"Too Much Range" Anxiety

[dave]

Anybody else get this?

I've been trying to follow the recommended battery management practices - only charging to what I need that day. On days that I know I won't be going far, I only charge to 60%. On mixed days, I'll typically do 75%.

So I knew I would be driving all over town yesterday, so I did a 90% charge so I wouldn't need to think about it. Timed it finish around 8AM when I'd be leaving. The problem is that we got snowed in, and I didn't go anywhere. Today is my second day of being inside without driving the car. Now I have anxiety that my car is sitting at too high of a charge for too long. Wondering if I should run the heater to drain the battery down?!

I know everyone is going to chirp in and tell me not to worry about it - "just use the car", etc. I was mostly just curious if I'm crazy, or if anyone else is borderline OCD and has "too much range" anxiety as well!

 

[ThosEM]

I have the impression (not sure I can document it) that the batteries are "happiest" around 50% charge. So perhaps the optimal approach is to charge about half of one's typical driving day above that and allow it to discharge half that amount below 50%. Note that the "daily range" guides on the phone app are consistent with this picture. So I gradually have dropped to 60% or 70% charging for weekdays.

I was going to try a road trip to the Somerset PA supercharger last weekend, so charged to 90% the previous evening, and was going to top up on Sat. morning before departure. As it ended up, my dog became so sick we thought we might have to put her down, and didn't feel comfortable leaving her in the care of others, so cancelled the trip. We are still riding high and the arrival of extreme cold weather discouraged me from dropping back so far, though perhaps tonight...

Sound familiar?

 

[Doug_G]

Borderline OCD! I think the key thing about Tesla is that it eliminates the range anxiety... no point in reintroducing it deliberately. My compromise approach:

I charge late at night, which minimizes the time at higher charge. Also cheaper, and helps the power utility with grid balance.

In the summer I charge daily to 80%. Lots of range, very little impact on battery life.

In the winter I charge to 90%. It takes high charge + warm temperatures to degrade the pack slightly faster. This compromise tends to equalize the actual range with summer conditions, while having no additional impact on pack life.

Very occasionally when I need it I charge to 100%. Helps with pack balancing and, of course, range.

 

[GlennAlanBerry]

I think you are worrying about it too much. From a battery warranty perspective, Elon himself has said that it does not matter what you do to the battery (outside of taking a blow torch to it), it is fully covered. I am guessing you are more worried about enhancing the longevity of your battery to ensure you don't lose a few miles of range over the next few years. I would say that unless you are doing 100% charges or discharging to 0% on a regular basis, you don't really have very much to worry about. Of course, I don't have any hard metrics to back that up...

What I think is silly, are people who are afraid to ever range charge (even when they know they will be taking a long trip segment), and then they stress out over making it to a charger, or they fail to make it. That seems like a bad choice to me.

 

[Al Sherman]

I'm a 60 per center too Dave. I charge to 90% if I'm planning over 100 miles of driving as in a round trip to Cincinnati, or Indy. It wouldn't bother me at all to leave the car sitting at 90%. It'll be ok. :smile:

 

[Doug_G]

What I think is silly, are people who are afraid to ever range charge (even when they know they will be taking a long trip segment), and then they stress out over making it to a charger, or they fail to make it. That seems like a bad choice to me.

Pretty sure that draining it to zero is much harder on the pack then a Range charge. Completely not worth it!

 

[Kalud]

Borderline OCD! I think the key thing about Tesla is that it eliminates the range anxiety... no point in reintroducing it deliberately. My compromise approach:

I charge late at night, which minimizes the time at higher charge. Also cheaper, and helps the power utility with grid balance.

In the summer I charge daily to 80%. Lots of range, very little impact on battery life.

In the winter I charge to 90%. It takes high charge + warm temperatures to degrade the pack slightly faster. This compromise tends to equalize the actual range with summer conditions, while having no additional impact on pack life.

Very occasionally when I need it I charge to 100%. Helps with pack balancing and, of course, range.

Same here, no range anxiety.

 

[Rockster]

While the car certainly doesn't require any OCD-level of concern about the battery, I enjoy geeking out a bit in the hope of far surpassing the life expectancy of my Model S. I feel that being kind to the battery, above and beyond Tesla's guidance, is a way of doing so.

Accordingly, on evenings when I expect to drive only a short distance the next day, I charge to 60%. If I'm expecting a longer day and want to charge to 90%, I set the timing to charge at night, finishing close to my departure time. If I'm not sure what the next day will bring or if I just don't feel like going through any mental gymnastics, I just charge to 90%.

On the couple of occasions when I've been taking a trip and needed the range, I range charged without concern. That's what range charge is for.

And even though I have an HPWC, I charge 99% of the time at 24 amps, just because.

 

[nwdiver]

I think you are worrying about it too much. From a battery warranty perspective, Elon himself has said that it does not matter what you do to the battery (outside of taking a blow torch to it), it is fully covered. I am guessing you are more worried about enhancing the longevity of your battery to ensure you don't lose a few miles of range over the next few years. I would say that unless you are doing 100% charges or discharging to 0% on a regular basis, you don't really have very much to worry about. Of course, I don't have any hard metrics to back that up...

What I think is silly, are people who are afraid to ever range charge (even when they know they will be taking a long trip segment), and then they stress out over making it to a charger, or they fail to make it. That seems like a bad choice to me.

Most people that "worry" about our batteries are expecting to keep them long past the 8 year warranty. My goal is to show the few doubters that are left in 10+ years that my EV can still travel >200 miles on a charge even with a battery in its golden years. I'm also a 50-60% charger but I'm not afraid to go to 100% on a trip since from what I've read it's more damaging to go to <20% than >90%.

 

[jandkw]

I charged to 60%-70% daily and never had any range anxiety when I use my S60 locally. Yes, I do have a great deal of range anxiety last time I traveled to NY for 500+miles one way. I figure if I keep my S60 for 8 years with no more battery warranty, hopefully I can upgrade to 400+ miles range battery pack. Still dreaming...

 

[donv]

I plug it in and charge it to 90%. Every day. I drive maybe 20 miles, at most, each day.

Once in a while, I don't drive it for a few days. Once in a while (okay, once) I range charged it when I was taking a long trip. Once, I accidentally range charged it when I was messing around with the settings.

Other than that, I don't think about it.

So this is going to harm my battery? Isn't that exactly how Tesla says to operate the car, per the manual?

 

[kvietor]

A plugged in Tesla is a happy Tesla. After 18000 miles and a nightly charge to standard over the past 16 mos. hasn't hurt me at all except for the anticipated loss of about 10 miles over that time period.

 

[jerry33]

I have the impression (not sure I can document it) that the batteries are "happiest" around 50% charge.

I keep reading this, but I don't buy it except for long term storage, when it is happiest at 50%. When driving the car it's far easier on the battery if you are above 50%. There is some science here.