Planning Charging to Leave on Trip with 100%?

[Birdman325]

I understand about not charging on a regular basis to 100%, and typically only charging to full when you are about to head out on a trip.
Picked up my Model 3 a few days ago, and while I have been charging overnight to about 70%, I am planning on a short trip (about 200km /125 miles each way) on Sunday from Toronto to London, Ontario and back.

I can schedule when my car starts charging but obviously not when it stops. If I plan to leave Toronto around 7 am on Sunday morning and I want to leave with as full a charge as possible, is it just "estimating" when I should start the charge so that it reaches 100% as close as possible to when I want to leave?

Or do I charge to, for example, with a setting to 90% overnight, and then as soon as I wake up Sunday morning, boost it to 100%? Not sure how long that last 10% would take so may not have enough time to make it all the way to 100%.

Just wondering about "best practices".
Thx

 

[TexasEV]

Or do I charge to, for example, with a setting to 90% overnight, and then as soon as I wake up Sunday morning, boost it to 100%? Not sure how long that last 10% would take so may not have enough time to make it all the way to 100%.

Just wondering about "best practices".
Thx

That’s exactly what I have always done. In the Model 3 charging at 32A it takes about 1 hr. 15 min. to go from 90% to 100%. If it doesn’t get all the way to 100% before I’m ready to leave, that’s ok, it will be close enough.

 

[Birdman325]

After I "fix" my HPWC (see other thread, my electrician installed it but didn't RTFM so did not set any of the dip switches, rotary dial) I am hoping to get a full 48A. That's helpful - thx.

 

[Rocky_H]

Or do I charge to, for example, with a setting to 90% overnight, and then as soon as I wake up Sunday morning, boost it to 100%? Not sure how long that last 10% would take so may not have enough time to make it all the way to 100%.

That's what I do and is probably the easiest. I'll sometimes try to finesse it with the finger slider adjustment on the charge limit to get it just a little bit over 90, like 92-94ish. Then when I get up, move it to 100 and get it going again. That should get it pretty near 100 in an hour.

 

[Kermee]

Another option is if you know you're able to charge to 100% before you actually leave at 7am at max charge rate, you can also finesse the Charging Amps Limit until the Time Remaining lines up to about 15 minutes before you leave. That'll also keep your battery relatively "warmed up" before you immediately head out and should get you better Wh/km the minute you leave. I know GTA has been getting much colder recently. — Of course, if your Model 3 is garaged and the ambient temperature in the garage is at or above 16C, then you'll be fine.

 

[Birdman325]

Smart idea thx

 

[Emmexx1]

For trips, I adjust my level to give me range to next supercharge + 10%. I love regen and that is null at 100%

 

[Rocky_H]

For trips, I adjust my level to give me range to next supercharge + 10%. I love regen and that is null at 100%

...for about 3 or 4 minutes. You start to get regen back very quickly once you start driving the first mile or two. I don't see why people think that is such a big deal.

 

[Emmexx1]

It's longer than a few miles before full regen braking engages. And it's not huge, but I like using regen to slow down instead of brakes, when I can. Increases the time until I need to change them.

 

[animorph]

I use the 90% at night 100% in the morning plan. I can automate it with TeslaFi.

 

[dusdev]

For my road trip a couple weeks ago I charged to 90% starting at 2:00 am, and when I woke up I pushed it up to 100%, but it didn't get there and we just left with around 450 km range avail.

I'm not sure why you even need to charge to 100% here. Toronto to London is < 200 km. There's Superchargers in Cambridge and Woodstock and probably some destination chargers in London.

This is my first EV and Tesla. I think what it not explained very well is that the best time to supercharge is when your battery is low. It's the most efficient in terms of time spent at the charger. On 90% you would probably do Toronto->London->Woodstock, and charge enough for the return trip. Enroute you can watch your energy usage and stop at Woodstock on the way if you feel you want more buffer.

Also check out Plugshare - lots of destination chargers in the London area if things are looking iffy to get back to Woodstock for a boost.

 

[ewoodrick]

All of these super sophisticated and complex solutions.....

It is perfectly fine and expected that you will charge to 100%. So, night before, crank it up and don't worry about it. The world isn't going to end and the battery won't self-destruct.

 

[Need]

I don't understand the reason behind charging to 100% as close as possible to time of leaving on the trip. You could charge to 100% in the middle of the night and leave for the trip at 10am. You may lose like 0.5% charge (probably not even that).

 

[Vines]

I don't understand the reason behind charging to 100% as close as possible to time of leaving on the trip. You could charge to 100% in the middle of the night and leave for the trip at 10am. You may lose like 0.5% charge (probably not even that).

The batteries don't like sitting at 100% charge for very long, it causes accelerated degradation. Granted its probably a small effect but I'd at least be conscious of it, since I want to keep mine for 10 to 15 years.

 

[Swampgator]

The batteries don't like sitting at 100% charge for very long, it causes accelerated degradation. Granted its probably a small effect but I'd at least be conscious of it, since I want to keep mine for 10 to 15 years.

There are also other (engineers) who will tell you that bringing the battery to 100% and letting the BMS balance the pack is good for the battery if done occasionally. I think you are probably overworrying and I plan to just charge to 100% the night I need that much, which is only 1-2 times a month anyhow. I think the cautionary note was related to charging to 100% and leaving the battery on that state for a long time, especially if the ambient temperature is high.

 

[RyanT]

It takes awhile to get to 100%. Once it estimated a 3 hour 100% charge and it took more like 6. I think it was balancing for a couple hours. I would just set it the night before. I’ve done this hundreds of times with my model S and hardly lost any range in 90,000 miles.

 

[Kuhz]

Set to 100 the night before and forget it. The car needs to sit for days (or even weeks) at at 100% charge to do any damage

 

[Eno Deb]

There are also other (engineers) who will tell you that bringing the battery to 100% and letting the BMS balance the pack is good for the battery if done occasionally.

I am not aware of any engineer saying this. AFAIK there is one expert here on the forum who saw the bleed resistors on a Model S battery pack from a wrecked car lighting up after the car had reached a 93% SoC. After that, he saw the balancing continue for more than 24 hours even after the car was disconnected from the EVSE. So if you believe that this is the only case where Tesla's BMS balances the pack, and that the Model 3 works exactly the same despite having a different pack architecture, then charging to 93% would be sufficient for this purpose.

Personally, I don't think there is any need for the consumer to make any specific efforts to balance the pack. The car can take care of itself without performing any Voodoo rituals.

 

[Brian's ReX]

The batteries don't like sitting at 100% charge for very long, it causes accelerated degradation. Granted its probably a small effect but I'd at least be conscious of it, since I want to keep mine for 10 to 15 years.

^^ Exactly.

On an extended road trip this summer, I Supercharged to 100% at the last stop. When I got home with 20% remaining, I just plugged in as usual, and didn't think to set it back to my usual 70% charge. Oops. When I got into the X in the am, it seemed pissed at me! I got a message in the display stating (old-guy memory... not verbatim) "HEY! Don't charge me to 100% unless we're going somewhere, dummy!" Or something to that effect

Regarding the OP, I typically charge to 90% overnight and slide up to 100% in the am before I leave for an extended trip. Wherever that charge gets me as I pull out of the garage is where I start... I don't worry about trying to get to exactly 100%... just close.

After all - in the end, is that extra 5-ish miles an actual issue? IMO, it shouldn't be. Only on rare occasions. Granted, I am in an area where I would have to drive a LONG time before I got to an area where the SC's were fewer and further between, so I'm lucky in that regard.

At 11K miles on the ODO, and after all the times I messed up (as stated above) by overcharging, running my RM down to under 20 miles before plugging in (eek), forgetting to plug in at home and leaving for a trip for a week and letting the vampires drain my batt, etc... I have experienced zero degradation. I still register 296 miles on 100% charge.

Just be as careful as possible as often as possible, and enjoy the ride.

 

[RyanT]

I've arrived with 5 miles of range left a couple of times. Not to mention I'm usually slowing down if it looks like I'll arrive with less than 10%.

If you are not charging to 100% why even worry about degradation? You're not using the full range anyways!