Tesla sets charge limit to 90%

[jf64k]

When we're done driving for the day, we plug in our 2020 MYLRs and charge to 90% everyday.

Been this way for 2 1/2 years. Easy-peasy.

OP, my advice is: Don't over think it. Tesla knows more about batteries than anyone.

 

[ATPMSD]

Tesla knows more about batteries than anyone.

Totally agree! But Tesla will not tell anyone so we are left to speculate.

 

[804son]

Tesla doesn't have a set recommendation for battery charging. The daily is anywhere in between 50% - 90% set it for what you need. Common knowledge is set it as low as you can and still get through your normal daily driving needs. I have a short commute and set my daily limit to the minimum 50%.

 

[Dennisis]

I'll add that in addition to A Better Route Planner (ABRP) using PlugShare when planning trips can be very helpful. I recommend signing up and checking it out so you're ready, easy to do. You can then peruse charger availability/type where you'll be traveling/staying which is especially helpful in more remote locations. Aside from that I'll repeat: 1) set your range indicator to percent rather than miles and DO NOT take changes as gospel as your battery management system (BMS) may not have enough data at different states of charge to give an accurate reading and 2) Don't obsess over range "changes"/what seems to be excess battery usage - read here about factors impacting range so you're not surprised. (search box top right) Enjoy!
Edit: FWIW I set mine to 70% and charge every few days. 804son's advice above is probably best - stay in the recommended range for daily driving and go higher as needed. Regardless, from what I've seen no matter what we each choose to do we all seem to end up in the same place with no worries.

 

[arbitrage000]

Mon-Thur when working I use 1% to get to work and 3-4% to get home. So I set my charge % to 50% and used scheduled departure combined with off-peak rates (even though I don't have off peak rates but you need to set this to have it charge before leaving and not right away) to tell the car to charge me from~45% to 50% before I leave for work.

On weekends (Fri-Sun) I bump the charge to 65% as I typically will use ~20% during my weekend activities.

For people that want or need to charge to 80-90% everyday it is wise to use scheduled departure combined with off peak charging so that the car doesn't charge right away when you get home in the evening. This ensures that the car doesn't sit overnight at a high state of charge.

 

[jcanoe]

Mon-Thur when working I use 1% to get to work and 3-4% to get home. So I set my charge % to 50% and used scheduled departure combined with off-peak rates (even though I don't have off peak rates but you need to set this to have it charge before leaving and not right away) to tell the car to charge me from~45% to 50% before I leave for work.

On weekends (Fri-Sun) I bump the charge to 65% as I typically will use ~20% during my weekend activities.

For people that want or need to charge to 80-90% everyday it is wise to use scheduled departure combined with off peak charging so that the car doesn't charge right away when you get home in the evening. This ensures that the car doesn't sit overnight at a high state of charge.

Using Scheduled Departure combined with Off-Peak Rate charging is also more efficient (in winter). The Tesla Model Y will have warmed the battery as needed for charging. Some additional warming of the battery will take place while actively charging. When you leave in the A.M. the battery will already be warm, perhaps not require additional warming for optimal driving. On a day to day measure this does not amount to a huge savings of energy or cost. Over the days, weeks and months of winter driving this can add up to some meaningful savings.

 

[Iron]

Okay guys. I've set my charge limit to 80%. Since I have a wall connector in the garage and can charge at will, it won't be a problem and might extend the battery a little bit down the line.

 

[just_y]

According to this study, keeping the charge between 65%-75% is ideal. But 45% to 75% is more practical. 30% roughly 100 miles is good enough for my daily commute.

BU-808: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries

BU meta description needed...

batteryuniversity.com

 

[Iron]

Mon-Thur when working I use 1% to get to work and 3-4% to get home. So I set my charge % to 50% and used scheduled departure combined with off-peak rates (even though I don't have off peak rates but you need to set this to have it charge before leaving and not right away) to tell the car to charge me from~45% to 50% before I leave for work.

On weekends (Fri-Sun) I bump the charge to 65% as I typically will use ~20% during my weekend activities.

For people that want or need to charge to 80-90% everyday it is wise to use scheduled departure combined with off peak charging so that the car doesn't charge right away when you get home in the evening. This ensures that the car doesn't sit overnight at a high state of charge.

Tesla says to leave it plugged as much as possible. I saw that in the manual somewhere.

 

[arbitrage000]

Tesla says to leave it plugged as much as possible. I saw that in the manual somewhere.

Yes that is correct. Always best to have it just plugged in. But not ideal to have it charging right away when coming home in the evening and then sitting at a high SOC overnight. Always best to just have it charge before you leave so battery is warm and it hasn't been sitting high overnight. Now in my scenario I could have it charge to my 50% or so when I get home as sitting overnight at 50 won't really matter much but then I have a cold battery and weaker regen on my way down the hill to work.

The trick for Scheduled Departure is to always set the Off Peak Setting for the same time as the Scheduled Departure even if you don't have Off Peak rates. Tesla explains this in the User Manual. If you do have Off Peak rates and they end say an hour before your Scheduled Departure then you can just set the Off Peak and hour earlier and it will charge earlier and then condition the cabin before the Scheduled Time.

 

[Iron]

Yes that is correct. Always best to have it just plugged in. But not ideal to have it charging right away when coming home in the evening and then sitting at a high SOC overnight. Always best to just have it charge before you leave so battery is warm and it hasn't been sitting high overnight. Now in my scenario I could have it charge to my 50% or so when I get home as sitting overnight at 50 won't really matter much but then I have a cold battery and weaker regen on my way down the hill to work.

The trick for Scheduled Departure is to always set the Off Peak Setting for the same time as the Scheduled Departure even if you don't have Off Peak rates. Tesla explains this in the User Manual. If you do have Off Peak rates and they end say an hour before your Scheduled Departure then you can just set the Off Peak and hour earlier and it will charge earlier and then condition the cabin before the Scheduled Time.

First, I appreciate all the advice from everyone who has responded. This forum is awesome.

Okay, so last week I got on an EV rate plan from my power company. Someone came out and installed a Time Of Use meter, taking away my old meter. Peak rates will run from Jun 1st thru Sept 10th, from 3 - 8 PM weekdays. Everything outside of that is considered off peak. Off peak is $0.046 per kwh and peak will be $0.15 per kwh. I haven't fully set up strategic charging times because it's all off peak till June, but I did try to enter my electric rates in the Tesla app Charge Stats\settings. It would not let me enter .046. Closest I could get was .05. Of course entering all that is just for accurate info about my charging costs, which would be nice to have.

Anyway, I will follow your advice and thanks for everything and I might even lower the max charge to 75%

 

[BamaRed]

I charge to 70% daily and let it be. When taking trips, I go to 90% and roll on.

 

[Niroc]

Totally agree! But Tesla will not tell anyone so we are left to speculate.

I agree that Tesla has incredible knowledge in battery technology. But thee King of battery experience goes to CATL. And the rumor is that CATL is leaning more towards LFP type batteries due to durability and not having nickel, cobalt in the makeup. Big downfall of LFP battery is the slow charge in cold temps and energy density. There are other issues as well but I feel that these are the two biggest ones.

Almost half continental U.S. really do not need AWD and are not exposed to very cold temperatures except on a rare occasion. IMHO, whoever comes up with a cheap EV that has a LFP battery could sell a lot of cars, eclipsing the Model Y.

 

[Zoot219]

Took MYLR across the USA last summer. I recharged below 20% and drove away at 80% at most superchargers. I took on higher charges before heading into national parks, often up to 100%. I found that national parks that I have visited so far don't have superchargers, although some can be found within a few miles outside the major entry points.

 

[Mrbrock]

Also, the reported range will drop if you charge every night and don't use much each day. The BMS needs multiple data points with the contactors open (vehicle asleep) to be able to calculate the range. There is a great post in the M3 Battery Forum about reclaiming lost range. I was charging every day or two to 90% and never got below 60 or 70% (my daily drive is about 5%). My low 100% range was 288.9 miles at age 1! Turns out it was just a calibration calculation issue. With my short drive it has taken about a month of only charging to 80% and not plugging in until I am below 40% to give the BMS the calculation points. I am now up to 314.8 miles 100% range so 26 miles gained. I did charge to 95% the first charge after going below 20% to give the BMS a high charge data point.

 

[heapmaster]

I agree that Tesla has incredible knowledge in battery technology. But thee King of battery experience goes to CATL. And the rumor is that CATL is leaning more towards LFP type batteries due to durability and not having nickel, cobalt in the makeup. Big downfall of LFP battery is the slow charge in cold temps and energy density. There are other issues as well but I feel that these are the two biggest ones.

Almost half continental U.S. really do not need AWD and are not exposed to very cold temperatures except on a rare occasion. IMHO, whoever comes up with a cheap EV that has a LFP battery could sell a lot of cars, eclipsing the Model Y.

I needed AWD the other day, I had the front motor stop working with errors "front motor disabled - OK to drive. Vehicle power may be limited" until I stopped the car, put it in park for a few minutes and then the error went away and then started to drive again.

 

[Iron]

Copied straight from the Manual....

High Voltage Battery Information​

About the High Voltage Battery​

Model Y has one of the most sophisticated battery systems in the world. The most important way to preserve the high voltage Battery is to LEAVE YOUR VEHICLE PLUGGED IN when you are not using it. This is particularly important if you are not planning to drive Model Y for several weeks.

Note
When left idle and unplugged, your vehicle periodically uses energy from the Battery for system tests and recharging the low voltage battery when necessary.
There is no advantage to waiting until the Battery’s level is low before charging. In fact, the Battery performs best when charged regularly.

 

[Mrbrock]

Copied straight from the Manual....

High Voltage Battery Information​

About the High Voltage Battery​

Model Y has one of the most sophisticated battery systems in the world. The most important way to preserve the high voltage Battery is to LEAVE YOUR VEHICLE PLUGGED IN when you are not using it. This is particularly important if you are not planning to drive Model Y for several weeks.

Note
When left idle and unplugged, your vehicle periodically uses energy from the Battery for system tests and recharging the low voltage battery when necessary.
There is no advantage to waiting until the Battery’s level is low before charging. In fact, the Battery performs best when charged regularly.

Yes, but the BMS does not give accurate readings when treated in this manner. It only sees voltage and amps in a narrow range and can't predict how much is actually left until it has to access those levels. If you don't care about seeing your max range drop quickly, plug it in every night, even after a 5% drop.

 

[Iron]

I do

Yes, but the BMS does not give accurate readings when treated in this manner. It only sees voltage and amps in a narrow range and can't predict how much is actually left until it has to access those levels. If you don't care about seeing your max range drop quickly, plug it in every night, even after a 5% drop.

I do care about preserving max range. It's the whole point of my thread. I've only had the car two weeks now and am seeing many different and varying opinions, some of which go against the manual. I'm trying to sift through it all and figure out what's best as much of it is conflicting. I do appreciate everyone's input, yours included.

Currently, I have charge limit set to 75% and am not plugging in till it drops to roughly 30%. At least that's what I'm doing right now. RT commute is roughly 40 miles weekdays. I have it scheduled to leave by 6:30 Am, with no preconditioning, cause we are in a warm spell right now. I'd like to keep it plugged in as the manual says but that would mean it will charge to threshold every weekday before 6:30, even if I only used 5%. There is no app setting granularity which allows me to skip charging for a day or two other than keeping it unplugged, yet the manual says what I posted above. I'm not trying to fight the manual too much and go 3rd party app either. I guess I'm looking for a sweet spot, or maybe the novelty of it all will wear off, I'll stop giving a F and just plug it in every night.

 

[804son]

Here's my theory for what it's worth (not much). I'm not worried about plugging in each night and topping the battery back from the 50% charge limit i set. Yes, it causes the BMS to be of and it looks like I have more battery degredation that I probably really have. However next time I'm on a trip the battery will get all kinds of variation in charge levels and be able to sleep during those different states, so that should help the BMS re-calibrate. I can't ever get back true degradation.