Study finds that using Superchargers frequently doesn't cause a significant difference on battery life
Recurrent
It has long been believed in the industry that frequent DC fast charging for your Tesla or any EV is terrible for battery longevity. However, a new report from Recurrent, which analyzed data from over 12,500 Tesla vehicles in the US, clearly shows little to no difference in battery degradation between frequent and rare fast charging.
Recurrent studied fast charging on thousands of Tesla vehicles in the US to learn if the software and safety mechanisms in the battery management system (BMS) prevent damage to the battery. With Labor Day travel coming up, this is the perfect time to share what is fact and fiction when it comes to fast charging.
The Recurrent Study: A Comprehensive Analysis
Your electric vehicle battery uses direct current (DC) power. However, the electricity from the grid (or from an outlet) is alternating current (AC). In-home charging, which is AC charging, the car’s onboard charger converts the AC electricity to DC and then sends it to the battery. The onboard charger has a built-in limit on how quickly it can do this. The maximum speed is usually around 11 kW, so AC charging can generally add 20-40 miles per hour, depending on the vehicle.
On the other hand, DC charging happens when the conversion to DC energy happens outside of the car. This is almost exclusively reserved for public charging stations and Tesla Superchargers. Since the electricity going into the car bypasses the onboard converter, it can refill the battery much faster. One of the biggest concerns with fast charging is that it can, theoretically, damage the battery by pushing too much energy into the battery too quickly. This would lead to irreparable, long-term range loss.
Key Findings: No Significant Impact on Battery Degradation
Will fast charging hurt my EV battery? The short answer is that occasional fast charging is fine. The study compared cars that fast charge at least 90% of the time to cars that fast charge less than 10% of the time. In other words, people who almost exclusively fast charge their car and people who rarely fast charge.
The results show no statistically significant difference in range degradation between Teslas that fast charge more than 90% of the time and those that fast charge less than 10% of the time.
Initial analysis by the team at Recurrent suggests that the study findings can be applied across Tesla models and other EV manufacturers. However, detailed research is being conducted on other popular vehicles Recurrent supports. In short, the robust thermal, voltage, and battery management systems that EV makers have invested in protect their batteries from damage with routine fast charger use.
Tesla specifically does an excellent job regulating power to and from the battery based on the temperature of the battery pack, its state of charge (charge percentage), and other environmental factors such as external temperature.
When Fast Charging Can Cause Damage
When is fast charging more likely to cause damage? There are several times when fast charging may impact your EV battery more. Avoid fast charging in extreme heat without preconditioning your battery. Preconditioning is when the car’s thermal management system pre-cools or heats the battery to accept a higher charge rate.
Typically, the battery will be preconditioned if you set your car’s navigation to a fast charge station. Similarly, precondition the battery before fast charging in extreme cold. Driving a bit before fast charging is often enough to warm up the battery or get to the fast charger using your car’s navigation. Avoid fast charging your EV at very low states or very high states of charge since battery resistance will be higher.
Overall, this study adds to the growing body of knowledge regarding EV battery longevity and charging practices. Nonetheless, being mindful of battery health during extreme temperatures is still encouraged.
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest Tesla news, upcoming features and software updates.
Tesla software update 2024.44.3 has started rolling out to customers in larger waves recently and it brings several new features - including Actually Smart Summon to Europe and the Middle East, as well as improvements to Autopark. But that’s not all, it also adds a new Blind Spot Monitoring feature to the new Model 3, and potentially the Cybertruck, but that’s still to be determined.
We previously covered the Blind Spot Warning While Parked as part of our preview notes for update 2024.44, but now that it's going out to customers, it's time to see it in action.
If the vehicle’s door open button is pressed, and a vehicle or object is near or incoming, the vehicle’s Blind Spot Warning Light (2024 Model 3 and Cybertruck) will illuminate, an audible tone will ring and the door won’t open. A message will also be displayed on the center displaying, letting driver’s know why the door didn’t open.
Pressing the button a second time will allow you to override the warning and open the door normally, providing a way to get out in case you just parked close to a nearby vehicle or obstacle.
The object detection for this new feature includes cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and other objects - like things including traffic cones, bollards, strollers, and other large obstacles that FSD and vision-based Autopark detect during normal operation. Of note - this only works for the front two doors. Thanks to X user Max, who did some testing for us, It does not work for the rear passenger doors.
Optional Feature
The feature is optional - it’ll be enabled by default for safety, but if you need to enable or disable it, you can do so under Controls > Safety. For now, the feature is only available on the 2024 Model 3, but we expect it to roll out to the Cybertruck at least. However, there’s no reason why it can’t be added to other vehicles as well, minus the small red dot. We expect Tesla to eventually add this feature to all Tesla vehicles, but it’s currently not a part of update 2024.44.
Enhauto’s S3XY Buttons & Commander
If that’s not enough safety and vision for you, Enhauto, the makers of the popular S3XY Buttons and Commander recently put out a new software update for the 2024 Model 3, which makes some fantastic use of the ambient lighting.
With Enhauto’s solution, users are able to tie their ambient lights to Autopilot use, turn signals or even if a vehicle is their blind spot. Check out the video below for this awesome implementation, where the ambient lights turn red when another vehicle approaches.
Maybe Tesla will integrate something like this into a future update? We’ve been hoping for more customizability with their ambient lighting - it's an easy safety win and a demonstration of Tesla’s do-more-with-less attitude.
I look forward to @enhauto updates more than Tesla...
Ambient light effects....
I set default color to white. Blinks green on turn signals Turns blue on FSD activation Yellow if someone in blind spot Blinks red if turn signal on and blind spot activity detected.
The feature is now possible thanks to what Wes Morrill, Cybertruck’s lead engineering, points out is a huge rewrite of Tesla’s Trip Planner, which not only makes it much more accurate but will now allow users to choose their arrival charge percentage.
More Accurate Trip Planner
When you navigate to a destination, your Tesla will automatically calculate when, where, and how much you need to charge. While the process seems straightforward, Tesla deserves a lot of credit for creating a simple user experience because a lot goes into accurately determining this information.
Tesla has to calculate many moving pieces in order to accurately predict when and where you should stop. First, it needs to consider your driving efficiency and wind direction, terrain elevation, traffic, vehicle speed, and ambient temperature. It also needs to predict the best Superchargers to stop at, taking into account congestion and charger speed.
This morning, in response to Dan Burkland, Wes shared that Tesla had significantly rewritten the backend portion of Trip Planner. These improvements, made by several engineers, were designed to improve Trip Planner’s accuracy and open the door to future features.
It sounds like these changes are mostly server-side, so thanks to their OTA connection, more accurate predictions should be available to all vehicles—no vehicle update is required.
Arrival State of Charge
Along with Tesla’s improvements to Trip Planner, Wes also stated that these improvements allow for a popular feature request — the ability to select your desired charge level at arrival.
Up until now, Tesla’s Trip Planner tried to get you to your destination as quickly as possible, which usually meant arriving with a low state of charge.
While this was fine if you have a charger at your destination, it’s not great if you don’t, or it could be even worse if there are no chargers nearby.
Max de Zegher said on X that he has heard the requests for a selectable arrival state of charge. Wes later clarified this by saying that these improvements to Tesla’s Trip Planner now allow for additional features to be added, such as “desired arrival charge.”
Actually trip planner got a huge rewrite on the back end. I had a great conversation with one of the engineers working on this over a morning run a few weeks back, it's pretty neat. The rewrite also unlocks additional features, like desired arrival charge.
Given that Max de Zegher’s comments came last night and Wes Morrill commented this morning, this feature request likely won’t arrive with the upcoming Holiday Update. Tesla actually hinted at such a feature being added in their last app update, so it does seem like they’ve already planned for it.
Although ‘Arrival State of Charge’ was on our wishlist for the Holiday Update, it looks like it may arrive soon after the holidays.
![First Look at Tesla’s New 'Blind Spot While Parked' Feature [VIDEO]](https://www.notateslaapp.com/img/containers/article_images/model-3-2024/blind-spot-indicator-monitor.jpg/4cdcb11af7b1c7cf021ba96588fd4f1a/blind-spot-indicator-monitor.jpg)
