Motorway driving settings - including Tesla charging over 80%

[MGCamb]

Off to Scotland tomorrow so first time 'commercial' charging for our Trophy.
First question is do I just press Economy on as many buttons as possible (weather not too hot or cold and no planned heavy breathing activities with the wife) or any other tips for motorway driving?
Plan to sit at 70 so stopping at Wetherby Gridserve(130 miles) will charge 40ish to 80% then the Tesla Supercharger in Northumberland (another 130 miles) from 20% ish to 100% if possible. Is it worth pushing the charger past 80 as I am not going past Edinburgh so a full charge would allow me to not charge in Scotland if driving more conservatively but not if the Tesla charge speed drops off a cliff. Has anyone used a Tesla Supercharger at over 80% and how did it perform?

 

[Steve class of 69]

I have just returned from a French motorway and country road trip in my trophy.
I always put the drive mode to eco and turn off LKA. Motorway driving at 65 70 will drop you to 3.5, 3.6 m/kW.
It's the car battery management that determines the charge rate depending on lots of different conditions ie temperature etc.
My experience is if you have time and need the extra milage leave it charging, you will see the charge rate going up and down even after 80%.

 

[Rolfe]

I think it depends on how much of a hurry you're in and whether there are other people waiting. I stopped at an Instavolt at Greenlands Farm on my way south last week, and the service at the restaurant was really slow. It was a nice day and they were mobbed. I had intended to stay 45 minutes but in the end it was over an hour and a quarter before I got back to the car. I hadn't seen anyone hanging around as if they wanted to charge, so I just left it, and was on 97% before I got going. I hadn't intended to do it, but having that extra bit of charge turned out to be really handy at the end of my journey.

As regards how profligate one can be with charge, on my way back I charged on the Gridserves at Burton-in-Kendal with enough to get me home. I set off with the ACC set to 80 mph and was doing 2 to 2.5 miles/KWh all the way up the motorway. It would have been even worse if there hadn't been a couple of roadworks sections at 50 mph. The saving grace was that once past the Wells of Tweed on the A701 the next 20 miles or so were essentially a free run - downhill on a road where you can't realistically go more than 40-50 mph. I got home on 9% charge with a nominal 18-mile range.

Yes it was extravagant, but boy can this car go.

 

[Jomarkh]

Off to Scotland tomorrow so first time 'commercial' charging for our Trophy.
First question is do I just press Economy on as many buttons as possible (weather not too hot or cold and no planned heavy breathing activities with the wife) or any other tips for motorway driving?
Plan to sit at 70 so stopping at Wetherby Gridserve(130 miles) will charge 40ish to 80% then the Tesla Supercharger in Northumberland (another 130 miles) from 20% ish to 100% if possible. Is it worth pushing the charger past 80 as I am not going past Edinburgh so a full charge would allow me to not charge in Scotland if driving more conservatively but not if the Tesla charge speed drops off a cliff. Has anyone used a Tesla Supercharger at over 80% and how did it perform?

Hi, I recently went to Scotland and did more stops than planned due to lower m/kWh due to speed near 70mph. It is quicker to stop more often and go to 80-85% as that's when the charge rate drops.
Do you have a CPS RFID card and/or app as they are a bit cheaper ?

 

[PeteC]

Off to Scotland tomorrow so first time 'commercial' charging for our Trophy.
First question is do I just press Economy on as many buttons as possible (weather not too hot or cold and no planned heavy breathing activities with the wife) or any other tips for motorway driving?
Plan to sit at 70 so stopping at Wetherby Gridserve(130 miles) will charge 40ish to 80% then the Tesla Supercharger in Northumberland (another 130 miles) from 20% ish to 100% if possible. Is it worth pushing the charger past 80 as I am not going past Edinburgh so a full charge would allow me to not charge in Scotland if driving more conservatively but not if the Tesla charge speed drops off a cliff. Has anyone used a Tesla Supercharger at over 80% and how did it perform?

If that's the Tesla charger at Purdy Lodge Adderstone then I've used the same two stops on my way up to Scotland. I usually charge to around 90% at Wetherby simply because we can't go to the loo and get a drink and snack dealt with before that's where the charge has got to. The Tesla charger is also very quick. We usually have a meal at that stop and again the charge has usually got up to around 95% by the time we've eaten. The car is still taking well over 50kW at 80% and although the charge rate does slow down noticeably from the mid to high 80s, it's not to the extent where it's creeping really slowly. I've never ventured beyond 95% so don't know what happens in the last bit.

Have a good trip!

Edit: Just realised this post may be a bit late for you! Also, should have mentioned that we have a Trophy.

 

[Rolfe]

Even the SR isn't completely wasting its time over 90%. It all depends on whether you're in a rush to get away or whether you know you can use the charge later on and it's worth hanging on a bit longer.

At Burton-in-Kendal I went out to check the charger (my phone was broken) and it was on 87%. I went back into the food court and read for a bit longer until it had got to 94% and I knew I had enough to get home even going like the clappers, rather than have to make another stop at maybe Gretna and faff around again getting connected.

 

[Yandards]

Had about 20 miles per 10% battery on my Trophy on a recent run from Oxfordshire up to Elgin way, 3 people and a boot full of luggage.

Bit worse on the way back as it was raining so extra drag to overcome on the tyres.

Recommend avoiding motorway service chargers from 11-1400 as they get really busy and it's often chaos due to the poor design/layout of charging areas.

If you can find chargers that are a little bit off the motorway and don't offer much in the way of services its more likely people will wait with the car whilst it charges.

Scotland's actually got a good density of rapid chargers versus population - chargeplace Scotland app is worth getting hold of.

 

[Tigger]

Has anyone used a Tesla Supercharger at over 80% and how did it perform?

My experience charging my son's Tesla at a Supercharger is that the rate of charge starts dropping at 50%, and keeps on dropping thereafter. However, I understand that this drop off is controlled by the car, not by the Supercharger, so expect the MG to be different.

Please let us know what rate of drop off you experience!

 

[AlAcrity]

I had a pretty solid 135-140KWh up to around 80% and then c. 50-60KWh between 80-90, but not been above that. I don’t use a lot of public chargers, but when I do I go Tesla if I can, they just work, and the cost is substantially cheaper than other public charging.

 

[Tigger]

I had a pretty solid 135-140KWh up to around 80%

Yes, i got something similar the only time I tried charging the Trophy at a Tesla Supercharger (Ruxley, Sidcup). It was so quick, I hardly had time to check the rate of charge, before it got o 80% and I started getting nannying notices telling me to move my car, to free the space for other vehicles. I had to rush my coffee!

So why does the Tesla Model 3 throttle the rate iof charge well before 80% is reached? I have been told this is to extend battery life, but who knows? Assuming that Tesla know what they are doing, should we be throttling the charge down to say 80kw once we get past 60%? (Using the option on the charge screen.)

Do any experts on battery chemistry have a view on this?

 

[Captain]

I've been almost exclusively fast charging the last few weeks...if you arrive with 10-20% you get a steady 135/140 till 50% then it halves till you reach 80%
After that it slows a lot...! so much that the last 10% can take as long as the first 80%...

You are better off making a few more stops in the 20/80% band and don't be worried when at 21% and again at 11% she tells you to charge as soon as possible...

I rolled into a Tesla charger in France with 3% at 2am I don't suffer from range anxiety

ps I never drive in eco...if you want to save some power just drop your speed by 10 mph until you are happy you will make it then floor it

I had a pretty solid 135-140KWh up to around 80% and then c. 50-60KWh between 80-90, but not been above that. I don’t use a lot of public chargers, but when I do I go Tesla if I can, they just work, and the cost is substantially cheaper than other public charging.

I've never seen these figures
Mine drops like clockwork as soon as it reaches 50%..
The most I've seen above 80% is about 35kwh then 7.....

 

[PeteC]

I've been almost exclusively fast charging the last few weeks...if you arrive with 10-20% you get a steady 135/140 till 50% then it halves till you reach 80%
After that it slows a lot...! so much that the last 10% can take as long as the first 80%...

You are better off making a few more stops in the 20/80% band and don't be worried when at 21% and again at 11% she tells you to charge as soon as possible...

I rolled into a Tesla charger in France with 3% at 2am I don't suffer from range anxiety

ps I never drive in eco...if you want to save some power just drop your speed by 10 mph until you are happy you will make it then floor it


I've never seen these figures
Mine drops like clockwork as soon as it reaches 50%..
The most I've seen above 80% is about 35kwh then 7.....

Mine is definitely higher than 50kW at 80% too.

 

[tsedge]

Mine too. On Tesla chargers on long journeys I have often changed to 95% from a low figure in 30 minutes or so.

 

[Captain]

Mine is definitely higher than 50kW at 80% too.

I meant reduces by 50% ie 75kwh

 

[PeteC]

I meant reduces by 50% ie 75kwh

Ah, ok. I was responding to your bit that says 'The most I've seen above 80% is about 35kwh then 7.....'

 

[MGCamb]

Well back home again:
Wetherby - 130 miles arrived with 30+%. Having used many a charger this must be the easiest - just plug in, use your touchless phone or card and it fired off 130 + - really impressed by the time we had walked the dog, abluted and talked to the next car. Checked and it was at 90 so all done within a short very acceptable timeframe (not sure of speed but vg and again was surprised to see it at 90 - didn't want to dabble with too many settings as more intent on speed). Next onto the Tesla Supercharger in Northumberland. My phone had run out of data so had to wait for wife to download app, change password, unit had no number on it and the instruction QR was hidden by tape holding the box together. Once we had got ourselves sorted things were easy and soon chugging away above 100. By the time we hit just over 80% speed dropped to 35% - moved on to Scotland so would need to charge there. Made Edinburgh by 12 so 7 hours which is good going on the east coast with 45% left (Edinburgh by pass horrendous).
Next day easiest option was to use BP Pulse chargers as had card from previous job and some money on my BP rewards, near Forth Bridges. Both out of action and decided I didn't want to phone them and pay 80p per unit. Searched for chargers on route so found a Charge Place Scotland charger at 60p in Tranent. Car had dropped down to 18 by arrival charging at 50. Gave us time to visit local Asda and buy something better than motorway food. Back down to Tesla and this time it was not playing but managed to get going after 5 minutes - we were in 3rd slot of 6 and by the time we had finished (only 20 min or so) there were 4 cars waiting. Took it to 85% for some slack.
On the way to Wetherby, I showed the wife how to use the App to schedule a charge - of course that reset the max charge to 80 and we did not realise that when it hit 80% later the charging would stop. Only issue with Wetherby was 10 of the 12 fast chargers were busy and the one we chose was broken but it quickly came up with a warning that the matter had been reported. Cars both sides then left. Again the simplicity of plugging in and waving your card; quick turnover and number of charges make the charges bearable if going long distance. Duly stopped at 80 which got us home with some slow moving traffic helping our performance.
Certainly happy with Wetherby but the A1 past Scotch Corner always is slowed round Newcastle then sporadic dual carriageway and the dreaded Edinburgh by pass means that I will look towards the west coast via A66, M6 and M74 - something 100+ - (although 50+ would do if taking lunch) somewhere between 130- 150 miles further on .
Tallking to people at the chargers:
2008 owner -poor woman was wanting her Kuga back as she was doing a tour down south and realised she would need 4 or 5 charges which her Kuga could do in 1. DId not budge until she hit 100%
Tesla owner - said he liked the blue colour - his was white, he was laughing and telling me the standard colour on his model was now grey.
Jag owner at Wetherby was uncertain of the download speed I showed him mine at 134 and he said he had been looking in the wrong place - he returned to his car and I asked him what his speed was 'Jags do not go over 100'.
Car drove well although some poor roads were making it unhappy (minor undulations)
ACC - certainly is not VAG standard so you have to read manual to see where it will react poorly.
Traffic Jam control had the car rolling back when on a hill and in D - need to read up on that as well.
One pedal - I find that in town (as opposed to city) that I do not need this as some creep suits and one pedal is too abrupt so was surprised that a Waze cross country detour gave me a chance to use one pedal and it was very effective bringing the speed down for corners to let the rear wheel drive kick you through from the apex- nice - now like.
Overall very happy with the comfort and behaviour of the car. Think I would be hacked off as a Tesla owner with other makes of car charging at their superchargers.

 

[Rolfe]

Ah. You met the A720. My condolences.

 

[MGCamb]

Ah. You met the A720. My condolences.

I remember 40 years ago thinking it was absurd to have the A1 go through Princes Street. I do not have the pleasure of travelling the A720 often but there is a blockage more times than there isn't

 

[Rolfe]

I used to work only a handful of miles south of the A720. Since I lived south of work it wasn't something that impacted on me every day, but I had a colleague who lived in Livingston who had to come round it from the Hermiston junction to Lothianburn every day, and some mornings her language was particularly choice. If I wanted to go to Glasgow after work I had to do the same stretch. All I can say is, it was often the least of my worries, the M8 driving west from the A720 to Livingston was often absolutely intolerable.