Tesla sets charge limit to 90%

[Rocky_H]

I've only had the car two weeks now and am seeing many different and varying opinions, some of which go against the manual.

That's because there simply isn't one single specific behavior that accomplishes all of these conflicting purposes at the same time. That's what you're searching for, but it doesn't exist, so that's why you're frustrated.

1. Very small top-up charges in the middle of the state of charge is great for the long term health of lithium ion batteries.

2A. But that definitely confuses the BMS in trying to estimate the state of charge, so it will drift and get off over time, which makes some users upset.

2B. Tesla is trying to sell cars. They don't want people to not have enough range because they forgot to plug in, so they recommend to keep it plugged in all the time to get people to build habits.

*EDIT* And I'll just add that you're not the only one. We get a lot of threads of people who are irritated because they want one single answer that does everything in the most ideal way, but it just doesn't quite work like that.

 

[Iron]

That's because there simply isn't one single specific behavior that accomplishes all of these conflicting purposes at the same time. That's what you're searching for, but it doesn't exist, so that's why you're frustrated.

1. Very small top-up charges in the middle of the state of charge is great for the long term health of lithium ion batteries.

2A. But that definitely confuses the BMS in trying to estimate the state of charge, so it will drift and get off over time, which makes some users upset.

2B. Tesla is trying to sell cars. They don't want people to not have enough range because they forgot to plug in, so they recommend to keep it plugged in all the time to get people to build habits.

*EDIT* And I'll just add that you're not the only one. We get a lot of threads of people who are irritated because they want one single answer that does everything in the most ideal way, but it just doesn't quite work like that.

I see.

Learn How To Recalibrate Your Tesla Battery To Show Correct Range

Sometimes, due to improper charging habits, a Tesla’s battery can have calibration issues. In turn, these calibration issues can result in battery degradation.

insideevs.com

 

[Mrbrock]

That's because there simply isn't one single specific behavior that accomplishes all of these conflicting purposes at the same time. That's what you're searching for, but it doesn't exist, so that's why you're frustrated.

1. Very small top-up charges in the middle of the state of charge is great for the long term health of lithium ion batteries.

2A. But that definitely confuses the BMS in trying to estimate the state of charge, so it will drift and get off over time, which makes some users upset.

2B. Tesla is trying to sell cars. They don't want people to not have enough range because they forgot to plug in, so they recommend to keep it plugged in all the time to get people to build habits.

*EDIT* And I'll just add that you're not the only one. We get a lot of threads of people who are irritated because they want one single answer that does everything in the most ideal way, but it just doesn't quite work like that.

Great points.

Additionally, i have not see anyone actually test a car that is in need of BMS calibration as to whether it shuts off early or if you still get full range, just more miles once 0 is indicated. In other words, If your max range is down to 300 and you get 30 miles after 0 remaining is indicated, you haven’t lost any of your battery, the display is just being calculated incorrectly. In that case, it’s purely cosmetic and doesn’t affect actual range.

Maybe someone Has this and can point us in the right direction.

 

[drtimhill]

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 about 40 mi RT. I've only charged it a few times and the max charge so far is 66 mi.

You will find (and have found on this thread!) lots of opinions .. but basically whatever you do DONT FRET .. it will ruin your enjoyment of the car. The ONLY thing to avoid Is 100% charging except when preparing for a long trip (and even then it's probably not needed and a waste of time at most superchargers).

 

[Iron]

You will find (and have found on this thread!) lots of opinions .. but basically whatever you do DONT FRET .. it will ruin your enjoyment of the car. The ONLY thing to avoid Is 100% charging except when preparing for a long trip (and even then it's probably not needed and a waste of time at most superchargers).

Thanks. Not fretting at all. Just working out best habits and trying employ them from early on. I do enjoy this wonderful car.

 

[Spinkick]

The car is going to wear out far sooner than your battery. this car is a rolling cell phone. Sell it and let them recycle it and you drive a new one. Buy a shorter range car if you dont need all the range, invest that money, buy another car in 5 years with that investment money

 

[Minnie Pearl]

I have had two of Bambis' friends say hi in Texas on my road trips with my Prius, not fun, i'll skip Texas in my tesla.

I’ve lived in TX for the vast majority of my life. Only run in with deer happened visiting family in NM. Besides, those corn growing states have MUCH bigger deer who figure you’ll drive around them. Driving around TX can make for a long day. I can come up with better reasons to avoid rural TX roads. Diesel belching peckerwoods come to mind. Oh, I didn’t mean to say that part out loud.

 

[tangible1]

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.

a cheap EV won't make any appearance from Tesla until they can diecast the entire chassis on one shot; wait for IDRA to announce.
batteries also need to become more plentiful and cheaper.
resources (for batteries) are a battleground and will remain tight for years to come.
Tesla has the lithium and CATL the rare earths, so they're the gorillas.

Elon may make some pronouncments at Investor Day this week, but remember, it will be on 'Elon Time' when they will really appear.

 

[Physicslawyer]

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.

When I had my first 2022 MYP, I drove 16k miles and Supercharged exclusively, to 100% at least once a week. The car had 6% battery degradation. This does not seem different than what people have who take care of their battery. I have picked up a bit of paranoia though with car 2.

I plugged it into my house and left it on a level 2 charger with the car set to 86% with sentry mode on. We won't be back to that house until the weekend (we plugged it on on Sunday). Is it okay to leave sentry mode on? Should I leave the car lower than 86%?

What would you do with a car you won't be using for the week?

 

[Iron]

When I had my first 2022 MYP, I drove 16k miles and Supercharged exclusively, to 100% at least once a week. The car had 6% battery degradation. This does not seem different than what people have who take care of their battery. I have picked up a bit of paranoia though with car 2.

I plugged it into my house and left it on a level 2 charger with the car set to 86% with sentry mode on. We won't be back to that house until the weekend (we plugged it on on Sunday). Is it okay to leave sentry mode on? Should I leave the car lower than 86%?

What would you do with a car you won't be using for the week?

You did the right thing, leaving it plugged it. Sentry mode being on, or anything else won't run down the battery since it will be charging. I would think 6% in 16K would be a lot, but I'm too new to be sure. LOL

 

[jcanoe]

When I had my first 2022 MYP, I drove 16k miles and Supercharged exclusively, to 100% at least once a week. The car had 6% battery degradation. This does not seem different than what people have who take care of their battery. I have picked up a bit of paranoia though with car 2.

I plugged it into my house and left it on a level 2 charger with the car set to 86% with sentry mode on. We won't be back to that house until the weekend (we plugged it on on Sunday). Is it okay to leave sentry mode on? Should I leave the car lower than 86%?

What would you do with a car you won't be using for the week?

You could set the charging limit to 50% to 60% if you want. The Tesla would not charge the battery again until that lower state of charge is encountered. Just don't leave yourself inconvenienced by the lower state of charge when you need to drive the Model Y. You can increase the maximum charge level using the Tesla app; set a reminder to increase to 86% in advance of when you plan to drive the Model Y. Unless this was a regular routine of parking and not driving for a week I would just charge to the level you normally use and not change the charging settings.

 

[Physicslawyer]

This might be a routine. I put 50k/miles a year on a car. I'm debating leaving the MYP in PA and continuing to commute with the Prius Prime and just use the Tesla on the weekends for now. I would keep this MYP to 16k/yr and get another Prius if needed to keep up the crazy driving. We still have our 2007 Prius with over 500k+ miles. The 2017 Prime has almost 270k.

 

[jcanoe]

This might be a routine. I put 50k/miles a year on a car. I'm debating leaving the MYP in PA and continuing to commute with the Prius Prime and just use the Tesla on the weekends for now.

Then I would set the charge limit to 50% when not in use. Lots of thunderstorms in PA. That would concern me if I left a vehicle plugged in.

 

[Physicslawyer]

Thanks for the input. We are in central PA, not too many thunderstorms from what we have experienced. The other option would be to not have it plugged in and have it sit.

 

[jcanoe]

Thanks for the input. We are in central PA, not too many thunderstorms from what we have experienced. The other option would be to not have it plugged in and have it sit.

With Sentry mode set to Off at that location the Tesla Model Y would enter Sleep mode. In Sleep mode the Tesla Model Y will only lose/use ~1% of the battery charge over 7 days.

 

[Physicslawyer]

With Sentry mode set to Off at that location the Tesla Model Y would enter Sleep mode. In Sleep mode the Tesla Model Y will only lose/use ~1% of the battery charge over 7 days.

I thought Tesla wanted the car plugged in when not driving. Is that for daily use, not if it's sitting?

 

[jcanoe]

I thought Tesla wanted the car plugged in when not driving. Is that for daily use, not if it's sitting?

Drawing on the use case when the Tesla vehicle may be parked for a week or longer in an airport intermediate or long term parking lot with no ability to charge many Tesla owners know that with Sentry Off the battery will lose perhaps 1% state of charge every 7 days. Plug in when you can but it is OK to leave the Tesla vehicle with a medium state of charge, not plugged in. Tesla's recommendation is valid but nothing bad will happen if you don't plug in the Tesla vehicle every day.

Related, different vehicle to be sure; GM's recommendation for the Chevrolet Volt is to leave the Volt plugged in if not being driven for up to 4 weeks. For longer than 4 weeks store the Volt with the battery at 30% state of charge and don't plug in.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

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.

Clue: the Bolt is cheap, charges slowly, but it's selling quickly.

LFP is going to be the base for everything battery. To be honest, I think the only reason it isn't already to us is that key patents didn't expire until 2022.

 

[CaseyL]

Then I would set the charge limit to 50% when not in use. Lots of thunderstorms in PA. That would concern me if I left a vehicle plugged in.

I would leave it plugged in, set the charge limit to 50%, and not fret about thunderstorms.

But that's just me.

 

[Killer Junior]

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 about 40 mi RT. I've only charged it a few times and the max charge so far is 66 mi.

I set it to charge to 90% at non-peak hours nightly. About a 40 mile round trip commute for me.