We (my wife/I) are 24-months into a 39-month lease on a 2012 Nissan Leaf. We just had our 2-year check-up for the battery and our local Nissan dealer said not only did it test out perfect (5-stars on the print-out they supplied), but that he said we are the only car he has seen locally (Cleveland, Ohio) with similar age/mileage that has proven such a perfect battery score. He was quite curious how we managed this! Even though the vehicle is leased, we take pride in our tangible items, and have done our best to maintain ideal conditions for the battery & charging protocols.
Due to the limited range of the small 24-kWh battery, we have always charged up to 100%, though we've typically never let the car get below 20% SOC. However, to keep the car from sitting at a full SOC for a long period of time we have always utilized the awesome "End Timer" feature built into the car. We would set it to end charging 15-20 minutes prior to our normal week-day departure for work (the wife/I commute together). Even on the weekends we would leave the end-time the same time, so 2-days a week it would often sit for 3-4 hours at 100% SOC. Perhaps having a heated garage has also helped the battery survive so well.
But TO THE POINT.... there is obviously not "end charger" option for the Tesla. Our recently acquired 2014 Model S 85 RWD will probably become our more common trip car (so we're going to set the Nissan to the optional 80% max SOC to preserve that battery). My issue/concern/question comes from how I should charge the Tesla. I'm not a n00b, so I am fully aware that I can set the car from 50-100% and I'll have to figure out what the best option there might be-- and just deal with it from there. But what about long trips?
Tomorrow is our first distance-trip in the car (we're going ~140 miles away -- we will use Tesla HPWC available at a parking garage for a few hours to refill before return trip). I'm plugged in now to be ready for tomorrow, and due to the distance and other running around we may do I'm going to set to 100% SOC. However, ideally I'd like the charging to end at 8:30 AM (our rough departure time). What I did this time around was-- (1) plugged the charger in, saw how long it estimated it would take to charge (3hr 25min) then (2) did some math and added a 30-minute (rounding up to 4-hours as a safety number to make sure it would be done in time).. then (3) set it to STOP charging for right now... and finally (4) set it to start charging 4-hours prior our departure time (around 4:30 AM).
That seems the only way to achieve the goal of having the car not spend too long at 100% SOC.
Am I correct that, at the current moment, this is both ideal, and the only way to achieve this goal? What do the rest of you do? Do you simply plug in the night before a trip at bed time, set it to 100% SOC, and just deal with the fact it will sit there for potentially 5-6 hours at 100%? Or are there other tricks I'm not aware of? Also, it appears you can set charge limits from the phone but not a delayed start time, that is a bummer!
TIA for any pointers ... I'm not new to EVs, but I'm definitely still getting acquainted with the differences/nuances of the Tesla vs our 20,000+ miles on our Nissan Leaf. Looking forward to my seat-time tomorrow!
PS: Simply for reference... my charger is a 40A Leviton EVB40-PST that charges ~30/mph (238v 40a). We upgraded from an older 30A unit (details on that HERE)
Due to the limited range of the small 24-kWh battery, we have always charged up to 100%, though we've typically never let the car get below 20% SOC. However, to keep the car from sitting at a full SOC for a long period of time we have always utilized the awesome "End Timer" feature built into the car. We would set it to end charging 15-20 minutes prior to our normal week-day departure for work (the wife/I commute together). Even on the weekends we would leave the end-time the same time, so 2-days a week it would often sit for 3-4 hours at 100% SOC. Perhaps having a heated garage has also helped the battery survive so well.
But TO THE POINT.... there is obviously not "end charger" option for the Tesla. Our recently acquired 2014 Model S 85 RWD will probably become our more common trip car (so we're going to set the Nissan to the optional 80% max SOC to preserve that battery). My issue/concern/question comes from how I should charge the Tesla. I'm not a n00b, so I am fully aware that I can set the car from 50-100% and I'll have to figure out what the best option there might be-- and just deal with it from there. But what about long trips?
Tomorrow is our first distance-trip in the car (we're going ~140 miles away -- we will use Tesla HPWC available at a parking garage for a few hours to refill before return trip). I'm plugged in now to be ready for tomorrow, and due to the distance and other running around we may do I'm going to set to 100% SOC. However, ideally I'd like the charging to end at 8:30 AM (our rough departure time). What I did this time around was-- (1) plugged the charger in, saw how long it estimated it would take to charge (3hr 25min) then (2) did some math and added a 30-minute (rounding up to 4-hours as a safety number to make sure it would be done in time).. then (3) set it to STOP charging for right now... and finally (4) set it to start charging 4-hours prior our departure time (around 4:30 AM).
That seems the only way to achieve the goal of having the car not spend too long at 100% SOC.
Am I correct that, at the current moment, this is both ideal, and the only way to achieve this goal? What do the rest of you do? Do you simply plug in the night before a trip at bed time, set it to 100% SOC, and just deal with the fact it will sit there for potentially 5-6 hours at 100%? Or are there other tricks I'm not aware of? Also, it appears you can set charge limits from the phone but not a delayed start time, that is a bummer!
TIA for any pointers ... I'm not new to EVs, but I'm definitely still getting acquainted with the differences/nuances of the Tesla vs our 20,000+ miles on our Nissan Leaf. Looking forward to my seat-time tomorrow!
PS: Simply for reference... my charger is a 40A Leviton EVB40-PST that charges ~30/mph (238v 40a). We upgraded from an older 30A unit (details on that HERE)
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