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What should my ideal charge percentage be?
- Thread starter Al Sherman
- Start date
I think I've settled on the 80% 208 mile mark for my typical charge. More than enough range, but keeps it off the upper level and maybe will preserve a little more of my capacity and life of the battery. Considering I'm on target for nearly 20,000 miles this year that little bit could make a difference in the long term. I'm also giving a bit more thought to the battery warranty if/when that ever comes out.
Sure weird that they haven't updated the app yet to allow you to adjust the charge level more precisely.
Sure weird that they haven't updated the app yet to allow you to adjust the charge level more precisely.
So, is charging to max never smart? I've understood that using the 20-70% capacity range makes the battery pack smile. But is it really never a good/healthy idea to max charge it? Im thinking like if i let my wife drive any of our cars for a long time, the car seme to die alittle, so once in a while i have to take em out and put the pedal to the metal just to wake up some horsies 
This kind of thinking is not good for the battery at all?
This kind of thinking is not good for the battery at all?
mknox
Well-Known Member
On past versions, I set to "Standard" and consistently got 242 miles. I too have settled on 80% with the new firmware, but seem to get 203 miles over the past few days.
I need to watch it, but the behavior has been interesting. For instance, when I got to my car this AM the rated range was 207 (assume parasitic drain down from 208). I started driving and had driven about 4 miles and the rated range still showed 205...interesting b/c I usually see a drop of rated range GREATER than what I've actually driven on that first drive of the charge.
As you do/did, I typically got 243, almost always dropped to 242 miles rated after a standard charge in the past.
djp
Model 3 Performance
So, is charging to max never smart? I've understood that using the 20-70% capacity range makes the battery pack smile. But is it really never a good/healthy idea to max charge it? Im thinking like if i let my wife drive any of our cars for a long time, the car seme to die alittle, so once in a while i have to take em out and put the pedal to the metal just to wake up some horsies
Charging to max is fine for those times when you need the extra range, just don't leave it sitting on max for long periods of time.
One unknown is how Tesla balances the cells when you keep a low SOC. On the Roadster the system bleeds off charge on the highest bricks after a Range charge to keep the cells evenly balanced. The same happens on a Standard charge but more slowly.
Tesla hasn't described how this works on the Model S, but it's probably a good idea to do an occasional 90% charge and let it sit there for a few hours to balance the pack.
The Roadster also measures the pack capacity when you do a full cycle on a single key turn (Standard charge down to <30%). This helps calibrate the range estimate. Again, Tesla hasn't said how this is done on the Model S but it's probably a good idea to do an occasional long drive to keep your Rated Range number in line with the actual capacity.
wraithnot
Model 3 VIN #2942 Model S VIN #5785
So, is charging to max never smart? I've understood that using the 20-70% capacity range makes the battery pack smile. But is it really never a good/healthy idea to max charge it? Im thinking like if i let my wife drive any of our cars for a long time, the car seme to die alittle, so once in a while i have to take em out and put the pedal to the metal just to wake up some horsies
It's an extremely smart idea to range charge if there is even the slightest chance that you might run our of juice the next day. It's only a bad idea to charge it to 100% and leave it that way for a while. Especially during hot weather.
There has also been some chatter that an occasional large cycle is good for "balancing" the battery pack. Just make sure to burn off some range as quickly as possible after a full charge
Same here (I'm getting 228 at 90% which works out to the same thing). I think they've changed something in the calibration. Weirdly, if I turn on the AC enough so that it draws shore power (but not charging!), the miles will often jump up by 3 or 4. Really really weird.
mknox
Well-Known Member
I actually noticed that too! I usually drive about a quarter mile to a coffee shop, then head on my way and typically the range would be down a couple of miles before I'd even gone a mile. Since 4.5 it seems to sit at the value I started out at for at least a couple of miles.
I suspect that the AC running causes the contactors to engage, thus supplying power to the chargers in turn powering the AC... the side effect is the charger output voltage may be slightly higher than what the pack "settled in at" from the previous charge... so now the display computer is seeing a higher voltage all of the sudden, and thinks the batteries are at a higher SoC.
As an aside... because of this thread (and NOT due to my need to incessantly play and twiddle just because I can!) I decided to charge to 70% last night. That gave me about 192 miles of rated range. My daily commute is ~65 miles. that gives me plenty for commute plus errands, evening driving during the week.
I think I may charge to 60-70% during the week for battery longevity, and then back to standard/90% on the weekends for the range flexibility and just in case it helps keep the cells balanced.
Or I'll get tired of trying to remember to do that in 3 weeks and just say "screw it" and set it back to Standard and not think about it until I have a long road trip
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I've learned a lot from this thread. I've also been very happy to see that there are a lot of people out there who are waaaaaay more obsessive than I am. Makes me feel much better. :-D
My plan is to charge at 70% most of the time (I have no commute, and usually drive less than 50 miles a day). I'll do a 100% charge once every month or two to cycle the pack and keep it happy. It'll make the next owner happy, since I'm very likely to own this car less than two years.
My plan is to charge at 70% most of the time (I have no commute, and usually drive less than 50 miles a day). I'll do a 100% charge once every month or two to cycle the pack and keep it happy. It'll make the next owner happy, since I'm very likely to own this car less than two years.
wraithnot
Model 3 VIN #2942 Model S VIN #5785
I got 11 years and 196,000 miles out of my previous car and I'm hoping to do at least as well with my Model S. So I'm definitely paying attention to how to get the most life out of the battery.
Ideally, I'll drive it until the wheels fall off. Or until the cooling system and/or the active air suspension give out and costs more to fix than the car is worth at that point . . .
I'm normally in favor of keeping a car for a long time. But I'm not likely to keep this car very long, because I'm blessed with the financial resources to switch more often and Tesla is making it very attractive for me to switch. I really want some of the new features already offered (parking sensors et al, but most especially P+), I really want some of the features I expect them to offer later (ACC and AWD, for example), and I really need the redesigned A/C vent system Elon personally promised me... especially the A/C vents for the trunk. One way or another, my Model S is going to get traded in, and it won't be long. My wife is getting the X, so we'll be able to choose the right car for whatever need we have at the time.
As for taking good care of the pack, I see no reason to do otherwise. It takes essentially the same amount of effort to treat it right or to trash it, so why not care for it properly? At home in Guatemala, we tell people to do things "as God intended and with good handwriting." Makes sense to me.
So I've been playing around with the limited charge percentage options the last couple of days.
I first set the charge slider to the 7th indent, which I must assume means 70% charge, as there are 10 indents total. I got the expected 185 or so miles of rated range (70% of 265), minus a mile or so for vampire loss after sitting for ~3 hours after charge completed.
Last night I set it for 60% charge, and I got only 150 rated miles in the pack, rather than the 158-159 I expected. Far too much difference to be accounted for by vampire loss after ony 3 hours.
So... I've posted before that 2-3 miles of rated difference for a full charge is likely within the accepted variability.. as that only represents 1% variance or so. But 9 miles difference at 60% charge is close to 6% off. Nothing likely from an environment standpoint that wold have required excessive shore power... was mild temps, etc...
I wonder why it's almost spot on accurate at 70% but so far off at 60%?
I first set the charge slider to the 7th indent, which I must assume means 70% charge, as there are 10 indents total. I got the expected 185 or so miles of rated range (70% of 265), minus a mile or so for vampire loss after sitting for ~3 hours after charge completed.
Last night I set it for 60% charge, and I got only 150 rated miles in the pack, rather than the 158-159 I expected. Far too much difference to be accounted for by vampire loss after ony 3 hours.
So... I've posted before that 2-3 miles of rated difference for a full charge is likely within the accepted variability.. as that only represents 1% variance or so. But 9 miles difference at 60% charge is close to 6% off. Nothing likely from an environment standpoint that wold have required excessive shore power... was mild temps, etc...
I wonder why it's almost spot on accurate at 70% but so far off at 60%?
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I would just set the slider to 90% and be done with it..the difference between 90% and the old "standard charge" of 92% is negligible at best, and, personally 92% is just not enough of a round number for my tastes.
honorable mention: 80% -- if the lack of 22 rated miles "cushion" lost from theabove advice won't freak you all out and you find that you don’t need more than200 miles "in the tank" on a daily basis, then 80% is a good bet as well.
personally, I think some of us are overthinking this slider thing way too much.. which is why my advice is to leave it at 90% which is basically where the Standard Charge originally was.
honorable mention: 80% -- if the lack of 22 rated miles "cushion" lost from theabove advice won't freak you all out and you find that you don’t need more than200 miles "in the tank" on a daily basis, then 80% is a good bet as well.
personally, I think some of us are overthinking this slider thing way too much.. which is why my advice is to leave it at 90% which is basically where the Standard Charge originally was.
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