Optimum amp charge rate for Model 3 long range battery longevity?

[Bad Dolphin]

We picked up our dial motor long range battery Model 3 in November of 2018.

I recently noticed on our charging screen that one can manually set the amp charging rate. After a recent software update, ours was set to 5 amps, so obviously charge times became very long.

We have a properly installed Tesla Charger with #2 wire and 80amp breaker. We were previously charging at the set 48 amps, and the charge screen does allow us to reset up to that amount.

For longevity optimism, we have constrained the max battery charge to about 80% (245-248mi) and use 60 mi as our “empty setting” (20% of the 300mi range.) Because we live on an island, we rarely go below 150mi remaining.

My question is—is there any data on charging rates lower than 48 amps positively affecting Tesla battery longevity? Any detail available?

 

[SSedan]

no, Data sofar shows supercharging isn't even all that bad and it is MUCH greater current than anything the car will take AC, don't worry about it too much.

If you think a bit slower might be easier on things go ahead and dial it down some.

 

[flynnstone]

We picked up our dial motor long range battery Model 3 in November of 2018.

I recently noticed on our charging screen that one can manually set the amp charging rate. After a recent software update, ours was set to 5 amps, so obviously charge times became very long.

We have a properly installed Tesla Charger with #2 wire and 80amp breaker. We were previously charging at the set 48 amps, and the charge screen does allow us to reset up to that amount.

For longevity optimism, we have constrained the max battery charge to about 80% (245-248mi) and use 60 mi as our “empty setting” (20% of the 300mi range.) Because we live on an island, we rarely go below 150mi remaining.

My question is—is there any data on charging rates lower than 48 amps positively affecting Tesla battery longevity? Any detail available?

I can tell you that i also have an ‘18 LR RWD M3. I have the Tesla wall charger and use the max amp setting, i plug it in daily and charge to 90%. Charging to 280 miles @ 90%. Haven’t seen any degradation.

 

[ewoodrick]

Crank it up, no problem. Whatever you throw out it is an order of magnitude less than a Supercharger.

The ability to reduce rates is often associated with solutions that just can't handle the power.

 

[TMThree]

no, Data sofar shows supercharging isn't even all that bad and it is MUCH greater current than anything the car will take AC, don't worry about it too much.

If you think a bit slower might be easier on things go ahead and dial it down some.

Tesla limits charging speed at superchargers if you charge there too often.

Far as longevity goes, heat is the enemy. Charge in a cool location when possible.

 

[M3 2018]

I can tell you that i also have an ‘18 LR RWD M3. I have the Tesla wall charger and use the max amp setting, i plug it in daily and charge to 90%. Charging to 280 miles @ 90%. Haven’t seen any degradation.

Should you not be at 292.5 at 90%. Seems you have lost some miles, no?

 

[SSedan]

Tesla limits charging speed at superchargers if you charge there too often.

Far as longevity goes, heat is the enemy. Charge in a cool location when possible.

But supercharging is as high as 150kw and 48amps at 240volts is about 11.5KW
Perspective matters. Far as the evils of heat you should let Tesla know they are wildly incompetent with the updates that preheat the battery to supercharge...............yes excessive heat is bad but under AC charging it is a non-factor.

 

[TMThree]

Far as the evils of heat you should let Tesla know they are wildly incompetent with the updates that preheat the battery to supercharge...............yes excessive heat is bad but under AC charging it is a non-factor.

hahaha. Are you kidding? Preheating is for cold climates.

Lithium based batteries consider anything over 85F as extreme temps and should be avoided for longevity. Check out what heat does to leaf batteries.

 

[Glamisduner]

Typically the slower the charge, the better for the battery. Also letting the car cool before charging extends life. SOC range matters too, between 40-70 is probably best, but 30-80 is a more realistic charge range.

 

[TexasEV]

Typically the slower the charge, the better for the battery.

Typically people shouldn’t pay any attention over differences in charge rates that have no meaningful impact. Do you really think there’s a different impact on the battery when charging at 3 kW vs. 5 kW vs. 10 kW, when it’s routinely charging at up to 150 kW at superchargers? Don’t worry about the battery- charge at the highest rate you have available and it will be fine.

 

[Glamisduner]

Typically people shouldn’t pay any attention over differences in charge rates that have no meaningful impact. Do you really think there’s a different impact on the battery when charging at 3 kW vs. 5 kW vs. 10 kW, when it’s routinely charging at up to 150 kW at superchargers? Don’t worry about the battery- charge at the highest rate you have available and it will be fine.

I think there is a difference and i don't routinely charge at superchargers either.
Not something I lose sleep over, but since it's charging while I sleep, I prefer a lower charge rate to a higher one.

 

[Bad Dolphin]

With the solar system and battery storage system that we added to our Airstream, we learned all about charge rates. Single charge converter blew through batteries pretty quickly, and three stage (or more) chargers were vastly preferred. Flood rate when low, then slowing as you approach full, then trickle charge to keep topped off (glassmat batteries.) Our battery life expectation was 4-5 years—when we sold at 9 years old they were still going strong.

For lithium batteries, Apple last year issued a recommendation for longevity in their iPhones to keep batteries between 55 and 85 percent charged whenever possible. They amped up (pls excuse the expression!) their low battery warnings, too.

I understand that Tesla batteries are even more sophisticated, but have heard Elon quoted that for best longevity, 80-20 is a good range, but his head battery engineer chimed in that 30-70 is even better, and they are meant to have frequent small charges whenever possible.

So my original question is informed by the different charging rates of solar battery controllers, and I’m wondering if anybody has noticed or heard whether the Tesla onboard battery management system auto-regulates as you approach full?

We have a solar system at home backed up by two Tesla Powerwall II’s. Currently, I try to monitor when the system has filled the Powerwalls for the day and only then initiate Model 3 charging. Waiting on Tesla to get the algorithms updated on the Tesla Gateway and into the app to do it for me. (I believe it will be called “driving on sunshine.”)

I’ve been very impressed with research listed in general on this forum.

Anybody have actual research data on different charging rates’ effect on longevity for the batteries in our Model 3’s?