Making the switch to an electric car removes so much of the maintenance and worries that you have to deal with in combustion engine vehicles. No oil changes, etc. But, there are several things that you must do differently as a new electric car owner that can be considered maintenance. One of the most important things you can do to prolong the life of your Tesla is to treat the battery as best as possible and follow Tesla’s charging recommendations. I had some big questions about charging my car as a new owner to an electric car. After my research, this is what I have learned.
Should I be leaving my Tesla plugged in all the time?
You should leave your Tesla plugged in whenever possible. Whether it is overnight or for several weeks while you are away, it is recommended to leave the Tesla plugged in to keep the car system functioning properly.
Tesla recommends that you plug your car in whenever possible.
No need to be overly strict or concerned but..
Leaving the car for a day or several days at a time without being plugged in but plugged in is better than not whenever possible. There are a few reasons you want to leave the car plugged in that you may not already know about so read on to find out!
Leave Tesla Plugged In Overnight
Is it okay to leave my Telsa plugged in overnight even after it is charged?
It is recommended to leave the Tesla plugged in overnight even if it reaches full charge. The car will stop charging once it reaches the programmed charge limit and will not overcharge. There are some benefits to leaving the car plugged in such as being able to use wall power to preheat the car before leaving.
You should leave your Tesla plugged in overnight whenever possible. Plugging the car in and leaving it overnight is the recommended way to charge a Tesla. Leaving the car plugged in will ensure that the cars’ systems are operating properly and will ensure that the battery will not drain too low.
Tesla recommends plugging in the car daily and indicates it is never harmful to leave the car plugged in.
Tesla has designed the car to be able to be left plugged in and will do everything else such as maintain the battery, prevent overcharging, etc.
One thing you must do as a Tesla owner is determine and set the maximum charge capacity. It is not recommended to charge the battery to 100% often, so a regular max capacity setting should be between 80-90%. Ideally the battery level should be maintained between 20%-80% at all times with few exceptions so a maximum charge capacity of 80% is recommended but some drive their car more during the day than others.
If you use your car only to commute back and forth to work then obviously you are able to go several days without charging.
This can be a benefit if you are driving a Model 3 to help reduce battery range loss. Read on a bit more for the link to that article.
Otherwise, even if you are only driving a few miles a day, it is recommended to keep your Tesla plugged in when possible. Just set the maximum charge a bit lower if you are concerned of keeping the battery charged too high. A maximum charge level of 80% is conservative and reasonable and will prolong the life of your battery as long as possible.
Charge Tesla Overnight
If you opt to plug in your Tesla every evening when home from work – like many do – you should know that it is possible to schedule a start time for your car to begin charging. This can drastically reduce the expense of charging your vehicle by scheduling the charge during “off-peak hours”
Off peak hours are times during the night that less people are using electricity so the cost is reduced. This is generally between 10pm-6am but will vary depending on your county.
Scheduling charge time for off hours electric charging is easily done from your Tesla app. While you are setting the maximum charge level, select the start time to begin charging at 10 or 11pm!
Leave Tesla Plugged in for Weeks While Away
Going away for several weeks or even months can cause you to worry about your beautiful Tesla and what is the best way to leave Tesla when going away for a long time?
Is there any risk leaving my Tesla plugged in for long periods of time?
There is no risk to leaving a Tesla plugged in for long periods of time. In fact it is recommended to leave the Tesla plugged in especially if the car is going to be parked for a long period of time. This not only charges the car but keeps key systems within the car functioning properly.
By leaving the car plugged in, the power from your house will be able to allow all of the car systems to operate properly and you will not have to worry about vampire drain eventually depleting the battery entirely.
Even if your charger is outdoors, if you are going to be away from the car for a long period of time it is better to leave the car plugged in than to allow the car to drain to critically low battery levels.
It is not NECESSARY to leave the car plugged in, just recommended. So, if you are going to be leaving your car somewhere while on vacation, check out my article Going on Vacation – How to Properly Leave Tesla
What Happens When Tesla is Left Plugged In
When a Tesla is left plugged in, it will charge right away unless a scheduled time has been programmed for the car to charge at certain times. From that time on, the Tesla will keep a trickle charger on the battery maintaining the predetermined max battery level.
It is not recommended to set the max battery level to 100% to reduce battery degredation.
When a Tesla is plugged in it allows the car to use wall power for:
- Updates
- Pre-Heating and Pre-Cooling
- Monitoring the car
What should I set my battery charge level to when going away for a long period of time?
When leaving a tesla plugged in for more than a few days, set the maximum charge to around 50%. This is where lithium batteries are happiest and will best prolong the life of your car battery.
With regular use of the car, overnight charging of 80-90% is recommended with a much lower charge % recommended if the car is stored long term.
While the car is plugged in while you are away, you can check the status of your car any time by opening the app and when you do so the car will wake up but will use wall power. It will also use wall power for updates and to keep the car programs going. Such as sentry mode or whatever the car is set to run on.
Leaving the car plugged in eliminates the possibility of the car battery draining to 0% gradually while you are gone. On average Tesla batteries drain 1% per day just by sitting and without driving it or waking the car. Sentry mode and any similar modes will increase the vampire drain that daily depletes the battery capacity without doing anything.
As a general rule, plug your Tesla in if you are going to be away from the car for more than a couple weeks.
Sentry mode is not recommended to use if you leave the car unplugged for more than a couple weeks.
Worry of Tesla Overcharging
Quite a few Tesla owners have experienced what seems to be the car battery having a mind of it’s own.
Many have reported their car being set to a certain charge limit but the car charges to well above that point.
This brings up a valid concern which is that the car could potentially overcharge the battery and cause damage to the car battery. So is this a possibility? Could the Tesla overcharge while you are away because you left it plugged in?
A Tesla sill not overcharge if you leave it plugged in for a long period of time. Even with the common issue of a Tesla charging slightly higher than the set maximum charge, it will not continue to charge to the point of damaging the battery.
Tesla engineers have ensured that nothing like overcharging the battery is possible. This is done with the charger built into the car and many fail safes in place. Overcharging a Lithium battery is very dangerous and can result in a fire or explosion neither of which have happened to Tesla cars yet. So rest easy.
Now, you still may not like the fact that the car may decide to charge itself slightly higher than the programmed maximum charge level. Sometimes it seems that the cars have a mind of its own and just get a little bit thirsty. To avoid any issues or charging higher than you would like simply set the maximum charge level to below what you think is most comfortable and appropriate.
when leaving your car unattended plugged in for longer than a few weeks it is recommended to only charge the car up to about 50% for optimal storage eliminating most of the battery degradation that occurs when storing the car at a high or low capacity.
Generally it is best to keep your Tesla battery charge between 20%-80% and long term should be maintained at close to 50%.
Damage Caused by Leaving Tesla Plugged in
The Tesla battery management system is programmed to prevent the batteries from ever overcharging which is what would ever cause damage. The only concern you should be aware of when leaving your car plugged in is to not leave it charged to 100% for long days on end. Leaving the car charged at the extreme high and low capacities for more than a day or so is harmful to the life of the battery.
There are surge protectors and failsafes included that will prevent any damage from power surges or outages and the systems programmed in the car will ensure that the car charges properly.
There are no reported incidents of damage caused to a Tesla by leaving it plugged in
The only reason that I can recommend you do not plug the car in is if your Model 3 is experiencing range reduction. Lost range of the Tesla battery can be recovered by allowing the car to sit for several hours to take readings of the battery. It is best if the car can take readings at a variety of battery levels, but more on that in my other article, 5 Ways to Recover Tesla Model 3 Battery Range.
