The only thing I have read is that the 15 V battery needs the car to be plugged in for some reason. I have a hard time believing that battery charge is not maintained by the main battery when needed. From all the treads I have read keeping the car main battery close to 50% is best with a very occasional charge to 100%. I charge my MYLR to 70% when needed and unplug it most of the time. I will leave it around 50% as much as I can.
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Plugged in or not plugged in?
- Thread starter flixden
- Start date
I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. Teslas usually benefit from being plugged in, for the many reasons that have been posted throughout this forum, and I don't recall the newer 15V battery to be special in that regard.
zoomer0056
Active Member
R U saying the low voltage battery does or does not benefit from the car being plugged in?
I was questioning why agmonaco thinks the 15v battery benefits differently from the previous 12V lead/acid batteries.
I am having a hard time finding these reasons, besides the convenience factor (not forgetting to charge, or not having to walk to the garage when wanting to charge).
Are there real technical benefits to having the car plugged in, like increased battery longevity, or something to that extend?
There are reasons to NOT have the car plugged in (when no charge is needed): power surges, for example.
I own a 2023 MYLR with the 2170 batteries. My priority is to maintain an optimal battery with the least battery degradation. I'm retired and the car sits for a couple days at a time. I have read that 50% SOC is best for the least battery stress. If I park the car at 50+ percent and do not plug it in is ABC really necessary or better considering the charge only drops 1% a day max. In this scenario why would you need to ABC. The 16V battery is maintained either way. I am looking for something beyond the owners manual. A deeper dive into the systems would be good from someone that has some expertise. Thx.
I think the people who reference "always be charging" are suggesting you want the vehicle to always be preparing itself to be used, so that you have the optimal experience when you start to drive each time.
One of the main joys of electric vehicle ownership is there's so much less to think about. Set the max charge to whatever you're comfortable with, plug it in, walk away. The car takes care of everything else.
One of the main joys of electric vehicle ownership is there's so much less to think about. Set the max charge to whatever you're comfortable with, plug it in, walk away. The car takes care of everything else.
OxBrew
Active Member
I would probably not plug in as much if I had frequent power surges, without doing some research about possible ways to protect from them. If there are really frequent, it might be worth it.
I lose power maybe 2-3 times a winter, often for just a few seconds, sometimes minutes or hours. I keep it plugged in all winter so any self heating that has to happen uses shore power, not the battery (just to avoid the cycles on the battery).
But I'm not super strict about it. If it's not plugged in and I need to heat the cabin, I just turn it on, don't worry about it.
I don't know for sure, but my sense is most power flickers don't generate an actual surge. You might dig into that and try to learn what the real risk is (if you don't already know).
Thank you, I understand that. I would like to know why it matters systems wise as far as battery degradation issues. Tony
You can't actually "Always be charging", because once you hit the set state of charge, the car stops charging.
You can "Always be plugged in" when not driving. The reason that's suggested is to prevent customers from forgetting to charge, and it also allows the car to draw power from the wall for preconditioning the battery.
Leaving your car plugged in all the time isn't likely to have a big impact on battery longevity.
The only argument I can think of that can be made for plugging in for longevity would be... allowing the car to draw wall power for preconditioning means it doesn't have to use energy from the battery for preconditioning. Using battery energy for preconditioning the battery means "spending" some of your battery cycles. Battery cycles are finite. (The battery can only put out so much lifetime energy before it dies).
You can "Always be plugged in" when not driving. The reason that's suggested is to prevent customers from forgetting to charge, and it also allows the car to draw power from the wall for preconditioning the battery.
Leaving your car plugged in all the time isn't likely to have a big impact on battery longevity.
The only argument I can think of that can be made for plugging in for longevity would be... allowing the car to draw wall power for preconditioning means it doesn't have to use energy from the battery for preconditioning. Using battery energy for preconditioning the battery means "spending" some of your battery cycles. Battery cycles are finite. (The battery can only put out so much lifetime energy before it dies).
So Casey this is an interesting comment. I did not think of battery cycles. I would only consider preconditioning the car in the winter. So my question remains. Is it necessary for battery health to ABC if you do not precondition? I know this may be trivial. I just want to understand the battery better. Its the nerd in me.
davewill
Active Member
Actually, any charging regimen that has the car ready when you want it will work. Leaving it plugged in makes it easier to use power hungry features like Sentry, Cabin Overheat Protection, and Pre-Conditioning, which is why Tesla recommends it, but it has no benefits "systems wise". I do think as a general rule it's easier to plug in every night and lower the charge level than charge it up higher and trying to skip days, but whatever works for you is OK.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
No. Not at all. At least not in the use case you’re describing.
That is what I thought. I always leave my charge limit at 70% and then leave it unplugged if it is around 50% + SOC, until I need more charge if I need to go any distance required to have more or to precondition. Thank you.
I merged this into one of the various other threads on this exact topic (of being always plugged in). If the goal is "understand the battery better" then I would suggest taking a look at any of the various existing battery threads that @AAKEE has posted in, as there is no topic on "the battery" that has not already been covered here, extensively, in multiple existing threads.
I will review again. At first review I did not see my answer for the 2170 battery system. Thank you
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In reality, 2170 is just a size (vs 18650 or 4680), not a battery chemistry. Best practices for any apply to all.
Whatever you do, your battery will probably last longer then you need. It's like people arguing that you should change your oil at 3000 vs 5000 miles. If the engine lasts 300k miles in either case, does it really matter?
Interesting. Is there anyway to check the level of that? (auxiliary / low-voltage battery whatever you call it) I replaced mine in my old model S after ~ six years
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