Before a trip I also set for 90% charge overnight and when I wake up, use the app to bring the battery to 100%. Then while traveling and using SC I usually only go to 70-80% and rarely if ever get below 20%. Im still babying it but it gives me peace of mine instead of worrying about degrade.
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What battery percentage to charge to on trips?
- Thread starter burnside
- Start date
I like to charge to 50% or slightly more, depending on where my next supercharger is.
The battery charges dramatically faster when it's low then when it's topping off near 80%. By stopping more often, I spend less total time charging.
In addition, it's good for circulation in your legs to stand up and walk around more frequently.
The battery charges dramatically faster when it's low then when it's topping off near 80%. By stopping more often, I spend less total time charging.
In addition, it's good for circulation in your legs to stand up and walk around more frequently.
MacGreiner
5YJ
I'm a "charge to 100% at the start of a trip" guy. I also usually take off when it says I can get to the next SC with 10% remaining. I always outperform the 10% and usually get there with 15% - 21%.
I don't use superchargers at all outside of road trips, and from what I have read, this kind of driving/charging will not not do any kind of long term/outside of spec. harm to the battery.
That's why I bought a long range. Compared to my former Model S 70D having the larger range reduces my MD to FL trips by up to two hours. Why treat the car like a Model S 60? Use it.
I don't use superchargers at all outside of road trips, and from what I have read, this kind of driving/charging will not not do any kind of long term/outside of spec. harm to the battery.
That's why I bought a long range. Compared to my former Model S 70D having the larger range reduces my MD to FL trips by up to two hours. Why treat the car like a Model S 60? Use it.
cpa
Active Member
As others have said, the planner in the vehicle is designed for optimum charging/driving. For example, if your destination is 3,200 miles away, it will assume that you will be driving straight through only stopping to charge before resuming your trip. It will list the most efficient route with the most efficient charging times. In a vacuum, this is fabulous.
In the real world, not so much. We eat. Fast food? Sit down meal with dessert? Grab a banana and a pint of orange juice at the grocery store? We sleep. Six hours? Ten hours? Periodic 40-minute power naps while at a Supercharger? What time of day will you be departing? Zero-dark thirty? Noon? After work at 6:00 PM? Will you be arriving at a location at midnight with no bathrooms available? You get the idea--there are lots of variables that are not considered with the on board navigation.
A simple illustration here in California. A person wants to travel from San Diego to Seattle along Interstate 5. There are five Supercharger locations on Interstate 5 from the bottom of the Grapevine (Tejon Ranch) to Gustine. This is a distance of 189 miles. Depending upon your state of charge when you dial into Seattle, the navigation may send you to Santa Clarita to charge (well south of the Grapevine), skip Tejon Ranch, and charge at Buttonwillow or Bakersfield - West. Then bypass the Kettleman City Supercharger with its 40 stalls and lounge, Harris Ranch with its nice restaurant before arriving at Gustine and Pea Soup Andersen's (meh).
Using these other software products lets you play around with locations that might have more impact on your charging stops. The Tesla website and Plug Share list amenities that are proximate to the Supercharger. You may decide that it is worthwhile to have a nice lunch at Harris Ranch or to relax at the lounge in Kettleman City while you snack on food brought from home.
So, I get my days planned out in advance with EVTripplanner. I determine a likely destination for the end of the day. I try to estimate where I wish to stop for lunch or a side attraction (if any.) Then I use the onboard navigation just for the day's drive after factoring in my initial state of charge upon departure.
And I use destination chargers at night whenever possible.
In the real world, not so much. We eat. Fast food? Sit down meal with dessert? Grab a banana and a pint of orange juice at the grocery store? We sleep. Six hours? Ten hours? Periodic 40-minute power naps while at a Supercharger? What time of day will you be departing? Zero-dark thirty? Noon? After work at 6:00 PM? Will you be arriving at a location at midnight with no bathrooms available? You get the idea--there are lots of variables that are not considered with the on board navigation.
A simple illustration here in California. A person wants to travel from San Diego to Seattle along Interstate 5. There are five Supercharger locations on Interstate 5 from the bottom of the Grapevine (Tejon Ranch) to Gustine. This is a distance of 189 miles. Depending upon your state of charge when you dial into Seattle, the navigation may send you to Santa Clarita to charge (well south of the Grapevine), skip Tejon Ranch, and charge at Buttonwillow or Bakersfield - West. Then bypass the Kettleman City Supercharger with its 40 stalls and lounge, Harris Ranch with its nice restaurant before arriving at Gustine and Pea Soup Andersen's (meh).
Using these other software products lets you play around with locations that might have more impact on your charging stops. The Tesla website and Plug Share list amenities that are proximate to the Supercharger. You may decide that it is worthwhile to have a nice lunch at Harris Ranch or to relax at the lounge in Kettleman City while you snack on food brought from home.
So, I get my days planned out in advance with EVTripplanner. I determine a likely destination for the end of the day. I try to estimate where I wish to stop for lunch or a side attraction (if any.) Then I use the onboard navigation just for the day's drive after factoring in my initial state of charge upon departure.
And I use destination chargers at night whenever possible.
One thing to keep in mind is that in some states, like Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico, you pay for Supercharger time by the minute. It's really not cost effective in these cases to charge any more than necessary. The higher the charge, the slower the rate of charge. There's really no point to charging to more than 80% in places where it charges by the minute unless you really have to.
Kognos
Member
Out of curiosity, is this reflected in the car's route plan data?
For example, if I am at a supercharger and my next stop is somewhere in Nevada, can I see the data on charging rates for the next supercharger in my route? That would potentially encourage me to charge more before moving on.
If you tap on the supercharger location on your in car map, it will show the charging costs for that station.
Kleenerth3
Member
I live near Pea Soup Anderson's in Carlsbad and I certainly wouldn't let Atles take me there. Agreed Meh! I like the idea of daily or site specific planning. No reason to eat Meh on a road trip.
Having said that I do rely on the car to plan stops, trying to maximize battery cycles as deep as possible for the least amount of degradation. Long trips are great for the battery and driver.
Having said that I do rely on the car to plan stops, trying to maximize battery cycles as deep as possible for the least amount of degradation. Long trips are great for the battery and driver.
DWdrum
Member
SammichLover
Banned
Yes, the altered charging curve patch brought a world of change for long distance travel. Last trip it was waiting on me. Where I was often before leaving with %13 buffer for my next, and that would immediately drop to %10 or so, I was now leaving with 20% or more buffer on the estimate because I was slower than the charging. Also I'm not seeing the estimate do that immediate 2% drop, that I had always attributed to the Supercan cooling my battery pack post-charging. Not sure how that glitch was cleared up, but the charge remaining on arrival estimate is now more stable and accurate.
Also, I used to hit every SC rather than skip intermediate SC like Nav was suggesting because it was clearly faster in most cases to do this. With the new charging curve that isn't clear anymore, although I like stopping a bit more often for a break to stretch and walk so I still do hit every charger more often than skipping SC (barring areas where the SC concentration is very high and/or the SC are significantly off route and/or there are historically/currently very busy SC).
SSonnentag
埃隆•馬斯克
It's much quicker to not skip superchargers since the 2019.20.1 update. Charging from 45% on up is slower than before. We just returned from a 4,000 trip and I discovered the new and "improved" charge rate. The trip computer was trying to get me to charge to 100% on 3 occasions in order to skip a supercharger. That would have meant spending upwards of 1 1/2 hours charging instead of hitting 2 charging locations for about 25 minutes each.
The biggest and glaring problem with the built in navigation is that you can't do multiple waypoints.
THe one thing that annoys me about using built in navigation on long trips is that if my destination doesn't have a nearby supercharger it won't know that I need to reach that destination with enough juice to get me to another supercharger and if it new where I was going next it would be much easier.
Also, abetterrouteplanner lets you plan ahead of time and see your route. Some people just like knowing what's coming. Maybe you want to stop at a different supercharger because the restaurants are better at one vs another. Stuff like that.
I completely agree with you. I am currently on a 6000 mile road trip in my Model 3 and everything you said is correct.
SammichLover
Banned
It is like we are from parallel universes. I'll now see 120kW up to near 60% SOC, and can see 72kW at 75% SOC (that one really stuck in my mind
). That wasn't happening before, it is much faster now. I'll take a quick nap and oops, I'm at 90% SOC!I do still occasionally get those "charge way up here" suggestions, and overrule them, but I'm seeing a lot more 20 min, 30min, and 40 min charging as apposed to the 1h 20min stuff I'd regularly get before.
SammichLover
Banned
If Tesla knows about them they normally mark them as "Reduced Service" if they are markedly slower. Or if they are completely out they'll mark them Out of Service I think? They show up different on the map and their status is given if you tap on them. Nav will route you past them.
This isn't done AFAIK for SC that are limited to say 90kW, just for ones where it is very difficult to get charge out of them at all or Tesla techs will be onsite doing work and may have to turn them off, or be in the way of charging, periodically.
SSonnentag
埃隆•馬斯克
If it's down, I believe the red lightning icon will be grayed out. It may also say something meaningful when you click on it.
If the site is functional, but isn't providing good charging speeds (such as in Lima, Montana), you have no way to know. You end up connecting to multiple chargers in an effort to find one that works right (no other cars charging), and then settle for a charge rate of around 25 kW for an hour just to get enough juice to get to the next supercharger.
SammichLover
Banned
Due to the possible of a herd of thirsty Teslas showing up right ahead you, leaving you with the small slice of a shared pair, until V3 rolls out or you're going to an Urban (thus locking in at 72kW max) you can't really count on much more than that, anyway.
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