Winter Charging in Rochester, NY ?

[Richard__G]

So, I get this email from Tesbros about how to care for Teslas in the winter. One of their "tips" is to keep it constantly plugged in so the battery stays warm and some of the tips refer to cars which are parked outdoors. So I'm thinkin that's really their target audience with this email.

I'm inclined to ignore the "keep it plugged in all the time" advice because I keep my MYLR in our garage, and winter temps here rarely dip below 25-30 degrees F. And as a new Tesla owner (3 months in), I'm hesitant to vary from the 20/80 charging rule.

Opinions/advice please!

TIA, Richard

 

[someguywithcar]

Always plugged in doesn’t mean always charging. Keep your charge limits where you like but plug in regularly.

 

[DanDi58]

So, I get this email from Tesbros about how to care for Teslas in the winter. One of their "tips" is to keep it constantly plugged in so the battery stays warm and some of the tips refer to cars which are parked outdoors. So I'm thinkin that's really their target audience with this email.

I'm inclined to ignore the "keep it plugged in all the time" advice because I keep my MYLR in our garage, and winter temps here rarely dip below 25-30 degrees F. And as a new Tesla owner (3 months in), I'm hesitant to vary from the 20/80 charging rule.

Opinions/advice please!

TIA, Richard

Well, Tesla recommends always keeping it plugged in when not in use so....

When it's in my garage, it's always plugged even though I have Scheduled Charging set to start at 10:30 pm. I don't think it's necessarily doing anything at random times to keep the battery warm, although perhaps if you're not using Scheduled Charging or Departure, it may be using the charging to maintain the set percentage? I don't really know and I don't really worry about it. And I always precondition the car for at least 10 minutes before I take it out, all year round.

 

[804son]

The main benefit from keeping your car plugged into a charger while in the garage, is just so you won't forget and it will be ready with a charge to your charging limit the next day. There is some information that smaller charge cycles are also better for the battery than large charge cycles. Personally I charge daily to 50%, keeping the charge limit low to help reduce degradation what I can. Preconditioning also uses "shore" power when plugged in and it's always nice to get in a warm car in the morning.

 

[DanDi58]

Preconditioning also uses "shore" power when plugged in and it's always nice to get in a warm car in the morning.

I don't believe that is true when you're using Scheduled Charging or Scheduled Departure. My understanding of how those work is that the car will only charge during the window that is set. That's borne out by the fact that when I precondition at home before going out, it always lowers the % charge on the car even if it's plugged in. But I don't really care as the car is more efficient with a warmer battery than cold, so I probably use less to precon than I would lose through inefficiency when driving with a cold battery.

 

[KG2V]

As a 4 year owner who now lives in North Chili (Hi neighbor) - set your charge limit to 80%, and keep it plugged in. It might (might) go up to say 82% or so if it warms up after it charges to 80% (seen it once), but there is no issue. A plugged in Tesla is a happy Tesla

 

[804son]

I don't believe that is true when you're using Scheduled Charging or Scheduled Departure. My understanding of how those work is that the car will only charge during the window that is set. That's borne out by the fact that when I precondition at home before going out, it always lowers the % charge on the car even if it's plugged in. But I don't really care as the car is more efficient with a warmer battery than cold, so I probably use less to precon than I would lose through inefficiency when driving with a cold battery.

Your drop in estimated charge percentage, is most probably due to the battery cooling after charging. If you have the vehicle preconditioning you can see the charger on the wall providing power to the vehicle. A quick google search will also confirm where the vehicle is drawing power. Agreed these are great cars and no matter where the energy comes from preconditioning is awesome for getting into a warm car, with full regen.

 

[Richard__G]

Hey, thanks very much everybody and Howdy neighbor (KG2V)!

As a retiree, my schedule is all over the place, so setting up a Scheduled Departure wouldn't work as it uses the same time each day or weekends (pls let me know if I'm wrong).

The idea of keeping it at 50% to help reduce degradation sounds good as I don't drive a whole lot and can charge it up higher when I need to. Do y'all agree that's the best strategy? Or should I go with 80%? I can certainly schedule the charging for off peak late hours, and TRY to precondition when I remember (that IS a problem with my feeble brain).

BTW, what's "shore" power?

I just found this in another (very technical) thread from someone in Northern Virginia:

My own cold-weather protocol boils down to:​

• Adding a few percent of charge - I typically charge to 55% most of the year, but I'll bump that to around 62% during the winter - to give a little extra buffer given the lowered range that EV's get in cold weather.
• Precondition the battery pack (turn Climate on) around 30 minutes before using the car, while it is plugged in.
• Charge immediately after returning from a drive, while the pack is warm.

I definitely want to keep my Tesla happy, and keeping at around 50-60% seems to be the general consensus. does that make sense to y'all given my driving pattern?

Many thanks to everyone once again, these forums are an incredible resource!
Richard

 

[DanDi58]

Your drop in estimated charge percentage, is most probably due to the battery cooling after charging. If you have the vehicle preconditioning you can see the charger on the wall providing power to the vehicle. A quick google search will also confirm where the vehicle is drawing power. Agreed these are great cars and no matter where the energy comes from preconditioning is awesome for getting into a warm car, with full regen.

Except I don't have a wall charger, I use a 240v outlet. I see about the same decrease in % whether I'm plugged in our not.

 

[CCopperpot]

Howdy neighbors. Nothing much to add to the convo but checking in from the BLO

 

[804son]

Except I don't have a wall charger, I use a 240v outlet. I see about the same decrease in % whether I'm plugged in our not.

I use the mobile charger from a Nema 14-50 outlet.

 

[804son]

Hey, thanks very much everybody and Howdy neighbor (KG2V)!

As a retiree, my schedule is all over the place, so setting up a Scheduled Departure wouldn't work as it uses the same time each day or weekends (pls let me know if I'm wrong).

The idea of keeping it at 50% to help reduce degradation sounds good as I don't drive a whole lot and can charge it up higher when I need to. Do y'all agree that's the best strategy? Or should I go with 80%? I can certainly schedule the charging for off peak late hours, and TRY to precondition when I remember (that IS a problem with my feeble brain).

BTW, what's "shore" power?

I just found this in another (very technical) thread from someone in Northern Virginia:

My own cold-weather protocol boils down to:​

• Adding a few percent of charge - I typically charge to 55% most of the year, but I'll bump that to around 62% during the winter - to give a little extra buffer given the lowered range that EV's get in cold weather.
• Precondition the battery pack (turn Climate on) around 30 minutes before using the car, while it is plugged in.
• Charge immediately after returning from a drive, while the pack is warm.

I definitely want to keep my Tesla happy, and keeping at around 50-60% seems to be the general consensus. does that make sense to y'all given my driving pattern?

Many thanks to everyone once again, these forums are an incredible resource!
Richard

"Shore" power, is just a term for grid power (car connected to the charger).

 

[Eric33432]

Since battery degradation occurs slightly more when you charge to 80%, why charge more than you need?

Since I only use 10 to 30% most days, I charge to 50% most days. If I am going to drive more than usual, say a short out of town trip to Miami, etc., then I bump it up to perhaps 70 or 80.

For a road trip, I charge to 90% the night before, then whilst getting ready in the morning I bump it up to 100% and leave with from 95 to 100%.

When I first got my X in June, 2022 I charged to 80% because I read that was the best practice. But after reading much info on this web site, have concluded less is better.

But it is only slightly worse degradation to charge to 80%, so if that is easier for you, don't worry about it. Enjoy the car!

I have written this in many threads.

 

[Richard__G]

Since battery degradation occurs slightly more when you charge to 80%, why charge more than you need?

Since I only use 10 to 30% most days, I charge to 50% most days. If I am going to drive more than usual, say a short out of town trip to Miami, etc., then I bump it up to perhaps 70 or 80.

For a road trip, I charge to 90% the night before, then whilst getting ready in the morning I bump it up to 100% and leave with from 95 to 100%.

When I first got my X in June, 2022 I charged to 80% because I read that was the best practice. But after reading much info on this web site, have concluded less is better.

But it is only slightly worse degradation to charge to 80%, so if that is easier for you, don't worry about it. Enjoy the car!

I have written this in many threads.

Well, thanks very much for writing it again. Being the newbie that I am, it is much appreciated!

 

[KG2V]

Ah, retirement - I'm semi-retired (moved up to be near the kids/Grandchild) - I work from home 3 days a week. Some days, the car doesn't leave the house

Shore power - term comes from boating - when you are hooked up to power from shore - made it into aircraft, and now EV's RVs etc

I should probably drop my charge a bit from 80% for most days. I have the car on scheduled charge (be ready at 6 am) but NOT precondition (aka the climate control doesn't come on)

 

[Richard__G]

Ah, retirement - I'm semi-retired (moved up to be near the kids/Grandchild) - I work from home 3 days a week. Some days, the car doesn't leave the house

Shore power - term comes from boating - when you are hooked up to power from shore - made it into aircraft, and now EV's RVs etc

I should probably drop my charge a bit from 80% for most days. I have the car on scheduled charge (be ready at 6 am) but NOT precondition (aka the climate control doesn't come on)

Got it, thanks.