17 Opinions, Including Musk's About Recommended Charge Limit for Model S

Here is what Tesla CEO said about this in 2014 and what other current Tesla Model S owners say about their charging habits and recommend in Tesla Model S Owners group on Facebook. Each paragraph below is a separate opinion by a Model S owners.

A happy Tesla is a plugged in Tesla with the battery charge max set to 90% or less. Setting it lower if you can go without the extra range daily is better.

Keep plugged in every night, limit charging to 70-90% as suggested in the manual.

If it’s full 100 percent I would not charge it til you get below 80 percent . I keep mine around 20-80 percent.

If you're certain you won't need the range set it to ~60%.

You want to keep it around 60%, unless your driving happens require something more, then which up to 90% is still battery efficient. If you charge to 100% your putting an extra strain on the battery, just as if you waited till 5% to charge it.

it's better to adhere the manual, but the manual is only clear about the upper limit. It doesn't say much about the frequency of charging.

I plug mine in whenever I am home and it is in garage. Even when I run to the store that is 2 miles away and back. Charge limit set to 80%.

Best practices for charge upper and lower limits are subjective, based on the daily mileage or range needs of the driver. But the manuals clearly states to plug the car in whenever possible. There can be many things that happen involving battery conditioning Etc. Plus shorepower will be available should you decide to precondition the car. This really isn't rocket science you're way over thinking it. Tesla communicates very clearly that a plugged-in Tesla is a happy Tesla.

Yes, plug it in whenever possible. But set charge limits to coincide with your usage. If you can do 60% and you never drain it to 10% do that. But that is almost immeasurable difference from charging to 90% every day.

I schedule charging for the hour before I leave for work in the morning so the battery is warmed up when I leave the house. Without doing that I get very limited regen braking.

I have a short commute also. I set the charge limit to 75% and plug in most days, even if I don’t really need too. Best for battery health is not too low, not too high. 20-80% or 25-75%. Maybe even 30-70%.

I try to maintain the charge in my Tesla Model S between 50 and 90% except on long trips.

I don’t commute and I don’t charge every night. I do charge when I know I’ll be driving for a distance and I charge when it’s cold out. I have not had any problems either way.

I might be wrong but from my knowledge of battery technology, I don’t believe charging it to 100% will reduce battery life or set “extra strain” on your battery. I think the issue is two fold: first, it takes much longer to charge from 90% to 100% which is a really inefficient use of your time. Second, you will have no (or limited) regen capability which means you will need to amend your driving style and will increase the wear on your brakes.

For normal Lithium based battery, it's always the best to keep them in a little over 50%. 50%-60% is the best range. The reason Tesla suggest people to keep it between 60% to 90% is that it is still in the safe margin, yet, you always have enough energy to go on unplanned trips without the range anxiety. Even Elon himself suggested charging to 80% instead of 90% in his tweet.

@cairnz 80% to 30%— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2014

You should only charge to 90% or less on a regular basis and charge it in when not in use. This is Tesla’s recommendation.

Tesla told me to set my battery for everyday use to 80%. They also said to charge it everyday without hesitation because once it’s fully charged to limit you set it stops automatically. Hope this helps.

How do you plug your Tesla and how often? Please share with Torque News readers your charging habits in the comments section below. If you liked this article and think it may help your friends, consider sharing or tweeting it to your followers.