Regen dots at <90% SOC

[Kappelan]

What's the deal with the dots?

This morning. Was charged at 90%

Then later on the road, they disappeared...

and appeared again

 

[Zirak]

Taking carefully aimed pictures while driving (+ with no autopilot on)

Anyways, based on the amount you drove, I'd say the distance drained just enough from the battery to allow you to regen 100% again.

 

[Kappelan]

Taking carefully aimed pictures while driving (+ with no autopilot on)

My wife did most of them

 

[bwalter]

Model 3 AWD, charged to "80%" last night and it showed 400km range. (I say 80% in quotes, because I've noticed it charges a bit beyond 80% if I look at the trip graph.) Didn't check the temperature of my garage this morning, but I suspect it was about 22C. Drove a few easy km (nearly flat but probably more downs than ups) to my son's daycare (didn't notice regen dots, although I wasn't really looking for them) and parked in the underground parking. After I left the underground, I noticed regen dots on moderate downhill, city streets, 50km/h. They came and went a couple times (basically when I had to stop for traffic lights on the downhill they'd come back.) Ambient temp was 19C and I didn't see the dots again for the rest of my drive. Looking at the trip graph later I notice at that time the battery was still a hair over 80%, so it looks like with the AWD you can get regen dots down to 80% even when it's not cold.

 

[bxr140]

It’s normal. Lots of folks overthinking this one. SOC and hardware temps are the major variables in how much regen limiting you get, and pack/hardware temp isn’t always completely intuitive relative to ambient temp.

Note that there are scenarios wheee regen limit actually gets ‘worse’ as you drive. In both my old S60 and my current 3P, Limiting increases as I commute from my house at ~1600 feet down to near sea level, especially in the morning.

It’s also fun to see how far I can get using zero energy. Today I made it 13.0 miles.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Could be a new algorithm to extend battery pack life? Seems like a fleet wide change.

Which models are experiencing this? DMLR, SR+ so far, any 3LRs?

 

[pcons]

Could be a new algorithm to extend battery pack life? Seems like a fleet wide change.

Which models are experiencing this? DMLR, SR+ so far, any 3LRs?

Yeah, I was figuring it was some sort of intentional change in the firmware. I am not sure why the LR RWD would act differently from SR+ and LR AWD though (presumably PAWD would be the same as LR AWD...).

As I said above though, it really only would affect really high regen since its only a few dots, but it is definitely something changed from last year when I had the car in september and never had regen dots due to state of charge at below 90%.

The fact that it isn't consistent across cars still makes me think it may be something else...but I'm not losing much sleep over it at this point. Just an oddity and hopefully people will add their experiences here and shed some more light on this.

 

[bxr140]

Could be a new algorithm to extend battery pack life? Seems like a fleet wide change.

In mild Northern California, I get some kind of regen limiting almost every day, and have for the past 10 months and 25k miles of owning my 3P. I haven’t noticed anything different in recent times vs the past. Same goes for the previous 4.5 years and 110k on my S60.

It is very hard for me to believe it is a new thing—as in, something from a recent software update—and it is definitely not a major thing.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Well, unless you're recording and watching out for these, hard to notice imho. I'll keep an eye out this weekend on my way to Ottawa.

 

[bxr140]

Well, unless you're recording and watching out for these, hard to notice imho.

Fair. I don't record, because honestly it's not that big a deal relative to the rest of life. Playing off your point, I think we can also agree it is doubly fair that someone with minimal Regen limiting experience could draw false conclusions based on incomplete data.

As far as "watching out" and being "hard to notice", I watch out for limiting literally every day because it's more than just an "oh, there's some dots" thing for me. It is extremely easy to notice because I literally drive on the 'stop' of my cars' real-time and constantly changing limiting. And those are actual "literally", not tween "literally", because regen limiting has actual consequences for my downhill commute. Self-imposed, of course, my whole game is to get down the hill without using the brake pedal but also not go black on the energy bar, AND also to maximize my negative energy usage number (my record is -247Wh/mi, if anyone cares). In an effort to do all that I'm very aware of how much speed I build up before the next braking zone, how much momentum I may need to carry through the corners because the car is braking less, how early I need to brake, etc. And I'm very aware how all those variables change from day to day, SOC to SOC, ambient temp to ambient temp, wet to dry, whether I had the car on charge overnight or not, when that charge ended, how much Regen I get back on longer straightaways (where I'm at neutral throttle), whether the battery was on pre-heat, etc.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Alas, we don't have that many hills here in Flatoronto. My games equals = how many texting drivers I can count while on AP on the 401.

 

[Kappelan]

Alas, we don't have that many hills here in Flatoronto.

I drive some hills the Uxbridge area )

 

[escpethewrmhle]

This is normal, at 80% you will get the limited regen based on temperature, at 90% you get them because of SoC.

 

[pcons]

This is normal, at 80% you will get the limited regen based on temperature, at 90% you get them because of SoC.

Agreed above 90 it's due to SOC, but I'm still not buying the temperature argument down to 80% because:

1. This didn't happen last year when I got my model 3, I've had it for a year now picked up September and never had Regen dots until temps hit below ~5C and that was definitely due to cold.

2. When I charge to 90% and let the car sit overnight in my garage which is around 20C, I still have Regen dots in the morning. Even IF the charging session heated up the battery the night before, 12+ hours later the pack is going to be more or less at ambient temp, which is by no means hot for a battery. Yet the dots still remain...

3. Some others on this forum that live in the same general area as me don't see the dots, while others do. So it's certainly not consistent at similar outside temperatures.

But, as I've said before I agree this isn't a huge deal. Just a curiosity, however this definitely seems like something 'new' and doesn't appear to be consistent so some people are seeing it and others aren't.

 

[Kappelan]

Received this message yesterday at 90% of charge.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Saw the small dots briefly on my 3LR at ~93% SoC by rocking the car back and forth to force regen cycles. Not really an issue as local roads top out at 80kph when everyone speeds.

Never noticed them again to/from Ottawa.

Probably an slight update to reduce high SoC regen wear on the battery pack.

 

[bxr140]

Received this message yesterday at 90% of charge.

I got regen limiting at ~70%SOC and 75F ambient temp yesterday morning, with overnight low probably 65-68F.

Probably an slight update to reduce high SoC regen wear on the battery pack.

Or...it could also be new owners getting used to what Tesla owners have been dealing with for years; just because it seems new doesn't mean it is. As noted, there's a number of variables that affect limiting and unless you're monitoring all of them you're working with an incomplete data set.

To be clear, there's nothing wrong with the speculation going on in this thread and you could very well be correct in your guess that software has changed, but there's also no proof that anything has changed in the software and its important the community not run with premature/misinterpreted information. That's how the 'Tesla is throttling local superchargers' thing got out of hand a few years ago.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Or...it could also be new owners getting used to what Tesla owners have been dealing with for years; just because it seems new doesn't mean it is. As noted, there's a number of variables that affect limiting and unless you're monitoring all of them you're working with an incomplete data set.

To be clear, there's nothing wrong with the speculation going on in this thread and you could very well be correct in your guess that software has changed, but there's also no proof that anything has changed in the software and its important the community not run with premature/misinterpreted information. That's how the 'Tesla is throttling local superchargers' thing got out of hand a few years ago.

Just a logical guess to make sense of new information presented by our car HUDs. Very happy with the car .

Professional curiosity; Tesla is a customer and I am their customer.

 

[pcons]

Received this message yesterday at 90% of charge.

Interesting. Can you clarify a couple things just to try and get a handle on your situation (which presents with far more regen dots than I have seen at 90%):

1. Is this right after charging the car, or after it sat at ambient for a specific time?
2. Was the last charge supercharging or L2 charging, and at what current?
3. With this level of regen dots, do you notice the lost regen and at what speed?
4. At what SOC/range did the dots go away?

Last winter I would see around this many regen dots when it was -10C or cooler outside, but I've never seen that much limitation in warmer temperatures, nor has my SOC tripped the 'regen braking limited' message unless I was charged +90%.

Thanks for posting your experience.

 

[Kappelan]

Interesting. Can you clarify a couple things just to try and get a handle on your situation (which presents with far more regen dots than I have seen at 90%):

1. Is this right after charging the car, or after it sat at ambient for a specific time?
2. Was the last charge supercharging or L2 charging, and at what current?
3. With this level of regen dots, do you notice the lost regen and at what speed?
4. At what SOC/range did the dots go away?

Last winter I would see around this many regen dots when it was -10C or cooler outside, but I've never seen that much limitation in warmer temperatures, nor has my SOC tripped the 'regen braking limited' message unless I was charged +90%.

Thanks for posting your experience.

Will try to recall...

1. Car was charged to 90% but unplugged for a day at home in the garage (I was charging my Volt)
2. The last charge was my home L2 station.
3. Didn't notice much difference... Maybe a bit less aggressive.
4. Didn't pay attention. I wasn't driving for a long time yesterday, maybe about 30-40 km or so.

Will try to collect more data next time )