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What battery percentage to charge to on trips?

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Yes but I'd like to know BEFORE the warning if I should just charge longer to avoid slowing down. Or does slowing down save me enough time where I should do that instead of charging longer?
It warns you quite early on. Right at the start of driving, within a couple miles, if you'd doing something that points towards there potentially being an issue about traveling above certain speeds.

Further, even before that look at the buffer you've got and compare to weather you expect ahead. 20% buffer with decent weather ahead will be a total cakewalk. Decent weather with 10% and a somewhat "heavy foot", an urge to get there ahead of what the posted speed limit suggests, will work but be tight. As will 20% buffer and rain or on-coming cold or wanting to use HVAC when not really necessary will make it tight.
 
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Further, even before that look at the buffer you've got and compare to weather you expect ahead. 20% buffer with decent weather ahead will be a total cakewalk. Decent weather with 10% and a somewhat "heavy foot", an urge to get there ahead of what the posted speed limit suggests, will work but be tight. As will 20% buffer and rain or on-coming cold or wanting to use HVAC when not really necessary will make it tight.
What do you mean by "buffer"? Do mean 20% battery?
 
What do you mean by "buffer"? Do mean 20% battery?
Nav provides an running estimated arrival SOC. To see it you scroll down to your next SC stop and it'll show it there. You only need 1 mile left** (each 1% = roughly 3 miles), everything above that in that estimate is a "buffer" to ensure enough charge for arrival. Extra contingency charge (miles) that you can call upon if needed.

** Story has it that you don't even need that but I've never personally hit and pulled in with a reading of '0 miles' remaining. :)
 
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You want to set it to 100% so that if you get slow service at a restaurant you're not idle and plugged in. It's bad etiquette to use the plug when you're not charging and you can incur idle charges. There is no reason to set it lower than 100% when using supercharges for a trip. Unplug it when you're ready to go, it's that simple.
 
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You want to set it to 100% so that if you get slow service at a restaurant you're not idle and plugged in. It's bad etiquette to use the plug when you're not charging and you can incur idle charges. There is no reason to set it lower than 100% when using supercharges for a trip. Unplug it when you're ready to go, it's that simple.
If you decide to "rest your eyes" while it is charging it is also a good idea to set a timer alarm on your phone, so you don't sleep through and accidentally get an overcharge. Even if alone when you start charging, vehicles can arrive and take the station to the 50% while you are there.
 
20% buffer is 20% of what?
Total battery capacity. You'll nominally arrive with 20% SOC remaining, if all goes as estimated. Nav does a good job with the estimation, too, assuming steady state conditions. A key thing to watch for is when that estimated arrival SOC starts dropping. If it is at 5% at a given point and has been dropping 1% for ever 20 miles you drive and you're still 100 miles out you need to adjust the situation (most easily your speed, although finding someone to push wind ahead of you will help greatly, too) or change course and head for a closer, Plan B charger.

<edit> Those numbers above roughly assume something close to a typical LR 180-230 mile jump. If the jump is going to be shorter then you often don't need the same size buffer, if the jump is closer to 300 miles then you'll need to watch closer and be more sure of weather ahead as you have a bigger window for things to turn on you and also are unlikely to have a full 20% buffer.
 
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You want to set it to 100% so that if you get slow service at a restaurant you're not idle and plugged in. It's bad etiquette to use the plug when you're not charging and you can incur idle charges. There is no reason to set it lower than 100% when using supercharges for a trip. Unplug it when you're ready to go, it's that simple.

Yes, to a point. But you are not going to be eating at every Supercharger stop. You are not going to need to remain plugged in overnight at a Supercharger at a hotel.

I think that it is equally bad etiquette to take your time to do something else while Supercharging and set your charge level to 100% when you only need 60-65% to reach your next stop comfortably. The idle fees were designed specifically to encourage us to move when we have finished charging. They were not designed to allow us to charge a good 75 minutes (or more--those last few kWh take forever!) to go from 12%-100% so we can pursue other activities.

Many locations have other things to do besides eat. Superchargers are at shopping malls. Lone Pine is at a nifty museum. South Shore Tahoe, Gardnerville, and Catoosa are at casinos. I think as owners we have an obligation to keep our eye on our charge level not only to avoid the dread idle fees, but also to free up slots for others.

To charge significantly more than is necessary to reach your next charging location or your destination just to avoid idle fees and be able to enjoy something else is tantamount to using the Supercharging stall as a parking spot. Yes, you are charging. But you are not using the Superchargers as they are intended.
 
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I think that it is equally bad etiquette to take your time to do something else while Supercharging and set your charge level to 100% when you only need 60-65% to reach your next stop comfortably. The idle fees were designed specifically to encourage us to move when we have finished charging.
I definitely try to get back to the car on time, but crappy food service can happen. I just leave it at somewhere between 95% and 100% as matter of course when travelling. This is what, rationally, the idle fees encourage me to do. I very rarely aim to use that (although occasionally it does come up), that's a different thing.

Most States having charging fees that discourage charging past about 85%-90% (used to be lower than that, before the improved taper curve patch). In per minute States you want to stop charging by the time it drops to 30kW. The electrons past that are premium priced (higher than comparable per kWh priced States).
 
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20% buffer is 20% of what?

After a few road trips you'll get a grip on your tolerance for risk
Some people seem happy aiming for under 10% battery on arrival, but that's not a good thing for a new driver to start aiming for.

For a start, aim to arrive at the "next" Supercharger with 20% battery left. Charge until you have enough battery to get to your next stop with 20% left, then leave.

Over time, you'll get more confident and have a better feel for the effectiveness of the on-board navigator, and you might become comfortable with a 15% target, or maybe even 10%, or maybe even 7%.

It also depends where you are driving. For example, when driving in Florida there are a lot of Supercharger stations, so I'm comfortable aiming for under 10% because I'm often driving past Superchargers where I can stop for a top-up if necessary. But driving around the rest of the SouthEast, I'm more conservative because the Superchargers are at 100 - 120 mile intervals and don't want to make a mistake and run short.
 
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Over time, you'll get more confident and have a better feel for the effectiveness of the on-board navigator, and you might become comfortable with a 15% target, or maybe even 10%.
My daughter filed complaint last week when I took it to 1 mile remaining rolling up the offramp to the Bethany, MO SC. I didn't see the problem, I got it all the way back to 2 miles remaining by the time I reached the SC stall in the Kum & Go?

My protestations notwithstanding, I'm now barred from walking up that close to the edge while she's riding along. :p

<edit> Interestingly a change I noticed is that the SC almost immediately ramped the charge rate to 125kW. In the past it wouldn't have hit 120kW until somewhere past 5% SOC.
 
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I use A Better Route Planner and program in 20% minimum at charger arrival. That gives me flexibility and security on the charging end. I rarely charge past 60-70% and just go to the next station. Comments about charging times are correct. Better to charge often than to charge to 85-90% at a Supercharger. All of that said, the onboard Nav is excellent. I combine the ABRP and Tesla’s nav planning, usually putting the ABRP data into the Tesla program.

My iPhone 7 when I go to Apps does not recognize "A Better Route Planner or ABRP" how can I find that App, Please?
 
ABRP is a browser URL = A Better Routeplanner

You can use that on your phone browser or home computer.

There is an option (at least in Android), I forget how, to place a ABRP icon on your phone home page(s) so that you can start it up like an app. However it is still just a browser URL. But there is no app for it in the app store.

EVTO is an actual app that you might want to try. Either way you'll need an internet connection to get any routing done.
 
Yes but I'd like to know BEFORE the warning if I should just charge longer to avoid slowing down. Or does slowing down save me enough time where I should do that instead of charging longer?
What I do on trips is:

At home or at overnight places (if I'm not staying in that location, but traveling on) charge to 100% (or close). Leave right away.

At interday SCs charge enough to make it to the next destination plus a little extra. Note that the setting is still at 100%, but I stop when there is enough (usually about 15 minutes). The idea here is that if this is your lunch stop, you won't get dinged for idle time.

At overnight stays where I am staying in town for one or more days, I charge to 90%.

That's it. Pretty simple.

When you are actually on the trip, just use the Nav system. The phone and computer apps are okay if you've never been there before, but once on your trip you won't need them. I put in the next destination when I arrive at the last one.
 
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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.

Charge speeds have greatly improved across the entire range with 2019.20. Only some Model S & X have had charge speeds reduced with the recent updates (long thread about it).

But you’re right, it’s generally faster to not skip Superchargers unless they involve long diversions from the highway or traffic is heavy, adding time to the stops. It also depends on the distance between them... for example, they’re only a few miles apart along the I-95 corridor, but much farther apart out in the middle of the county like along I-90. It’s easy to skip multiple Superchargers along I-95 without any time penalty.
 
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I just completed a round trip road trip from Atlanta to upstate NY. Just over 1,000 miles each way. My first long trip.

Used the route planner in the car to plan stops. On the northbound leg, I charged to well beyond what the car was recommending based on the route the car planned. In most cases charging to the 270-mile mark.

On the return, I followed the recommended charge times from the car and did have any problems. On one portion of the route, the remainder was just under 10% which made me a bit nervous. It saved a measurable amount of time to follow the recommendations from the car.
 
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Charge speeds have greatly improved across the entire range with 2019.20. Only some Model S & X have had charge speeds reduced with the recent updates (long thread about it).

But you’re right, it’s generally faster to not skip Superchargers unless they involve long diversions from the highway or traffic is heavy, adding time to the stops. It also depends on the distance between them... for example, they’re only a few miles apart along the I-95 corridor, but much farther apart out in the middle of the county like along I-90. It’s easy to skip multiple Superchargers along I-95 without any time penalty.
The standard distance is 100-150 miles between SC charges. That should take about 15 minutes (in my S). Just enough time to to a pit stop and buy a drink. Charging stop time is highly over estimated. Remember, you don't have to stay by the car while it fills the way you do an ICE car. There's no oil checking either.