We are taking delivery of our MYLR soon. A friend is suggesting that they charge their MYLR to only 50% for regular use as they mostly work from home and use the car for doing chores, etc. But if they plan a longer trip, then the charge it to 80% or 100% based on where they want to go. Their argument is that this preserves the batteries and results in less degradation. I am not 100% convinced. So wanted to check if anyone has any experience with this sort of thing or can point me to any articles/research that supports that. I tried to search on this board but only got folks who were charging to 80%.
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Should the MYLR be charged to 50% only?
- Thread starter canbonbon
- Start date
I can't cite any articles but there have been many. I can speak from 10 years of experience with Tesla vehicles and will tell you that limiting your daily charge to 50% is unnecessary. The research has shown that you should not, on a regular basis be charging to 100% or regularly discharge below 10%. This will preserve the health of your battery.
What I have done and seem to be successful with is to regularly charge to 90%. Charging to 100%, when needed is totally fine, just don't let the car sit idle at 100%. So, if you need the extra range top off your charge just before you are ready to leave.
I hope this helps.
What I have done and seem to be successful with is to regularly charge to 90%. Charging to 100%, when needed is totally fine, just don't let the car sit idle at 100%. So, if you need the extra range top off your charge just before you are ready to leave.
I hope this helps.
I agree it's probably not necessary. Generally speaking for best longevity use the middle 50% of the battery. So charge to 80% and don't go below 20% regularly. With that said, don't worry so much about it too much. I charge to 80-85% daily. If I'm taking a trip I charge to 100% just before departing (so it's not sitting with 100% charge). You just want to avoid charging above 90% and discharging below 10% on a regular basis and you will be fine. If your really concerned you can aim to keep it in the middle 50% though.
IIRC, the BMC can't do cell leveling without going to 90%+. Many people just say charge to 90% and it seems to have no negative impact to battery health. That's what I'm doing.
Teedub21
Member
Tesla recommends 90% so charge to 90%. Been discussed so many times already. Also, at only 50% full performance not available either. I believe full power is reduced below a certain percentage of charge.
arichard2401
Member
You're going to get lots of opinions on this. There are two basic camps one which will tell you not to worry about it and stick to Tesla's daily charge range (50-90), and the other that will tell you to charge to around 50%.
Personally I try to let the car sit as close to 50% as possible. So I charge to about 60% right before I leave for work and then the car sits overnight at 50%. On the weekends I'll keep it at 50% or charge to what I need for a trip to return home at around 50%. (on long road trips though I'll go as high as I need to). I enjoy managing the charging state like this, but if that sounds exhausting to you, just set a daily charge limit that works for you and leave it there.
There's some good discussion on this and some research in this thread:
teslamotorsclub.com
Important thing to remember if you're going to put yourself in the 50% camp is what @rwojo mentioned. Your estimated range will be less than actual if you leave it at 50% constantly, which is why a lot of us just use % SOC rather than range.
Personally I try to let the car sit as close to 50% as possible. So I charge to about 60% right before I leave for work and then the car sits overnight at 50%. On the weekends I'll keep it at 50% or charge to what I need for a trip to return home at around 50%. (on long road trips though I'll go as high as I need to). I enjoy managing the charging state like this, but if that sounds exhausting to you, just set a daily charge limit that works for you and leave it there.
There's some good discussion on this and some research in this thread:
Tesla sets charge limit to 90%
Just took delivery on my MYLR three days ago. Tesla has the charge limit set to 90%. I see many here set it to 80%. I do have a garage with a wall connector installed and set to full 48A charging. Would it be more beneficial for the battery if I dial it back to 80%? Daily work commute is...
teslamotorsclub.com
Important thing to remember if you're going to put yourself in the 50% camp is what @rwojo mentioned. Your estimated range will be less than actual if you leave it at 50% constantly, which is why a lot of us just use % SOC rather than range.
Drinyth
Member
I think there are some that believe that keeping your battery closest to 50% minimizes the degradation of the overall battery over its lifetime. And others that believe that as long as you're staying under 90%, the benefits of trying to stay around 50% aren't really worth the hassle and the small gains that are to be realized.
Personally, I've been living more towards the 50% camp. I work from home and my daily requirements don't change all that much. When I need to run out, I do so and come back and plug back in to 50%. If keeping it closer to 50% helps, even a little bit, I might as well do it based on my own driving needs.
If I knew I was going to be out longer or needing to travel more the following day, I'd just move the charging slider up in the app based on what I think I needed (and move it back down afterwards). But I'm the guy that's looking at his Teslamate stats all the time and what not. If it were up to my wife, she'd just set it to 90% and call it a day. She'd say it isn't worth the hassle.
Personally, I've been living more towards the 50% camp. I work from home and my daily requirements don't change all that much. When I need to run out, I do so and come back and plug back in to 50%. If keeping it closer to 50% helps, even a little bit, I might as well do it based on my own driving needs.
If I knew I was going to be out longer or needing to travel more the following day, I'd just move the charging slider up in the app based on what I think I needed (and move it back down afterwards). But I'm the guy that's looking at his Teslamate stats all the time and what not. If it were up to my wife, she'd just set it to 90% and call it a day. She'd say it isn't worth the hassle.
Probably the best thing for your battery. Go look at the Model 3 Battery Section and they have a huge thread on best battery practices with a load of scientific studies backing it up. 55% seems to be the best bang for the buck though and batteries love staying below that. Also, going below 20% has no detrimental impact on battery...its a myth that it does.
E90alex
Active Member
I charge my Model 3 LR to 57% daily because my commute uses -14%. Works well for me and even if I forget to plug in that 57% can last me 3+ days of commuting. I can still run around all day on the weekend with 57% but I do bump up my weekend daily charge to 65-70% just for extra buffer.
If I ever need an emergency trip I have my ICE car or just pop in at a supercharger for a few minutes.
Teslas 90% recommendation is born out of balancing battery degradation and customer convenience. Maximum battery longevity is not had at 90%, but it also isn’t terrible for the battery like 100%. So 90% is fine. 80% is better.
If you’re OCD about minimizing degradation then current lithium battery studies show maintaining around 50% and having small depths of discharge is best. Eg charge as often as possible and not wait until it’s low first.
If I ever need an emergency trip I have my ICE car or just pop in at a supercharger for a few minutes.
Teslas 90% recommendation is born out of balancing battery degradation and customer convenience. Maximum battery longevity is not had at 90%, but it also isn’t terrible for the battery like 100%. So 90% is fine. 80% is better.
If you’re OCD about minimizing degradation then current lithium battery studies show maintaining around 50% and having small depths of discharge is best. Eg charge as often as possible and not wait until it’s low first.
E90alex
Active Member
Most people don’t use maximum power daily anyways, and it’s still plenty fast. All the teslas around me drive like Priuses and are probably in chill mode which is still much less power than my LR at 50%
I dont know why people reduce the range they can get, just to protect their batteries from losing range they arent using to the fullest, anyway. Just drive the car, keep it at 90% or lower, charge to 100 percent but only right before you leave.
Its like not using your left arm to keep it from wearing out when you are older lol
Its like not using your left arm to keep it from wearing out when you are older lol
The chemistry is going to wear out due to time more than any charge cycle protection you are going to be doing. If you intend to keep it for 10 years plus, which is what you sound like you are doing, father time is going to wear it out for you despite you hobbling your range for protective reasons.
Charging cycles dont hurt as much as heat etc does. People supercharge exclusively and dont see degredation past the norms.
Drinyth
Member
It's more of protecting the battery from losing capacity as much as possible, so that if/when I need to take a trip that requires a significant distance I'll have maximum range available due to less battery degradation.
Just because I don't use my range to the fullest on a daily basis does not mean that I'm never going to use it to go long distances in the future. My typical daily needs are met by a 50% charge. Hence, there is no practical reason for me to charge higher than that on a daily basis.
That assumes you even buy into the whole notion that batteries will last longer if they're kept near 50% state most of their life. Lots of people don't necessarily believe that the degradation between 50% vs 90% is different enough to warrant worrying about it. Or they know that they're not going to keep their car long enough that capacity years down the road is going to be an issue for them. I get that too. I don't think there is a right or wrong way for everyone. Ultimately, people should do whatever they feel is best for their own situation.
Of course, people are going to do what they want to do, but limiting yourself 100s' of miles of range a day in order to take a trip that might need to use that full range for a handful of days and save you some a couple hours to make up for 25 miles of extra degradation during that time, doesnt make sense, is all im thinking. What happens if you needed that extra range that day, superchargers all went down for an extended period (or the grid) or some other emergency circumstance? Best to have the range you have available to you than some very small degradation difference.
It would be better to just buy a shorter range vehicle and save the money by putting it into an investment or something. Then take the money out and buy a new battery once it wears lower than your comfort zone.
It would be better to just buy a shorter range vehicle and save the money by putting it into an investment or something. Then take the money out and buy a new battery once it wears lower than your comfort zone.
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It’s a car…. Drive it and use it the way you need. Otherwise just leave it in track mode 
Tesla says it to charge to 90% so do that. Why complicate it?
Charging to 50% is better than 90% right. Charging to 90% or 100% or 80% is all about the same. Leaving it at those high states of charge isn't great for the battery. Since I don't use the range, why charge to those high states. When I do need the range, I charge high.
In the end, its just me keeping my car in tip top condition...same as changing the oil every 3k or changing other fluids early. In the end, its what auto enthusiasts take pleasure in
Not driving your car and leaving it in the garage also leaves it in better condition. What about all those nasty rocks that might chip it? Or what about all that wear the road does to your wheels? Its the same thing. Its meant to be used. The capacity is there to be used. If they thought you should only charge to 50%, they would limit t he soc to 50 percent, or put it to "daily" at 50 percent. The thing is, other parts are going to wear out much quicker than if you charge the car to recommended 90 percent.
The best thing to do is try not to overheat the battery or supercharge too much when its not. Supercharging does WAY more damage than charging on a level 2 over night ever would. Its best not to let this car put you in analysis peralysis. This car attracts us engineer types who want to analyze everything when in the end we should just be focusing our brains on something more useful
The best thing to do is try not to overheat the battery or supercharge too much when its not. Supercharging does WAY more damage than charging on a level 2 over night ever would. Its best not to let this car put you in analysis peralysis. This car attracts us engineer types who want to analyze everything when in the end we should just be focusing our brains on something more useful
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