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What’s the best Charge Percent
- Thread starter KenM3P
- Start date
bpjones
Member
Set your limit between 80-90%. The owners manual tells you to plug it in when you’re not driving.
Since you don’t need the range I’d just charge daily to 80%.
Despite “90%” being “ok”, lower is better for the battery.
Since your using so little range it would keep the battery to high to much of time if you charged daily to 90%.
The alternative would be to charge to 90% and charge when it drops below say 60%.
You don’t want down to 30% because in a pinch you want enough fuel to do unplanned trips without having to SC.
Despite “90%” being “ok”, lower is better for the battery.
Since your using so little range it would keep the battery to high to much of time if you charged daily to 90%.
The alternative would be to charge to 90% and charge when it drops below say 60%.
You don’t want down to 30% because in a pinch you want enough fuel to do unplanned trips without having to SC.
If I were you 60% since you use only 20 miles. Keep it around 50% imho.
Here is one very recent thread (of the 100s on here about this topic) that might cover what you are looking for:
Better to charger higher or run battery lower?
Better to charger higher or run battery lower?
Buddy
Member
I love all the recommendations with zero data or references to back them up.
pdx_m3s
Active Member
follow.johnny
FSD Beta Tester
ahh sh*t, here we go again Lol (grabs popcorn to watch)
d21mike
Active Member
Tesla said 90% max except for a trip. I read about a battery expert that said 70%. Try to not drain to low on a regular bases.
I charge to 80% daily and seldom drop below 50%. My advice is plug in when not using your car to eliminate phantom drain.
I charge to 80% daily and seldom drop below 50%. My advice is plug in when not using your car to eliminate phantom drain.
[Nice softball question]
I like the 60% setting above based on your low miles.
-The BMS might struggle with an accurate range estimate but with your low miles you would not care.
Perhaps once a quarter charge it to 90%
I assume for perfect battery maintenance it would be
-Charge to 51%
-Drive down to 49%
-Never Supercharge/Fast Charge or Level-1 charge; ideally only Level-2 (say 16 amps) charge.
I like the 60% setting above based on your low miles.
-The BMS might struggle with an accurate range estimate but with your low miles you would not care.
Perhaps once a quarter charge it to 90%
I assume for perfect battery maintenance it would be
-Charge to 51%
-Drive down to 49%
-Never Supercharge/Fast Charge or Level-1 charge; ideally only Level-2 (say 16 amps) charge.
Ignore the other postings.
42 is the best charge percent. It was calculated by a very big computer over a very very long time and proven to work.
Indeed. Some people have lots of free time on their hands and bogus numbers: varying charge %, once a quarter, 51/49 etc
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
No one knows what is best at this point. But you should charge every night if it is convenient, since Tesla says to do that.
Tesla says to plug it in every night. They do not allow you to ever charge to less than 50%, and you are not allowed to routinely charge over 90% (car tells you not to if you try).
So: Pick whatever percentage that works for you.
Elon’s musings... Please be aware of context.
90% is fine. Also 5% is fine. Duration left at that charge level not specified. No reason to charge to less than 80%...
Elon Musk on Twitter
Charging to 95% is no big deal.
Elon Musk on Twitter
Not too low, not too high:
Elon Musk on Twitter
There is a battery degradation explained thread here which details some of the speculation/info of why certain things should be avoided on a regular basis (occasionally is fine).
Battery Degradation Scientifically Explained
Summary: plug your car in and charge it every night to whatever level is permitted and works for you. No one here really knows what is best for your situation.
I would charge to 80% every night, if I were you, but I have no idea whether this will be slightly worse than some other charge pattern. Reasons: It is convenient, and it reduces the chance that you’ll bring the battery to a very low SoC (which is known to be stressful). And you typically won’t have limited regen.
I think it is much more likely that your battery will go bad prematurely due to it being a rare fundamentally defective battery, than due to your charging habits, if you stay between 50-90% most of the time.
You can polish a turd battery all you want, but it won’t help it shine. You just have to cross your fingers and hope you don’t get unlucky.
Last edited:
Manitoba Keith
Member
I read somewhere on the forum that for long term battery recharge cycles it was best to keep it between 30% and 70% and as a general rule, I will use those numbers. Coming from a Volt that I always plugged in, I am not sure how the percentage numbers above work or how our winter will affect the rate. Not so cold where you are Of course, if traveling it would be a different story and I would have to start at 100% charge to try to get to a Super Charger. Lots of folks do the 80%-20%.
Of course, if traveling it would be a different story and I would have to start at 100% charge to try to get to a Super Charger. Lots of folks do the 80%-20%.I agree with your advice except I don’t think of leaving it plugged in as “eliminating phantom drain”. If you lose enough charge it can recharge to set level but that typically only applies to longer term storage (or perhaps Sentry mode). And the normal loads that cause phantom drain are not switched to wall supply when plugged in. Except maybe pre heating cabin in the winter.
Phantom drain still happens and still cost $$$. It’s really a matter of how critical is it that the car stay close to your target SOC and really has little to do with eliminating phantom drain.
BTW my phantom drain has been fantastic lately. Might leave it unplugged for days and only lose a few miles.
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