my understanding is that the non-LFP Teslas do not accept DC charging below a certain battery temperature, so this seems to impact those who do not have AC charging at home, and do not know how to condition a battery to accept DC (eg hard acceleration a few times prior to charging, though that might not work either in cold temps with snow or ice)
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Who has or is planning to get an electric car / EV Talk
- Thread starter PracticalMac
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If you are taking a trip, and it is going to be cold at your destination, you are better off charging while the battery is warm from the trip than letting the car cold soak and trying to charge.
I usually have my "energy" screen on my infotainment display, I have never seen "battery conditioning" to be different than 0 (zero), though outside temps have been in the mid/low 30s occasionally ... a garage is useful
Not got above 4 in my garage today.I usually have my "energy" screen on my infotainment display, I have never seen "battery conditioning" to be different than 0 (zero), though outside temps have been in the mid/low 30s occasionally ... a garage is useful
I have one 40 amp L2 charger and 2 Teslas. I use 30%-40% of my TMY battery during the day, my wife uses 10%-30% (no heat pump in her 2019 TM3). Her car sits outside, mine is in the garage. I charge her car to 80% every night, then move the cable to my TMY and leave it charging overnight.
We both scheduled precondition our cars before we leave for work, and before we leave for home.
I would rather charge her car every day for shorter times, than every other day for longer. This is because I have to go back outside and move the cable in.
I close the garage door on 3/4" plywood strips on either side of the cable, and a third strip on the other side of the garage door. This protects the wire.
Yesterday with her defrosting the snow before work and after work and no heat pump meant she got home with 45% of the battery. I got home with 43% with much more driving (50+ miles vs. 5 for her).
We both scheduled precondition our cars before we leave for work, and before we leave for home.
I would rather charge her car every day for shorter times, than every other day for longer. This is because I have to go back outside and move the cable in.
I close the garage door on 3/4" plywood strips on either side of the cable, and a third strip on the other side of the garage door. This protects the wire.
Yesterday with her defrosting the snow before work and after work and no heat pump meant she got home with 45% of the battery. I got home with 43% with much more driving (50+ miles vs. 5 for her).
Given the advice with smartphones to aim to charge batteries up close to 90% (or even less) rather than 100% routinely, to extend battery life, I'm guessing that is also recommended for EV's?
When you charge yours to around 85%, does your car have a setting where it automatically stops charging at that point, or do you need to remember to go unplug it before it charges higher?
There’s a setting for the target charge level, so no need to remember.
Long term data remains to be seen, on the bolt forum there are users reporting that they always charge to 100% and don’t see ill effects after 5 years.
When the battery is at 100% one pedal driving becomes tricky as regenerative braking doesn’t work, that’s a big reason for me to not charge to 100%.
I charge all my electronics (Apple Watch, iPhone, MacBook etc) to 100%, all the time, never had an issue.
In the long run, for EVs, people are going to charge to 100% as most consumers don’t want to learn about “battery conservation”, and it is/will be a barrier to mass adaption.
EV batteries are under warranty for 8-10 years and manufacturers today are saying that they should have around 80% capacity at the end of the warranty (that number varies by manufacturer)
It varies from EV to EV. But just because it says 100% on the display definitely doesn’t mean it’s 100% in reality.
Driving in my neighborhood at low speeds, yes, but, if you go like 35-40 and need to come to a stop with a “full” battery - where’s that regen energy going? Either your car is using its brakes or the battery is not at 100%…
I understand what you are saying. I just haven’t noticed any difference in how my car feels regardless of how much it is or isn’t charged. Maybe it’s my driving style. I tend to not race up to junctions etc, but back off with plenty of time. I nearly always hit 5 stars on my anticipated driving score.
Yea, that can very well be, and depending on my route from home, it’s 1 stop sign from maybe 30mph and rather gentle and then another one 4 miles later going at 45mph, but the other route is line 4.5 miles thru town with 4 stop sign and 6 traffic lights and things can happen there… and while I don’t drive aggressively, it’s brisk.
It also depends on what capacity the manufacturer holds in reserve. In many cases there is still unused capacity once you reach 100% and when you reach 0% there is also reserve capacity. This is to help protect the battery that does not like charging to 100% or discharging all the way to 0. The amount of reserve varies from vehicle to vehicle. GM reportedly reserved around 15-20% for the Volt and users normally charge to 100% without risk. That is good because the Volt has a small battery. I’ve heard that the Bolt has a significant reserve though it may not be as large as the Volts. It would be helpful if the manufacturers published this information.
I read you could release the additional battery by hacking the car’s software. Not something I would do.
They also keep a reserve to assist with battery warranties. Should your cars battery suffer from degradation in the warranty period, they just release a bit more at the dealership.
very true, my Prius Prime (PHEV) had a 8.8kWh battery but only 6.6 was usable, and, it would show DTE (distance to empty) of 0 miles and I continued driving for 50+ miles and still couldn't fill up the tank to its advertised capacity
As for the Bolt, not sure what the reserve really is, over at the Bolt forum are several threads on this and I don't think it'd conclusive but definitely far less than the Volt. Not worth the risk (tow) as they call the remains range a GOM for a reason (GOM = guessometer)
Hmm that is impossible, if at 100% there is nowhere for the regen to go. So either your 100% is a display setting and it isn't really 100%, or you are not aware to what it is doing. Not sure whether the i3 does even do blended regen braking.
In the Polestar the main motivation not to charge to 100% (a true 100%) is for me the effect and lack of regenerative braking. So unless absolutely necessary it is much more pleasant to charge to 90% (a true 90%) which is not only recommended by Polestar but also better for the battery, more efficient timewise, and more efficient driving wise.
I am pretty sure there are only like 2 EV brands that don't do blended regen braking (Tesla and Lucid IIRC) everyone else does blended brakes (press the brake get regen).
As @jz0309 said in the post following this post, Teslas have a battery management system. I can set the target percentage based on my usage. My target is set to 70%.
When I pull into my garage I plug in and let the car manage the battery state of charge.
I use the Tesla app to turn on the climate control and precondition the battery. When I get into the car the seats are heated, the steering wheel is heated and the car is at a good temperature.
Tesla does blended braking if the car is at 100% or a snowflake is being displayed and that option is set on in software.
Yeah, I didn't quite consider that blended brakes mostly because if you press the brakes it only operates the physical brakes instead of blending regen with them. Tesla doesn't even give the option to not regen on throttle lift anymore and the newest cars only get hold, so you don't have creep or rolling stop options.
Tesla's "blended brakes" is like the reverse of how everyone elses works.
In the interest of more range is why Tesla imo is getting rid of regen options. Tesla is in essence saying drive your EV like an EV and not a ICE powered vehicle.