CHARGING THE BEAST ….11 stops in 1,000 miles trip from Dallas to Florida

[CTOWannabe]

Around town I agree, but long distance driving once on the highway, Super Cruise is good enough. My recent Texas to Mississippi trip was about 90% hands-free driving.

I find local driving with fsd is like having a local driver everywhere you go. It’s so stress free because even with navigation often it’s not clear what turn is the map referring to. Are you going to get into the correct lane on time. Etc etc. This is like having a personal driver instantly on demand everywhere. I do agree, highway drive tedium is eased

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[Granch]

I would like a routing option that would stop around every two hours plus/minus 15 minutes, and stop time 30 minutes, only Tesla superchargers. I have not found a simple way of getting that routed. Being able to feed the route planner some wishes (max miles, max time, min stop time) besides what is possible now would be helpful/appreciated.

not enough range to do that

 

[CyberGus]

not enough range to do that

You must drive uphill, both ways

 

[Granch]

You must drive uphill, both ways

Unless you charge to 80% it’s the truth.
50% soc is 1:30 around 100miles that’s optimal with the garbage charging curve.
On a 1k mile trip, options become limited.

 

[GmP]

Unless you charge to 80% it’s the truth.
50% soc is 1:30 around 100miles that’s optimal with the garbage charging curve.
On a 1k mile trip, options become limited.

20-80% is 60% is over 150 miles, two hours of 70-75 mph fit in there.
Why would I not charge to 80%? As mentioned, I like my breaks to be 30 minutes or so. I never have done long distance trips where the arrival time was very critical, and if there was, I just depart earlier. I also would never do a 1k mile trip in one “run”, there would be a sleep over in between.

I know these requirements are not for everyone, that is why is suggested to have it as “setable” options in the route planner.

Of course, YMMV.

 

[Granch]

20-80% is 60% is over 150 miles, two hours of 70-75 mph fit in there.
Why would I not charge to 80%? As mentioned, I like my breaks to be 30 minutes or so. I never have done long distance trips where the arrival time was very critical, and if there was, I just depart earlier. I also would never do a 1k mile trip in one “run”, there would be a sleep over in between.

I know these requirements are not for everyone, that is why is suggested to have it as “setable” options in the route planner.

Of course, YMMV.

Use Abrp app as select fewer stops and ya charge longer, some times charging stops fit in route and time other times nope, forced stop early or later do to charger gaps.
I have seen Tesla nav some times let you select different charging preference.
Also under 70mph will help you get longer between stops.

We straight shot 1100 miles so stopping and charging hurts our eta.

 

[HaulingAss]

Honestly I think Tesla is penny pinching and wants to reduce warranty claims & reliability vs charging speed they don’t care at all.

For most people charging speed is near the bottom of their list.

 

[DRKTruck]

Yeah my wife's Ioniq5 will maintain a 300kw charge till near 80%

I wonder how long that battery will last before degrading.

 

[LDRHAWKE]

20-80% is 60% is over 150 miles, two hours of 70-75 mph fit in there.
Why would I not charge to 80%? As mentioned, I like my breaks to be 30 minutes or so. I never have done long distance trips where the arrival time was very critical, and if there was, I just depart earlier. I also would never do a 1k mile trip in one “run”, there would be a sleep over in between.

I know these requirements are not for everyone, that is why is suggested to have it as “setable” options in the route planner.

Of course, YMMV.

I agree charging to 80% sometimes more convenient, but it does have drawbacks just like charging to 100%. If you really don’t need to, don’t do it it affects overall battery life. And I know both of us will never see the effects we were talking about because we are talking about hundreds of thousand miles…… but that said it is a fact. Just ask GROK

**The 10–50% charging habit (a shallow 40% depth-of-discharge in a low state-of-charge window) is estimated to extend lithium-ion battery lifespan by roughly 50–200% (i.e., 1.5× to 3× longer effective life) compared to routinely charging from 10–80% (a deeper ~70% DoD with more time at higher voltages).** This comes from general cycle-life data, voltage-stress patterns, and real-world modeling for common lithium-ion chemistries—though exact gains vary by battery type, temperature, and usage.

### Why the Big Difference? (Key Factors)
Lithium-ion degradation comes from two main sources:
- **Cycle aging** (from charging/discharging): Deeper swings stress the electrodes more.
- **Calendar aging** (time-based): High state-of-charge (SoC, especially >50–80%) and high voltage accelerate chemical side-reactions even when idle.

**10–50% pattern**:
- Shallow DoD (~40% per cycle).
- Spends most time at low-to-mid SoC (gentler voltage window).

**10–80% pattern**:
- Deeper DoD (~70% per cycle).
- More time at higher SoC/voltage (extra stress).

### Data-Backed Estimates
Approximate cycles to ~70–80% capacity (for typical NMC lithium-ion cells):

| Depth of Discharge (DoD) | Approx. Cycles |
|---------------------------|----------------|
| 10% DoD | ~6,000 |
| 20% DoD | ~2,000 |
| **40% DoD (10–50%)** | **~1,000** |
| 60% DoD | ~600 |
| 80% DoD | ~400 |
| ~70% DoD (10–80%) | ~450–500 |

→ **Cycle count advantage**: Roughly 2× more cycles for the 10–50% habit.
→ Total energy throughput (cycles × % used per cycle) is still higher for the shallow/low-SoC habit when factoring in reduced voltage stress.

Additional voltage/SoC effects:
- Limiting max voltage (equivalent to ~50–80% SoC limits) can double or triple cycles while still delivering usable energy.
- Operating mostly at 40% SoC vs. higher levels preserves far more capacity over time (e.g., significantly better retention after a year at room temperature).

### Real-World Caveats
- **Usable capacity trade-off**: 10–50% gives you only ~40% of the battery’s rated range per “fill-up,” so you’ll charge more often. The 10–80% gives ~70% usable—more convenient but costs longevity.
- **Chemistry matters**: Some batteries (like LFP) tolerate higher SoC better; common NMC/graphite types benefit more from the low-SoC strategy.
- **Other factors dominate**: Heat is the #1 killer—keep cool. Fast charging and very high loads add extra wear regardless.
- Modern devices often have built-in “optimized charging” that approximates the 20–80% sweet spot.

**Bottom line**: Always sticking to 10–50% is one of the gentlest habits for maximum years/miles before noticeable degradation (e.g., dropping to 80% original capacity). It’s overkill for most people (inconvenient range), but if longevity is your top priority, it wins.

 

[roadrunner32]

I do appreciate this thread and the graphs. During the up coming 1st road trip in the CT I'll be using the "Sorry sweetheart (of 58 yrs) I gotta go again" . Hopefully there will be a working over night charger of some sort at the hotel which will make a big difference.

 

[REM]

Yeah my wife's Ioniq5 will maintain a 300kw charge till near 80%

Wait a couple more years for that pack degradation to set in, and you'll understand why Tesla is more conservative on the charge rate lol

 

[REM]

I do appreciate this thread and the graphs. During the up coming 1st road trip in the CT I'll be using the "Sorry sweetheart (of 58 yrs) I gotta go again" . Hopefully there will be a working over night charger of some sort at the hotel which will make a big difference.

Take the guesswork out of it and find a hotel that definitely has charging: https://www.plugshare.com/

 

[Cyberham]

Wait a couple more years for that pack degradation to set in, and you'll understand why Tesla is more conservative on the charge rate lol

Not on my watch
I charge level 2 as often as possible etc hehe
We only ever hit 200 kw plus once anyways

 

[georgek43]

Around town I agree, but long distance driving once on the highway, Super Cruise is good enough. My recent Texas to Mississippi trip was about 90% hands-free driving.

I’m on my second Cybertruck, and previously owned a Cadillac Lyriq. I have literally years of experience in ‘self-drive’ EVs. In my experience, Tesla’s FSD is most useful overall because of assisted driving almost everywhere. But on the highway, I found super-cruise to be far superior to FSD due to better sensors (lidar) in poor weather and a much smoother ride. It just seems safer. In operation FSD13 was pretty similar to super-cruise on the highway because you could set the maximum speed by a scroll wheel. I‘m not a fan of ‘almost autonomous‘ FSD14 and its ’driving profiles’ because the AI determines your ‘best speed’ and doesn’t do it very well, always too slow or too fast- you cannot set a precise maximum speed like in FSD13 or Super-cruise.

My wife loved being a pasenger in the Lyriq when running on super-cruise. It was smooth, never jerky, never swerved for tire skid marks or phantom stop signs like FSD14, and accurately maintained lane centering, following distances and a safe speed. FSD14 is erratic even in ‘chill’ and ‘comfort’ modes. The Tesla systems are more versatile in that they will ‘self drive’ most everywhere, but they are far less comfortable for passengers than super-cruise. Not once did she ever ask me to turn off super-cuise, but when we ride together with FSD she regularly asks me to shut off FSD and drive the vehicle due to FSD driving characteristics.

My new 2026 came with FSD13 loaded, and I won’t update it voluntarily. it’s not as autonomous as FSD14, but it’s a far better assisted driving system- less erratic and overall much better for me than the newer version. You can set a maximum speed and it’s much more relaxing to ride and drive on FSD13 than FSD14, but still not anywhere near as smooth on the highways as super-cruise.

 

[vandytom]

The kicker is with FSD and true v4 SC, it’s nothing. enjoy the ride.

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