Should I do a range charge? Opinions please ...

wamochi · Sep 30, 2014

3 months old, a little over 4,000 miles. my normal daily charging routine is to 80% after midnight (TOU SDGE).

when i first got the car, it was at 166 miles. it's quickly dropped to 163 miles. i did start with 5.11 at delivery and now on 6.0, in case anyone is wondering.

i have never had to do a range charge, nor will i in the forseeable future. i do not supercharge either, and the car has only been charged at the service center or at home (NEMA 14-50). however i am curious if i need to "balance" the pack or do anything of the sort. i've read a lot of threads debating the subject and although i'm sure it's fine to do so, i'd hate to do it just to satisfy my own curiosity what my FULL battery EPA rated range will show. i'm hoping it's 208 but i somehow doubt it .

i have charged a handful of times to 90%, but i haven't done so in weeks and my normal daily driving is anywhere from 20-100 miles. the lowest i've drained the battery range is to 26 miles of RR.

any thoughts?

islandbayy · Sep 30, 2014

Go ahead. Just time the charge to finish say, a hour or so before you will use it. It might take multiple 100% charges to balance out, but doing it once in a while wont hurt. If it did.... for the number of 100% charges i've done thus far (Average 3/week), my pack would be flat dead by now.

brianman · Sep 30, 2014

wamochi said:
Should I do a range charge? ...

i have never had to do a range charge, nor will i in the forseeable future....
... i am curious if i need to "balance" the pack or do anything of the sort....
... I'd hate to do it just to satisfy my own curiosity what my FULL battery EPA rated range will show....

... my normal daily driving is anywhere from 20-100 miles. the lowest i've drained the battery range is to 26 miles of RR....

To answer your question, "no". Nothing in the above points to a recommendation of "should" do a range charge.

There shouldn't be significant harm in doing so (as long as you use a little right after it tops, i.e. don't let it sit at 100%), but as I understand it the general consensus is that it's more negative (increased degradation) than positive (balancing?) to do so.

AmpedRealtor · Sep 30, 2014

wamochi said:
3 months old, a little over 4,000 miles. my normal daily charging routine is to 80% after midnight (TOU SDGE).

when i first got the car, it was at 166 miles. it's quickly dropped to 163 miles. i did start with 5.11 at delivery and now on 6.0, in case anyone is wondering.

i have never had to do a range charge, nor will i in the forseeable future. i do not supercharge either, and the car has only been charged at the service center or at home (NEMA 14-50). however i am curious if i need to "balance" the pack or do anything of the sort. i've read a lot of threads debating the subject and although i'm sure it's fine to do so, i'd hate to do it just to satisfy my own curiosity what my FULL battery EPA rated range will show. i'm hoping it's 208 but i somehow doubt it .

i have charged a handful of times to 90%, but i haven't done so in weeks and my normal daily driving is anywhere from 20-100 miles. the lowest i've drained the battery range is to 26 miles of RR.

any thoughts?

Your display is an estimate that is most accurate when charging the car to 90% or higher. You should not max charge your car to 100% if you are not expecting to use the range. All you are doing is stressing your battery for no good reason other than to change the number on the display. Don't get into this cycle of max charging to restore your range estimate if you aren't planning on driving at least 30 miles after charging. My suggestion would be to set the slider at 90% and to leave it there.

scaesare · Sep 30, 2014

At the risk of tooting my own horn, this might be a good read for you: Decreasing Rated Range Posting

franknesss · Sep 30, 2014

I know the topic of discussion is charging range, but I think this article that talks about charging speed might shed some light into max charging and maybe a different thought on battery degradation.

Green Car Congress: Study finds rapid charging and draining doesnâ€™t damage lithium-ion electrode as much as thought

linkster · Sep 30, 2014

brianman said:
To answer your question, "no". Nothing in the above points to a recommendation of "should" do a range charge.

+1

Here's some related info.......

wamochi · Sep 30, 2014

thanks all. let me charge to 90% tonight and will report back on the RR in the a.m.

WarpedOne · Oct 1, 2014

The largest benefit of a range charge is "recalibration" of the range estimation algorithm - a bit higher numbers might be displayed afterwards.

Much much smaller benefit of a range charge is reducing variation of cell's voltage. One might "get" a few additional feet of range.

One cannot reduce something that does not exist.

wamochi · Oct 1, 2014

ok i was at 90 RR last night and then it charged to 183 when i got in the car around 8:30am this morning. granted it probably finished charging sometime around 3:30am and i didn't use the car for 5 hours, but the 183 seems to be consistent with the 4-5 miles RR short of the EPA 208 RR.

80% 163 miles
90% 183 miles

which would put 100% at 203.xx

oh well. i will try again tonight and time it more appropriately and have it charge to 90% and finish right before 8:30am.

it sounds like this doesn't "mean anything" and it's not like i am going to miss those 4-5 miles but i was curious if degradation has occurred and also curious if a full charge really would reach 208 RR. sounds like it won't.

GoBlue88 · Oct 1, 2014

4 months old, about 4,000 miles. Never done a range charge. Charge to about 65% starting at midnight every night, get home in the evening from work with a 50% SOC most days. Probably won't do my first range charge until I take a trip to Vegas in January.

Canuck · Oct 1, 2014

The best advice I have heard is if you need a range charge then don't hesitate to do it, just time it so that you drive after it is completed and don't let it sit. If you don't need a range charge then don't do it. I think curiosity about battery loss doesn't meet the "need" test but if you feel you need to know, then do it and don't worry about it. At the end of the day, a few extra range charges for curiosity's sake likely won't make any measurable difference. Range charging every day, or letting it sit for long periods at 100%, will likely make a difference.

Bighorn · Oct 1, 2014

If you're on v6, you can have the car notify your phone app that the charge is done and it will record what the rated miles are before you have the chance to lose any to vampire losses in the ensuing hours. If you're curious what your car's current capacity is, I wouldn't hesitate to range charge, but I'd time it to complete near your departure time.

wamochi · Oct 1, 2014

Bighorn said:
If you're on v6, you can have the car notify your phone app that the charge is done and it will record what the rated miles are before you have the chance to lose any to vampire losses in the ensuing hours. If you're curious what your car's current capacity is, I wouldn't hesitate to range charge, but I'd time it to complete near your departure time.

oh that's a great idea thanks! i will try that. i got V6 about 2 weeks ago.

- - - Updated - - -

GoBlue88 said:
4 months old, about 4,000 miles. Never done a range charge. Charge to about 65% starting at midnight every night, get home in the evening from work with a 50% SOC most days. Probably won't do my first range charge until I take a trip to Vegas in January.

yeah i almost want to do a road trip somewhere just to range charge it, but the reality is we won't, hence why we bought a 60.

it's hard not knowing what mine would charge up to, but then again what is the point? it's just an estimate and has no real impact on my life. but seeing all these posts about RR has gotten the best of me ... but ... i ... will ... resist ... now if it starts dropping into the 150 range at 80% SOC, i will start to worry ...

thank you all for your help and replies :smile: this place is great

islandbayy · Oct 1, 2014

wamochi said:
oh that's a great idea thanks! i will try that. i got V6 about 2 weeks ago.

- - - Updated - - -

yeah i almost want to do a road trip somewhere just to range charge it, but the reality is we won't, hence why we bought a 60.

it's hard not knowing what mine would charge up to, but then again what is the point? it's just an estimate and has no real impact on my life. but seeing all these posts about RR has gotten the best of me ... but ... i ... will ... resist ... now if it starts dropping into the 150 range at 80% SOC, i will start to worry ...

thank you all for your help and replies :smile: this place is great

No road trip because you got a 60? Heh, 40,000 miles on mine in 1 year 4 months. All I do is road trips haha

wamochi · Oct 1, 2014

islandbayy said:
No road trip because you got a 60? Heh, 40,000 miles on mine in 1 year 4 months. All I do is road trips haha

LOL Not because of the 60 -- no road trips because of young kids and general aversion to long distance travel by car

, tesla or otherwise

thats a lot of driving! Where do you go?

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Should I do a range charge? Opinions please ...

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