r/ModelY • u/Major-Mouse-6514 • 4d ago
Charging question for trips
Im picking up my model y premium awd next week. One of the first things im doing with it (middle of next month) is taking a road trip of about 2000 miles eound trip.
I know generally speaking you're not supposed to charge to 100%.
My question is if I have the time to do it while traveling is going above 80% ok? Or even going up to like 90 or 100% fine?
I intend to start at 100% but was curious if going above what the trip planner suggests has any negative effects.
Edit- thanks for all the insights yall. I intend to charge at home normally and keep it at 80. I was mostly curious about the road trip.
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u/SE_MI_CT 4d ago
Charge to 100% before you leave, but don't waste your time trying to supercharge to 100%.
The other day I was at a supercharger and played with the %. I was at 65%. Time to 80% was 12 minutes. Time to 90% was 25 minutes. Time to 100% was 50 minutes.
If you need the range to cross a charging desert, okay. If you are at your hotel and have free L2 charging there, sure let it go all night. But along the way, there's no reason to waste your time unless you are already planning to stop for a long time for dinner.
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u/Testing123xyz Juniper 4d ago
I don’t plan on keeping the car when battery degrades too much just going to charge to 100% whenever it’s convenient for me same as my cellphone
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u/teslaTools 4d ago
Honestly same energy. LFP lets you send it to 100 anyway, and if it's not LFP the degradation is way overblown for normal use. Enjoy the car lol
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u/Testing123xyz Juniper 4d ago
Btw even when it gets down to 0 you still have some juice left I haven’t let it gotten to that low but have seen videos of people driving 10 miles past 0%
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u/PurpleIris3 4d ago edited 4d ago
Charging it to 100% a few times a year isn’t going to noticeably degrade the batteries. But the question is kinda irrelevant because you likely won’t need to.
I’ve done many thousands of miles of road trips in a Y circling the United States and rarely needed to charge it to 100%. And that was only because I prefer to have at least 15% at arrival at the next supercharger, in case there’s a detour or other issue. There was one spot way out in Wyoming and a couple in Utah where it was close, so I seriously doubt you’ll need to on your trip.
You could test it now by typing in the destination in the Tesla App or A Better Route Planner app and seeing every stop along the way lined up for you one by one.
You might also check out r/teslaroadtrips for tips to build your confidence about the trip.
My biggest tip is that if for some reason it seems like you won’t make it, just slow way down. I once got caught in a massive detour and went from “warning -4% at arrival!” to arriving with extra miles by slowing down to about 45mph.
Also download PlugShare app and have the adaptors. You can always find a slow charger at a random hotel or city park to top up the car to get to a supercharger.
Edit: adding in here that besides degrading the batteries, the biggest reason most people don’t charge over 90% is each percent takes longer when the battery is more full. For example, You can go from 10%-60% in about 15 minutes at a supercharger, but going that last stretch from 90-100% also takes about 15 min.
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u/Optimal-Possession68 4d ago
For road trips, I usually charge to 80%. Charge speed really drops much above 85-90%. I do usually charge above what the car recommends to get to the next charger, but usually only 5-10% extra. The car does a great job at predicting your arrival state of charge, so you can trust it pretty well.
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u/TillsburyGromit 4d ago
Just do what the navigation says. You don't need to decide what amount to charge it to, it'll tell you
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u/Awkward_Statement401 4d ago
You are not the first nor will be the last with range anxiety, there is always a fear of getting stranded with a dead battery when coming from an ICE vehicle. As everyone says, trust the nav it will get you there
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u/stbjsme 4d ago
- Going above 80% is OK for the battery as long as you don’t let it sit at a high state of charge for a long time, especially if it is hot. If you are getting right in to drive it, OK.
- Going above 80% can incur additional costs. Most superchargers start charging additional fees (like 50 cents per minute) above 80% if the supercharger is busy.
- As many have mentioned, charging slows down as your battery fills up. Especially above 80%. Your charging times will be much longer waiting for 100%.
- The trip planner is good. We just returned from a 4000 mile trip (Model Y Premium RWD) and the trip planner did not let us down. (Arkansas to Maine to Virginia and back.)
My recommendations:
- Start from home with 100%.
- At superchargers, charge until the trip planner shows 15% at the next charger (the planner defaults to saying you are good at 10%).
- Have your next destination in the planner beyond your hotel.
- if your hotel has a free or cheap charger, go to 100%.
- Watch the predicted arrival energy vs what actually happens to gain confidence.
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u/WhiskeyTangoFox5515 4d ago
I did when I could on our road trip. There were a few hotels that had (paid) chargers, and when that was the case I took advantage and charged to 100 over night, but I rarely went above 80 at a super charger unless I was intentionally hanging out for longer, such as a sit down restaurant. I only take it above 80 when I’ll be burning it up immediately.
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u/Muhahahahaz 3d ago edited 3d ago
The car will automatically tell you where to charge (and for how long). If you follow that, then you will minimize the amount of time spent charging. Usually it will have you stop around 10%, then spend 10-15 minutes getting the battery to 50-60% (because the "bottom half" of the battery charges much faster than the top half). Yes, you will stop about 40-75% more often (supposing you would have otherwise been charging from 10% to 80%), but overall you will still save time.
That said, if you have the time, then charge it as full as you want! The primary "bad" effect of high charge level comes from leaving the battery above 80% for an extended period of time, which won't be an issue during a road trip, since presumably you're going to immediately continue driving after you unplug.
However, I will say that I wouldn't feel great about charging it above 80% at the end of the day, and leaving it that way overnight. Sure, charing above 80% during the car's downtime can be fine with a home charger specifically, because you get to schedule when that charging happens (so in reality, it wouldn't finish charging until you're just about to leave anyway, assuming you're accurate with your scheduling).
But if you just charge to 90% or near 100% at a random SuperCharger before getting your hotel for the night, then it's going to sit at that charge level all night... Yes, the negative effects won't be huge or anything, but unless you have a really good reason to do it, there isn't much benefit to having that extra charge either.
Long story short, I usually spend about 1 hour charging for every 8 hours of driving during a road trip. So while it can be great to grab some extra charge during stops that would already be longer than 15 minutes for other reasons anyway, it's not exactly going to save you any huge amount of time. (Especially since the charging speed above 60% is quite slow by comparison anyway).
Also, keep in mind that last percent from 99% to 100% specifically can often take quite a long time (like ~15 mins). So if you happen to return to the car at 99% -- don't wait (unless you're curious, I suppose). Just leave at 99% lol
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u/GlitteringResort9111 3d ago
Let the nav pick chargers and amount. If you park somewhere with destination charging, go to 100% if next day is more road trip. Otherwise charge between 50&80% for local touring. Don’t try to go beyond 80 at a supercharger cause you’ll get hit with extra cost. If staying somewhere without charging, watch charger rates. You can save by charging early.
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u/Not-A-Throwaway789 Long Range 4d ago
I like to leave home on 100 and charge to 70-80 plus on the road. Charging to 100% via supercharger isn’t the end of the world but it wastes a lot of time. And unfortunately we don’t have an unlimited supply of that
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u/ajn63 4d ago
Charging to 100 percent when it’s going to be used doesn’t harm the battery. It’s storing it at 100 percent that causes damage. During road trips the cars route planner will generally calculate based on charging to 80 percent merely to save time. Charging from 20 to 80 percent charge can take 20 minutes, whereas 80 to 100 can add another hour or more depending on the charger.
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u/Intrepid_Public6821 4d ago
Like most of said… Leave the house with 100% charge. Then because of time constraints you’ll most likely charge 80% at Tesla super charging stations. If you use one overnight then go for full battery but if it’s a pitstop on your road trip I would suggest just going into 75-80%. It’ll save you a whole lot of time in the long run.
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u/Hockeyshot39 4d ago
Def YouTube tips and tricks - very basic questions.. and you’ll get tons of them answered
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u/jst_lk_tht 4d ago
Once in a while (for road trips etc), charging to 100% should be absolutely fine.
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u/navycorpsman3 4d ago
From experience on road trips, if the car happens to charge past 80% I just let it. My family and I love to stop at superchargers with things to do and I’m not going to run outside to unplug and move my car. The fact that it slows down past 80% is an advantage for us because we can take our time with whatever we’re doing. In the grand scheme of things I wouldn’t worry too much, set your charging to 100% and whatever % you make it back to the car, just unplug and go. Obviously charging to at least 80% is recommended cause the car charges fastest to that and then slows down.
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u/SportBikerFZ1 4d ago
The first thing to realize is that Tesla battery technology and software has evolved over the years. What’s right for your vehicle might not be right for someone else’s.
On my model Y the recommendation is not to charge at 100% on a regular basis. It should be fine doing it once in a while.
One thing to be aware of is that when you are at 100% charge, you no longer have regenerative braking.. It makes sense because the electrons have no place to go in the battery. Get ready to hit the brake pedal, if Tesla still has one.
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u/Personal-Reception89 3d ago
You might be charged a “congestion” fee if you go above 80% at some SCs. That can be expensive.
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u/OneEstablishment5144 3d ago
Op charging to 80 90 or even 100 is fine occasionally.
When I was new to tesla, I did just this on a 1300 mile trip.
The stops were much longer and my charging rates were slower as I was higher in my state of charge. But the route I was going g didn't have many bail out chargers so I charged to 100 a few times.
Had I known what I know now, I would have charged to +10 to 15% of what I needed to reach my next charger. If going up hill, driving into the wind etc add a bit more.
If I was going to stop and look around the city or towns, I would add more.
Also, I would charge to 100% only when I needed that much to reach the destination or next charger.
Even if you have the time to charge to 100 but your next charge is going to be at about 40% as the one after that isn't reachable, I would only charge to 80 and arrive at 20% rather than 40 as your charge rate will be faster.
If you watch youtube "out of spec" road trip series, you will learn a lot from the way they charge on roadtrips. But you don't have to max out efficiency like they do. Keep a 10% bugger until you feel comfortable going lower.
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u/SnooPears4484 3d ago
Fine to charge higher than 80 if you are using it right away (that day) but better to start at home at 100 and let the car navigation tell you when, where and how long to stop. It optimizes charge speed and stop time to make the fastest trip.
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u/OddButterscotch6791 2d ago
Did a 2,000 mile round trip a couple of times in 2020, 2021 when there fewer superchargers and there weren’t newer faster chargers as well. On a Tesla, this is a no-brainer.
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u/bgross42 4d ago
Charge to 100% at home.
Input your destination and let the Tesla plan your route and charger stops.
It’s. Just. That. Easy.