Battery Health

Battery capacity and maximum range decrease with usage. The Battery Health feature helps you visualize and track this effect.

You can see your battery health by going to Battery > Health in the app or Battery Health on tessie.com.

How does it work?

Batteries are difficult to measure due to their ever-changing chemical composition. Tessie takes many measurements over time — every time you charge 5 kWh or more — to accurately calculate the state of your battery.

Why is the usable capacity less than I expect?

Batteries have an unusable buffer (typically between 3-5 kWh) to protect the battery. For example, if you buy a Tesla with a 60 kWh battery, the usable capacity may be around 57 kWh.

If degradation is high, your capacity is below average or you've lost significant max range

While every battery is different — some will naturally be below average — your Tesla's battery management system (BMS) may need to be calibrated. You can teach it how much energy is in the battery by doing the following:

Let the battery fall below 10%.
Leave it there for at least an hour.
Charge the battery beyond 100% — that is, charge to 100%, but keep going until the car is no longer adding any energy from the charger. This may take quite awhile after reaching 100%.

With any luck, you'll see your range and capacity increase! You can repeat this process a few times until you've maximized your range and the battery is calibrated.

How can I minimize degradation?

For most vehicles, the single most meaningful thing you can do to optimize your battery (and your maximum range) is to not let your Tesla remain at 100% charge. When the battery remains at capacity, it accelerates degradation. Set your charge limit to 90% for daily use, and charge to 100% when needed.

Some vehicles are equipped with a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery that should regularly be charged to 100%. Set your charge limit to 100% for daily use, and charge to 100% at least once per week. If your vehicle has been parked for longer than a week, charge to 100% at your earliest convenience.

You can determine if your vehicle has an LFP battery by opening the charging screen in the car and pressing Set Limit. If the image of the battery displays "50%" and "100%" then your vehicle is equipped with an LFP battery. If the image displays “Daily” and “Trip” instead, then your vehicle is not equipped with an LFP battery.

What degradation is normal?

Maximum capacity starts to decrease immediately, and tends to stabilize around a 10% loss. Some batteries degrade slowly and level off around 100,000 mi or 150,000 km, but others may degrade and level off much more quickly.

Why was there a sudden change in max range?

Range readings are occasionally changed via software updates. This is the most common cause.

This can also happen if a vehicle has a configuration change that affects range, like changing wheel sizes.

How is battery capacity and max range measured?

Max range is the range value displayed in your vehicle if it was charged to 100%.

Battery capacity is the "energy added" value displayed in your vehicle if you were to charge it from 0% to 100%.

Tessie continuously extrapolates these data points to monitor for changes in your battery.