Do Tesla drivers top off their charge every night?

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by Northerner, Mar 1, 2020.

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  1. Northerner

    Northerner Active Member

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    I’ve been thinking about how best to charge my Prius Prime battery to extend its life. I usually drive it somewhere around 7:00 AM and get home for lunch with only a few EV miles remaining. I either recharge then, if I think I’ll go somewhere else later, or schedule the charge to be finished by 7:00 AM the next morning.

    This got me to thinking, are Tesla drivers doing a similar calculation? If I had a Tesla, I’d probably keep the battery mostly uncharged, unless I knew a trip was coming up.

    This then got me thinking, further, about why am I carrying a full tank of gas around? Why not carry a quarter tank? This is exactly what I’ll do, later, when the tank gets to that level, but then only fill before a trip.

    This got me to thinking one more time - about the weight of the Tesla battery versus a few gallons of gas. It would bother me to carry a mostly uncharged 1000 lb battery around every where I go.
     
    #1 Northerner, Mar 1, 2020
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2020
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  2. schja01

    schja01 Senior Member

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    I carry around a mostly unused internal combustion engine. A few gallons doesn’t mean diddly.
     
    #2 schja01, Mar 1, 2020
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  3. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    That would be damaging to most modern batteries. That is why they are usually shipped with half charge.
     
    #3 Prodigyplace, Mar 1, 2020
  4. triggerhappy007

    triggerhappy007 Active Member

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    They actually don't have to do any calculations. They can set the charge limit using a slider bar to the percentage they want to stop at. I think most don't even have to charge every night.

    For the Prime, you don't really have to baby the battery IMO. I would charge it as much as I can so I won't have to run the ICE. When you lose battery capacity in an EV, you're screwed. When you lose battery capacity in a Prime, it's still usable as a hybrid. I doubt anyone will lose all their battery capacity though.
     
    #4 triggerhappy007, Mar 1, 2020
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  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    tesla has an active liquid thermal battery conditioning system, and the best ev batteries and bms in the business. they can do anything they want and it won't hurt them.
     
    #5 bisco, Mar 1, 2020
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Probably not. They can set their max SOC to charge (Tesla is unique in that it unlocks the full range to its owners. All other manufacturers keep a buffer at the top. This also means if your Tesla is at 100%, it won’t regen since there is no additional capacity).

    If I had an EV, I’d just charge before it gets to 20% displayed SOC (whatever that happens to be in true SOC which is set by the manufacturer).

    A fuller battery has a higher voltage at discharge (acceleration) which will lead to higher temp battery (if you kept accelerating and decelerating) which can shorten battery life.
     
    #6 Tideland Prius, Mar 2, 2020
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  7. GregersonIT

    GregersonIT Member

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    Don't worry about it, unless you have time of use on your electric bill. Even then, it's not exactly a lot of power.
     
    #7 GregersonIT, Mar 2, 2020
  8. Curlyone

    Curlyone Member

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    I charge my Model 3 to 80% every night, only use 10% or so each day. It's set on a timer to finish charging at 05:30 so the battery is warmed up right before I leave for work. The recommendation from Tesla is to keep it between 10% to 90% unless you are on a long trip. I've never had a need to top it off during the day.

    When I had my Prime, my daily commute to work usually used a full charge so if I happen to be home during the day I'd plug in and charge right away.

    As someone mentioned above Tesla doesn't restrict the charge, so you can certainly impact your battery longevity by charging > 90% or using it < 10%. For your Prime I'm fairly sure you don't have to worry about that, the Prime restricts the available charge to a safe range.

    So short answer, as I've seen someone else say "ABC", Always Be Charging.
     
    #8 Curlyone, Mar 10, 2020
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  9. DBLXX

    DBLXX Member

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    ABC - love it.

    Glen Gary !!!!
     
    #9 DBLXX, Mar 10, 2020
  10. ewxlt66

    ewxlt66 Active Member

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    We own a Prius Prime and a Model 3. The 3 gets charged to 80% daily. The Prime gets charged to 100% daily.
     
    #10 ewxlt66, Mar 10, 2020
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  11. Northerner

    Northerner Active Member

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    I guess my comment also relates to the idea of carrying around such a big battery if most of it is rarely ever used. A counter to this is that Tesla drivers may need to carry a very large battery, but they don’t need to lug around an internal combustion engine. I’m not ready, yet, to go fully electric, but feel I will be soon enough.
    I would gladly sacrifice Tesla’s speed and power for greater range and economy.
     
    #11 Northerner, Mar 11, 2020
  12. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    Driving slower can increase the range. The power is related to the electric motor design.
    You do not need to use all the power to accelerate reasonably, you know. ;)

    tl:dr Self control is what you desire.
     
    #12 Prodigyplace, Mar 11, 2020
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2020
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  13. Priuslover09

    Priuslover09 Member

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    Yes I think so
     
    #13 Priuslover09, Mar 11, 2020
  14. Curlyone

    Curlyone Member

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    Tesla does have a more restrained acceleration mode called "chill". Don't know how effective it is, never used it :) I'm not a "car guy", never had a real sports car, but now I understand the mind set much better. That kind of outrageous acceleration is addictive.
     
    #14 Curlyone, Mar 14, 2020
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  15. Northerner

    Northerner Active Member

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    Just spoke with a Tesla 3 owner. He said he had never used anything but his own house’s 110 to recharge his car and it usually is close to fully charged. He uses his wife’s car for trips that might be longer than his car’s range. As I thought about it, I think I’m all done with ICE cars. My wife’s Honda CRV has sat there in the garage with a battery tender attached since Covid19 became a thing. My Prime has done all the work because we both prefer it. Since getting the car in late February, I bought 6 gallons of gas in anticipation of a slightly long trip.
    I am thinking now of trading her car in for an all electric vehicle. Longer trips would be in the Prime. Medium range trips would be in the all-electric vehicle. Short trips would be in either vehicle.
     
    #15 Northerner, Jun 10, 2020
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  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would do the same, but i'm already 97% electric in my pip. thinking about replacing the hycam with plug in rav4 or escape.
    a tesla just isn't going to work for our annual florida venture, and wouldn't change our energy source by much.
     
    #16 bisco, Jun 10, 2020
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  17. Rob43

    Rob43 Senior Member

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    I'm friends with multiple Tesla 3 (and other Tesla) owners, all of them charge at 240v; one of them complains often that he wants even faster charging.

    So yes, it's possible to charge a much bigger battery car on 120v, but you quickly might realize it's too slow.

    There are reasonably cheap ways to setup 240v charging in your home if you want/need to.


    Rob43
     
    #17 Rob43, Jun 10, 2020
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  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Apparently, this owner tops off at every opportunity for free electrons
    8589E488-8FDF-49B5-B6DF-B6D44A09F55F.jpeg
     
    #18 bisco, Nov 18, 2021
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  19. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Why not?
     
    #19 Tideland Prius, Nov 18, 2021
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  20. Ovation

    Ovation Active Member

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    Exactly. I do it whenever I can.
     
    #20 Ovation, Nov 18, 2021
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