Warning "Battery level exceeds charge limit"

[Patrick W]

I returned to the supercharger shortly after the car had finished charging last evening and saw a message on the display reading "Battery level exceeds charge limit".

The limit is set to 90% and as far as I could tell that was the level it was charged to (I get around 238 or 239 on a typical 90% charge and the car was showing 239).

I've only had the car a few months and this is the first time I've seen that warning.

The warning does not appear to be in the owner's manual.

Has anyone here seen that warning and/or know what it means?

 

[scaesare]

Battery state of charge (SoC), is a somewhat of a moving target in terms of being able to accuarately measure at any one point in time. It roughly correlates with voltage at a given temperature, etc...

So. it's possible that the car can measure the voltage at one point, and correlate it to a 90% SoC. Some time later the voltage could drift upward slightly as a result of temp change or other factors, and the SoC could appear at 91%. This is the same reason occasionally your home charging will stop at a given rated mileage and a bit later it can actually be reported as greater range by a mile or two.

The warning should be nothing to worry about.

 

[ecarfan]

But why would Tesla provide a user warning like that? It's confusing, and likely unnecessarily alarming.

 

[scaesare]

Yeah, not sure what we are supposed to really do with that info. I got it once charging at home.

I kind of suspect that it may be there to inform you why the car won't start charging if you manually try to initiate such, and didn't realize your charge slider was below your current SoC, or some such. Basically a polite "Here's why the car won't do that" kind of message.

It may be triggering in this case somewhat as a byproduct of the existing logic... but that's just a guess.

 

[mknox]

But why would Tesla provide a user warning like that? It's confusing, and likely unnecessarily alarming.

No kidding! It makes it sound like the battery is dangerously overcharged!

I kind of suspect that it may be there to inform you why the car won't start charging if you manually try to initiate such, and didn't realize your charge slider was below your current SoC, or some such. Basically a polite "Here's why the car won't do that" kind of message.

Maybe, but I've plugged my car in lots of times with the slider below my current SOC (going away on vacation, for example) and never seen anything like that. The charge port just lights up steady green to indicate the battery is at or above the setpoint and that's all.

 

[scaesare]

No kidding! It makes it sound like the battery is dangerously overcharged!



Maybe, but I've plugged my car in lots of times with the slider below my current SOC (going away on vacation, for example) and never seen anything like that. The charge port just lights up steady green to indicate the battery is at or above the setpoint and that's all.

It's definitely a SWAG on my part.... did you try to initiate charging, or just plug it in? (Or will it even let you try... I don't remember.. I should test that I guess...)

 

[SW2Fiddler]

But why would Tesla provide a user warning like that? It's confusing, and likely unnecessarily alarming.

OP said it was a "message on the display" -- [of course I can't tell for sure but I think] the word WARNING was added by the OP, in the thread title. And used as a description later in the post, not quoting their car.

a message on the display reading "Battery level exceeds charge limit".

Central display status messages have to be short and concise.
There's not enough room to put something like, "Hey, um, nothing to worry about but I've recalculated and your battery actually has more charge than you asked for. Just wanted you to know..."

 

[mknox]

It's definitely a SWAG on my part.... did you try to initiate charging, or just plug it in? (Or will it even let you try... I don't remember.. I should test that I guess...)

I don't think I've actually tried to initiate charging, but I don't think the OP did either (just returned to the car and saw the message). Often, if I'm going to be away for a period of time, I'll drop the slider down to (usually) 60%, plug in and leave. The car may currently be at 70 or 80%. Depending how long I'm away, the car may eventually drift down to some value below the setpoint and a charge cycle will initiate.

 

[scaesare]

I don't think I've actually tried to initiate charging, but I don't think the OP did either (just returned to the car and saw the message). Often, if I'm going to be away for a period of time, I'll drop the slider down to (usually) 60%, plug in and leave. The car may currently be at 70 or 80%. Depending how long I'm away, the car may eventually drift down to some value below the setpoint and a charge cycle will initiate.

I don't think the OP did either. As I said in my earlier post, I think that may be why Tesla included the message in the car's logic, but:

It may be triggering in this case somewhat as a byproduct of the existing logic... but that's just a guess.

 

[Patrick W]

OP said it was a "message on the display" -- [of course I can't tell for sure but I think] the word WARNING was added by the OP, in the thread title. And used as a description later in the post, not quoting their car.

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like I've nothing to worry about.

FWIW I don't think the word "Warning" was in my original post. But for sure it was not on the text on the display. Rather the display showed one of those yellow triangles with an exclamation mark in it followed by text reading "Battery level exceeds charge limit".

 

[Todd Burch]

But why would Tesla provide a user warning like that? It's confusing, and likely unnecessarily alarming.

Because if you didn't notice it, you might leave the car sitting there, plugged into a Supercharger and doing nothing, which might mean someone else might not be able to charge. It's worthy of a message on the display IMHO, although it could be worded a little more clearly, something like:

"Battery level already above your charge limit. No charging will occur."

 

[mknox]

FWIW I don't think the word "Warning" was in my original post. But for sure it was not on the text on the display. Rather the display showed one of those yellow triangles with an exclamation mark in it followed by text reading "Battery level exceeds charge limit".

Ummm... isn't the yellow triangle with the exclamation point the symbol for "Warning"?

From Google:

 

[Gwgan]

Bump. I saw this today. Upped the charge limit a tiny bit, charging started, and the error went away. I also wonder why bother with such a message unless there is danger?

btw, the yellow triangle was throbbing.

 

[e-FTW]

tl;dr Got the above message, my pack is going back to the factory. Original pack from my September 2015 S 70.

This morning, just before leaving Yosemite for San Francisco, I saw this same message after plugging in to the Tesla destination charger at the hotel (I wanted to warm things up on shore power). I played with the charge limit (was at 90%, sat unplugged for 2 days in the cold, showed 163 miles), rebooted both screens, unplugged and replugged the charger. No go.
Also, the regen showed it was limited. I figured the cold weather was a factor, and that both issues would go away as the battery warmed up. Ha! Funny.
Since I had plenty of charge to get to both Groveland and Manteca, I figured I'd get going and see how things shook out.
Got to Groveland, no Supercharging. Ok... No cell signal, so plan became “get closer to help” (Tesla service centers) so keep going towards the Bay Area. A call to roadside assistance should unstick this charging issue, and Manteca would provide the electrons for the end of the drive. Such optimism!
Called roadside once down from the hills, was told I need my battery pack to be re-manufactured, I should try and make it to Dublin, or get towed there from wherever we end up running out of juice. Oh...
So we got to Dublin Service Center with 12 miles left (by driving slowly), where they hooked me up with a loaner 75. More as I learn the next steps in the coming days.

 

[bmah]

Got to Groveland, no Supercharging. Ok... No cell signal, so plan became “get closer to help” (Tesla service centers) so keep going towards the Bay Area. A call to roadside assistance should unstick this charging issue, and Manteca would provide the electrons for the end of the drive. Such optimism!
Called roadside once down from the hills, was told I need my battery pack to be re-manufactured, I should try and make it to Dublin, or get towed there from wherever we end up running out of juice. Oh...
So we got to Dublin Service Center with 12 miles left (by driving slowly), where they hooked me up with a loaner 75. More as I learn the next steps in the coming days.

That's quite a tale...thanks for sharing. So...did you try charging at Manteca and if so, what happened?

You oughta buy a lottery ticket...it's your lucky day if you managed to get an actual Tesla service loaner at Dublin. (IMHO)

Bruce.

 

[e-FTW]

That's quite a tale...thanks for sharing. So...did you try charging at Manteca and if so, what happened?

You oughta buy a lottery ticket...it's your lucky day if you managed to get an actual Tesla service loaner at Dublin. (IMHO)

Bruce.

Hey Bruce, no I skipped it, as I was hypermiling from China Camp (where I called Tesla and they confirmed charging was now impossible on this pack) to Dublin, as I was projected to get there with 1% charge. And I knew Manteca was not going to be of help any more than Groveland was.
I guess I was in a tough enough bind for them to get me the loaner from Enterprise!

 

[e-FTW]

Also, I had noticed that I had lost 20 miles of max range over the last two weeks, after losing one (1) over the first 2,5 years. Probably related.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I get this warning as well. It's happened several times, actually, all during hot months. I have the car set to charge to 90%, but once in a while, the car's battery range increases by 3 miles *after* charging stops. IOW charging hits 90% at 224 miles and stops, two hours later when I go to the car the range shows 227 miles and 91% charge level along with the warning. My guess is that impedance or internal resistance has dropped sufficiently after charging to regain a few miles outside of what the system expected.

 

[Brass Guy]

BTW, you don't get this message if you plug in with SOC greater than charge target. You get "Charge complete."

 

[e-FTW]

Service Center currently trying to get their hands on a loaner pack to put in my car (and get me my car back), while they send my original pack to get “re-manufactured”. Then they call me again, take the car again, and swap it back in. Seems pretty convoluted.
But I don’t know how long that whole thing is, so maybe that makes sense instead of leaving me with this loaner car.