Charge in Standard, Drive in Range

[dsm363]

Tesla's recommendations amount to best practices for drivers who want to apply minimal thought to the car's operation. Those who care to understand the principles at work can optimize.

I care to understand the principles at work to optimize the battery too. As wiztecy said, you then might want to keep the SOC at 50% as often as possible in that case. There are many small things you could do that might be nicer to the battery than charging and driving in standard mode as Tesla suggests but we're talking about some unknown, likely fraction of a percent difference over a few years. You're likely right that it may be nicer on the battery but I also bought the Roadster to have a little fun. You're welcome to charge in standard mode and drive in range mode but I'd rather have full power in the sports car I bought.

[strider]

Temperature is not the only factor in battery wear. There is also just plain use: charging and discharging. Fifty % less available power results in less overall battery use.

True, but you don't need to drive in range mode to do that. You can just be gentle with your right foot.

My point being that Tesla already does everything they can to balance performance and battery life. I would just charge and drive in standard and enjoy the power when you need/want it.

[bonnie1194]

The only time I drive in range mode is when I need to maximize miles on a road trip (like, say, to SoCal). And it helps a great deal. I've never matched the mileage using range with standard- because, yes, 'My name is Bonnie and I have a lead foot.'

[Doug_G]

A while back I ended up getting into the "reserve" charge range, where the Roadster no longer predicts the distance available. I wasn't too worried because I was just a few kilometers from my destination. But afterwards I noticed it affected the battery balance. It took almost two weeks for the standard mode range to return to normal. That said there appeared to be no lasting effect.

[wiztecy]

Good information Doug, I also read from a Tesla note in this forum as well was to fully charge in standard couple of times to get the battery back into balance:

"Just remember that the car does benefit from being allowed to sit fully charged in Standard mode, and should be allowed to do so frequently, especially if being used on a daily basis. Leaving the car plugged in in Standard mode after it is done charging will initiate this balancing program automatically. This doesn’t take much time, 30 minutes or so should do. It may take several of these balancing cycles to bring the car back to a balanced state if it has become imbalanced, which is something that a lack of regular Standard mode top ups and subsequent balancing cycles can induce."

Tesla Roadster Battery Care