Which driving pattern is best? Over charge or Supercharging every day?

[PandaSR+]

I currently commute ~180 miles a day in my car, but I am trying to figure out what is the best way to use the car. If I charge about 95% I can get to work and home with about 15%, however I feel like I might be speeding degradation doing this. Lately I have been charging to 80% driving to work, hitting a super charger at about 20%-25% back up to about 50% and getting home with 20ish%. I do this 4 days a week normally. Is there a benefit to either method or am I just beating this poor thing up regardless.

Yes I know I should have bought a Long Range. I plan to upgrade at some point, maybe a dual motor Cyber Truck. Is that crazy?

 

[garrett5688]

I would charge to 95% overnight and not waste additional time supercharging, unless that time can be spent productively (every day? Probably not)...

Or trade up to longer range...

what’s your risk tolerance for getting home with less than 15%?

 

[PandaSR+]

I usually use the time (its usually less than 10 mins) to do hobby stuff (draw, web crawl for info, watch a video, etc.). I have dropped as low as 9% however clenching my way home is not ideal, lol. Maybe getting with 10% would be tolerable, I would still be concerned with the amount of discharge. From what I read Tesla recommends you keep it above 20% ideally.

 

[animorph]

Charge to 95%, ending just before you leave. The data I've read about battery SoC levels was for storage. So we know 100% for a year is not good for generic lithium batteries, and 70% for a year is OK. So I'd worry about total time spent at anything but 50% SoC.

I'd charge to 50% when you get home. Then schedule additional charging to 95% just before you leave. That should be pretty nice for the battery.

If the range gets a little tight due to rain or cold weather, a quick Supercharge to 50% or more if needed shouldn't hurt anything. Tesla has constrained Supercharging rates for some older batteries, so there may be some general battery longevity questions.

Beyond that I think we still need years more data.

 

[Sam1]

Yep, like he said. Just don’t let the car sit for long periods of time above 90% charge.

configure the timer to be done before you leave in the morning viola no issues.

 

[camalaio]

This is kind of hard for anyone outside Tesla to answer (heck, honestly, it's probably hard for someone employed by Tesla to answer), but there is one clear difference: cost.

With the Supercharging method, you're paying Supercharger prices (can be close to gas in a lot of ways, depending where you live) and also wasting extra energy to precondition the battery prior to arrival (I'm assuming you've punched in the Supercharger as a destination so that it's doing this). However, with the "overcharge at home" method, you're not wasting energy to heat the battery and you're using much cheaper electricity.

My opinion is indeed that you're beating it up either way. Predictions estimate about 1500 cycles lifetime for the Model 3 packs, which you'd go through in about 5 years at your current usage. Whether Supercharging or charging to 95% will make that timeline shorter for you is unclear. What is clear is that in about 2-3 years, you will need that Supercharger stop anyway due to ~10% battery degradation. Your other option would be charging to 100% and hoping to arrive home with just 10% left, which doesn't leave you a lot of room for things going wrong (stalls due to accidents, weather, etc.).

A 10 minute Supercharger stop isn't as bad as those who drive solely off Supercharging though, and most of the Supercharger-only cars are rather fine. Not as good as they could be, but quite fine.

 

[Maaz]

charge to 100% everyday, use the car how it fits your needs. Just use it and a couple years down the road trade up to whatever next model you choose at the highest range capacity at the moment.

 

[camalaio]

charge to 100% everyday, use the car how it fits your needs. Just use it and a couple years down the road trade up to whatever next model you choose at the highest range capacity at the moment.

Hmm. There is a 100% charge counter on the car. If dealerships and/or Tesla get smart about trade-ins, you can bet they'll be looking at that and offering less for the car as a result.

 

[Candleflame]

charge to 90 percent and get home with 10%. we routinely drive our cars down to 1% in australia. no issue.

 

[Sophias_dad]

You should find a new job or find a new place to live. I understand that these aren't always possible, but driving three hours a day is a bad habit to be in. I totally understand that sometimes family makes it so you can't move closer to your job, and sometimes a job is recognized as short-term or what-have-you. Ask yourself what three hours per waking day of your life is worth, whether its with your family/kids, or just not sitting around in traffic(even highway-speed traffic). Don't forget the actual cost of 180 miles of driving per day(Per the IRS, its somewhere just north of $22k per year, but optimistically an EV is half that)

As far as your actual question, I'd charge to 95 and arrive home with 10-15, or even less. You never know when that supercharger will be full or broken, and then you'll be either stuck until someone leaves, or just plain stuck.

The best solution would be to get charging options at work.

 

[Sam1]

Ask yourself what three hours per waking day of your life is worth

This is why he bought a tesla. That 3 hours in a normal car, is only 2.25 hours in the tesla!

 

[nayr14]

...but driving three hours a day is a bad habit to be in. I totally understand that sometimes family makes it so you can't move closer to your job, and sometimes a job is recognized as short-term or what-have-you. Ask yourself what three hours per waking day of your life is worth, whether its with your family/kids, or just not sitting around in traffic(even highway-speed traffic). Don't forget the actual cost of 180 miles of driving per day(Per the IRS, its somewhere just north of $22k per year, but optimistically an EV is half that)

Very true. While I wouldn't tell OP to find a new job or move, it's important to actualize how much time you spend commuting. Assuming OP spends 3hr a day driving (avg speed 60MPH), that's 756 hours a year, assuming 252 working days. If I were to equate the hours driving to vacation (1 day = 8/hr), that's 95 days (19 work weeks) of vacation a year. Where I work, I receive 3 weeks a year currently.

Food for thought.

 

[hgmichna]

charge to 90 percent and get home with 10%. we routinely drive our cars down to 1% in australia. no issue.

I agree. On warm, fair-weather days I would probably even charge only to 85% and plan to arrive back home between 10% and 0%. In the last few miles you can empty the battery. But recharge it immediately after arriving.

On your way back home, check the energy trip display. If it shows that you will get home with less than 5% remaining, simply reduce your speed.

You will have to adjust this for rain and cold temperatures. You will gather experience. In the worst weather you can still visit a charger.

As to damaging the battery, the simple countermeasure is to drive gently below 20%. Below 10% reduce speed a bit, i.e. keep the current low.

I wouldn't aim for the long-range version if commuting works as well as it does for you. After all, the Model 3 Standard Range is the most efficient one.

 

[XLR82XS]

Follow owners manual advice and screen daily use suggestion. 50-90% for whatever you need and 100% for long trips. Done.