New X Supercharger only routine

[KatyF]

Took delivery of my model X yesterday. It came with free supercharging. I’m a homemaker. I don’t have a commute per se, my driving is errands daily and monthly road trips. There is a super charger three blocks away at the Target. Emotionally, I’d like to keep it “full”

I have several questions.
Should I do infrequent, long charges to 80% or 90%? If so, how low should I go before recharging?

More frequent shorter charges whenever I have some down time?

My monthly road trip has several Superchargers on the route. And we will always make a longish pit stop anyway. Should I bother to charge to 100% before departing? If so how long before departure can I do the 100%? An hour, a day, a week?

thanks!!!

 

[Kuhz]

Rule of thumb is keep the battery away form state of charge extremes (less than 10% and more than 90%) for longer than a day when possible. Also Tesla recommends keeping the car plugged in whenever possible. The BMS takes care of the rest.

On road trips, only charge enough to get to the next supercharger to minimize the charge taper that comes as the battery gets fuller. The nav takes care of that.

The free supercharging sounds great, but you’ll get tired wasting an hr charging to save a few bucks. My time is worth more. Install 240V home charging and you won’t regret it.

Lastly, read the manual

 

[animorph]

For low mileage cars in moderate climates even 120V 15a charging might meet your needs. I wouldn't walk 3 blocks for free charging. Set the charge limit to 80% and keep it plugged in. With a nearby Supercharger you can get a quick charge any time if 120V slow charging isn't keeping up, or you need the full range.

If you can fit charging into your daily routine so that you aren't waiting for it to charge then give Supercharging a shot. It charges faster below 50% and is pretty slow above 70% to 80%. So letting it discharge to 30% and charging to 70% would keep the battery at a comfortable level, with useful range, and be quick to charge. 20% - 80% would be almost as good, with better full range, but slower charge time.

For trips I usually charge from 90% to 100% at home, starting 2 hours before we leave. At the least it saves us a few minutes at the first Supercharger. At best it gets us to a more distant Supercharger, or lets us skip a Supercharger stop. If you can't take advantage of any of those cases then there's no need to charge to 100%. Though it's always interesting to see how many rated miles you get at 100% charge.

I'll second the trip advice above, charge only enough to reach the next Supercharger, with normally about 15% charge remaining at the destination. It's much faster than waiting for 80%-100% charging. But of course if you are eating and not ready to leave yet, keep the car charging and it will save you a few minutes at the next stop. But it won't save you anywhere near the time you delayed for the extra charge.

 

[CSFTN]

Took delivery of my model X yesterday. It came with free supercharging. I’m a homemaker. I don’t have a commute per se, my driving is errands daily and monthly road trips. There is a super charger three blocks away at the Target. Emotionally, I’d like to keep it “full”

I have several questions.
Should I do infrequent, long charges to 80% or 90%? If so, how low should I go before recharging?

More frequent shorter charges whenever I have some down time?

My monthly road trip has several Superchargers on the route. And we will always make a longish pit stop anyway. Should I bother to charge to 100% before departing? If so how long before departure can I do the 100%? An hour, a day, a week?

thanks!!!

Don't charge at the Supercharger, charge at home. It costs very little. Do you go to Bestbuy to charge your smartphone?

 

[Hebert]

I am in a similar situation as you. After trying various options, I charge to 80%, then charge again in 4 days or so when I get under 60%.

For trips, I trust the Tesla navigation for how much to charge and where. It's easier after the first trip, but amount of battery used is pretty consistent unless there is a lot of headwind or it's really cold. In those cases I add 10% more charge or so.

Home charging is easy if you get tired of the charging trips. Sometimes I get enough charge for the week from the chargers at the grocery stores and malls.

Enjoy your new X!

 

[RichardL]

Agree with all the prior comments - I always charge enough to give me a 17 - 20% buffer when arriving at the next charger during a road trip - basically you will find your comfort level with experience (the nav will predict the level remaining at the destination).

I would mention that as you start out on a trip the prediction can sometimes slew widely in the first few miles and then settles down - this can cause panic to a newbie - the nav tells them they will arrive with (say) 15%, then 5 miles into that leg its telling to you slow down otherwise you'll run out - but it does settle down and the original prediction is usually accurate (it has to do with how it 'error corrects' over the first few miles)

So my advice is to be conservative on your first few road trips until you get a feel for how these things play out - then you might want to be a bit more aggressive as you feel more comfortable.