the way down, consumption/power should be very low. (it should 'even out' somewhat.)

EVTripPlanner seems to think it'll work out with about 50 rated miles remaining; maybe for the first run I should supercharge in the middle anyways and just do the math... (something like 55 rated miles down and 100 rated miles up...; so around 155 RM for the 150 mile trip..)

If EVTripPlanner is showing 50 miles remaining, you should be fine. That said, check what your nav estimates for the trip back when you’re at the bottom. If it’s >15%, you should be fine. If not, you can charge for a little at the Supercharger.

 

[D.E.]

The range is a computer best guess. On trips my estimated charge at the next supercharger always seems to increase as I drive. Also you can significantly increase range by driving 10 mph slower, 60 instead of 70. So that 259 is just an estimate of remaining miles. Drive it on the flat through Kansas at 65mph, you’ll do much better. Drive through mountainous Colorado at 75mph in the winter with the heat blasting, you’ll do a whole lot worse.

The charge level of the batteries read by your computer caculates to the 253. The computer reads voltage level. The difference in voltage between 259 mile voltage and 253 mile voltage is absolutely miniscule. I’m guessing hundredths of a volt. The next factor is that the batteries don’t stay perfectly balanced with use. It takes a full charge near full discharge to get things reading better. I don’t know if it balances the batteries or if it gets the computer calibrated better to the battery pack. Anyway you can charge to full 100% charge, then drive it down to 10% if you want. It may be that you see a number much closer to the 259 after that.

After you live with it a while, you’ll probably just charge to 80% or so and you probably will drive it down to 20% or so. That 253 or 259 just doesn’t matter. Tesla has figured out the battery pretty well. You can drive it half a million miles, and the battery pack will still charge to 60% of its new value. That’s about 2000 charging cycles. My lithium ion battery toothbrush certainly won’t go 2000 cycles, Tesla has figured out something the Sonicare people don’t know.

That drop from 259 to 253 isn’t a trend. Well, it is a trend, but the 6 mile decrease in the first week doesn’t define the slope of the future decline line. It’s going to decline very slowly over the next half a million miles. The way you treat the battery will make a difference.

The 253 isn’t a worry. If you want to see a 259, try the full charge run down cycle, it should get a little better. Try not to leave it charged to 100% for a long time, the batteries don’t like that. Best to reach 100% then start running it down right away. If you keep the battery between 70% and 30%, the battery will last about forever with minimal degredation. 80%-20% it isn’t quite as good but the difference isn’t enough to worry about. 100%-20% is ok for trips, just don’t keep it at 100%.

When it gets to 0% charge, there are still a few slow miles left. You might think of your missing 6 miles as there if it helps. The batteries don’t like the total discharge either.

If anyone else has better information, please feel free to jump right in and correct anything I’ve said. I value accuracy.

 

[michidragon]

Well, okay, I've read all of this and much like @Leewx said, this is all making me feel a lot more confident. Really glad this forum exists with long time owners sharing their experiences. Tesla probably doesn't realize how much it helps.

Not really needing to see 259, I was just worried I ended up with a pre-degraded battery. Reading here I'm seeing that no, most folks start out at 251-253 these days on the 75D.

For the 150 mile trip, in the winter, (yep in the mountains of Colorado) I probably will do 100% when I have to make that trip; and use the nav as well as evtripplanner. Want to benchmark that now in December and then check in summer to see how much different it is.

Right now my plan for 'everyday' is indeed 80%-20%. Probably not going to be driving much this weekend so I'll set the limit to 70%.

@D.E. - Have you had your S75D since 2016? (or earlier?) Have you ever been in a situation where you really really wished you had gone 90D or 100D? (I'm sure most people do at some points.)

 

[michidragon]

Makes me laugh a little.
Nobody ever would take an ICE car put 20 gallons in it and see if it went exactly 400 miles because the dealer told them it was rated at 20mpg on hwy.
I’m not laughing AT the original poster, I had many of the same questions when I just got mine.
It’s much more fun now that I don’t sweat the details and I just drive it like I stole it

I guess I'm going through what most new EV owners do... staring at that range meter all the time. If you're saying you used to do it, but don't anymore -- and that the concern goes away with time, that's actually really good to hear. Maybe I'm just going through a normal 'new Tesla owner range watching phase"...

And you're right... Never did do anything like that with an ICE; (Though when I got my first hybrid I do admit that I did hypermile like crazy and try to get that MPG up --- for a while. Then I just drove the thing. )

I think really a whole lot of this will be less of a big deal when charging stations are more plentiful and it can be an "Oh I'm getting low, gotta stop for a charge" sort of thing. (supercharger and other; I did order the CHAdeMO adapter... (maybe someday Tesla will ship it!) - and hope that they do come out with a CCS adapter... even though it seems that a CCS adapter is not in the cards.)

Still would not want to primarily rely on DC fast charging of course since that can do a number on your battery, too, I know. But still it would be nice to have more options since with EVs right now -- "it's not the odds, it's the stakes".

 

[Ghosty]

Makes me laugh a little.
Nobody ever would take an ICE car put 20 gallons in it and see if it went exactly 400 miles because the dealer told them it was rated at 20mpg on hwy.
I’m not laughing AT the original poster, I had many of the same questions when I just got mine.
It’s much more fun now that I don’t sweat the details and I just drive it like I stole it

"Drive it like I stole it." OMG! Best quote ever for a Model S. I feel the same EVERY opportunity I get to drive my car. Just a wonderful experience! Every time I drive it......it is truly a wow moment for me! My Precious!

 

[Ghosty]

I guess I'm going through what most new EV owners do... staring at that range meter all the time. If you're saying you used to do it, but don't anymore -- and that the concern goes away with time, that's actually really good to hear. Maybe I'm just going through a normal 'new Tesla owner range watching phase"...

And you're right... Never did do anything like that with an ICE; (Though when I got my first hybrid I do admit that I did hypermile like crazy and try to get that MPG up --- for a while. Then I just drove the thing. )

I think really a whole lot of this will be less of a big deal when charging stations are more plentiful and it can be an "Oh I'm getting low, gotta stop for a charge" sort of thing. (supercharger and other; I did order the CHAdeMO adapter... (maybe someday Tesla will ship it!) - and hope that they do come out with a CCS adapter... even though it seems that a CCS adapter is not in the cards.)

Still would not want to primarily rely on DC fast charging of course since that can do a number on your battery, too, I know. But still it would be nice to have more options since with EVs right now -- "it's not the odds, it's the stakes".

Let's see some pics! Pics or didn't happen! Kidding but yea...some pics! We want to see her!

 

[michidragon]

Let's see some pics! Pics or didn't happen! Kidding but yea...some pics! We want to see her!

Here she be:

 

[SpudLime]

My. 75d bought in July charges to 201 miles at 80% also. You are good my man.

To keep you sane for your long trip, input your destination, then pop up the energy app and select “trip”. If that says you will get there with 15-20% left, that’s a good buffer and you are good.

I keep that up during my long drives. Now I’m comfortable enough when it says 10% left and that buffer is fine even in the cold.

The trip energy graph gets you tuned in on your driving and how it affects your range. After a while you won’t think about it as much.