4. Tesla Best Charging Habits

how much should i charge my battery on a daily basis and how low can i let it go i'm frugal tesla guy and we'll see what tesla has to say about this and more in the fourth video of a series i like to call your battery according to tesla [Music] as i just mentioned this video is the fourth in a series called your battery according to tesla with so much confusion about the battery i thought i would at least attempt to answer some of the common questions by pulling together what tesla has to say about the battery from what the displayed range really means to what they consider to be the best charging practices so be sure to check out the playlist on my channel called your battery according to tesla and while you're at it click that subscribe button if you like what you see when it comes to the battery and charging in particular there are a lot of opinions about the best practices some say you should only charge to 70 on a daily basis while others say 80 or 90 percent there are even some people who think it's okay to charge to 100 every day but what does tesla have to say about all of this well let's start with how tesla defines charging habits quote charging habits include how often you charge what voltage charger is used and how long the car stays plugged in these can all have a direct impact on range depletion adopting healthy charging habits can also improve range unquote now there's actually a lot to unpack here so let's start with tesla's statement of how often you charge when asked what's the best way to charge a tesla they answer by saying quote we recommend plugging in every evening to top off the battery this ensures you always wake up to a fully charged tesla unquote now it is worth mentioning that what they mean by always wake up to a fully charged tesla does not necessarily mean a battery charge to 100 but we'll go over that a little bit later now many of you most likely use rechargeable nickel cadmium batteries before which have what is known as the memory effect now this is when the battery gradually loses its maximum capacity if it's repeatedly charged only after being partially discharged and the best practice is to fully discharge the battery before charging to preserve the lifetime of the battery if that's what you've been trained to do and have used in the past then your natural reaction to the tesla battery is to fully discharge it before charging but tesla states quote tesla uses lithium-ion batteries so there is no memory effect this means there is no need to deplete the battery before charging we recommend plugging in as often as possible unquote tesla also mentions this in the owner's manual there is no advantage to waiting until the battery's level is low before charging in fact the battery performs best when charged regularly tesla also discourages discharging the battery to zero percent quote discharging the battery to zero percent may result in damage to the vehicle components unquote once again highlighting the differences between lithium ion and nickel cadmium batteries now let's take a look at what tesla means by what voltage charger is used this simply means what type of charger is best for daily charging and tesla recommends level two charging and they go on to say quote maintain a regular everyday charging routine using a low voltage charger it's best to rely on high voltage charging ie supercharging only when necessary unquote so does this mean you run the risk of damaging the battery if you supercharge every day well according to tesla the peak charging rate of the battery may decrease slightly after a large number of high rate charging sessions such as those at superchargers this may sound alarming but the beautiful part is even if you do use superchargers frequently tesla has taken steps to help protect the battery no matter what condition the battery is in quote to ensure maximum driving range and battery safety the battery charge rate is decreased when the battery is too cold when it is nearly full or when its condition changes with usage and age these changes in the condition of the battery may increase total supercharger time by a few minutes overtime unquote in the end tesla states several times on their website that it's always best to only use superchargers when necessary like road trips or when you need a quick charge otherwise level one or two charging is best for daily charging to help maintain your battery's health next we find out what tesla means by how long the car stays plugged in in the owner's manual the test model 3 tesla states quote model 3 and all testers in general has one of the most sophisticated battery systems in the world the most important way to preserve the battery is to leave your vehicle plugged in when you're not using it unquote now what we learned in the previous video is by leaving the car plugged in it helped keeps the battery warm during cold temperatures and improving the range but there are other reasons to leave it plugged in as such that goes on to say this is particularly important if you are not planning to drive the car for several weeks when plugged in the car wakes up when needed to automatically maintain a charge level that maximizes the lifetime of the battery unquote now we go on to one of the more controversial battery charging topics what percent should you charge the battery on a daily basis well i'm going to make this as simple as possible by starting with a quote from the tesla website for regular use we recommend keeping your car set within the daily range bracket up to approximately ninety percent charging up to one hundred percent is best saved for when you are preparing for a longer trip now the daily range bracket is seen on the charging screen in the car and also in the app the range bracket varies between the lowest at 50 percent to the highest at 90 that's it it's as simple as that tesla does not indicate which percentage is better but they do mention this whenever possible don't let the battery go above 90 or below 20 so to summarize what tesla says about what percentage to charge to on a daily basis they recommend charging anywhere between 50 and 90 percent and go on to say it's best to avoid charging above 90 percent and letting it drop below 20 whenever possible that's it it's as simple as that i know i mentioned in the previous video that it would also include phantom drain in this one but in an effort to help keep the time down i'll do a separate video on that topic so be sure to look out for that one to follow in conclusion for anyone who has researched the best charging practices for a tesla battery you probably discovered you can quickly find yourself going deeper and deeper into a rabbit hole so many quote-unquote experts and opinions on what's best for the battery and in the end you find yourself with more questions and concerns than before but if you trust what tesla has to say about this topic and that's not up for me to decide then following the guidelines that have been addressed in this video should be very simple keep your car plugged in whenever possible use level one or two charging during your daily routine and save supercharging for road trips set your daily charging level to max out between 50 and 90 percent while also trying to avoid letting it drop below 20 percent and charging to 100 whenever possible outside of that tesla's got you covered with software to help maintain and protect the battery hopefully you discovered a few things about the best charging practices that should help ease your mind at least a little if so don't forget to give this video a thumbs up and if you haven't done so already also be sure to click that subscribe button if you enjoy the information well thank you all so much for watching and you know the drill like subscribe and stay positively charged

Channel: Frugal Tesla Guy

Views: 530,520

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Id: TOxTDew6kvo

Length: 9min 0sec (540 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 04 2021