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How Tesla batteries slow their own charging to prevent damage
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Your Tesla can charge at around 250 kW when the battery is nearly empty and drop as low as 15 kW when it's nearly full, on the exact same charger. The car slows itself down on purpose, because if it kept pushing, it would start turning part of your battery into solid metal. Elon's parking lot comparison is closer to literal than it sounds. The negative side of the battery is made of graphite, which is basically stacked sheets of carbon, and charging means shoving lithium in between those…
@6d ago
Elon Musk explains why charging your EV to 100% on a road trip is a mistake: On a road trip, your instinct is to fill the battery all the way up. That's how you'd treat a gas tank. But a battery doesn't work like a gas tank. Charge to about 80%. Drive it down to 10% or less. Repeat. This is just for long trips, when you want to spend as little time at the charger as possible. Elon: "Getting from 80 to 100, it takes about as much time as getting from 0 to 80." The reason is what's happening inside the battery. Lithium ions travel from one side to the other, looking for a place to settle. Think of them as cars hunting for a parking spot. When the lot is empty, they zip right in. As it fills up, they have to circle around, like at a packed mall. So the closer the battery gets to full, the slower it charges. The last few spots take the longest to find. https://t.co/a01e6cVSRq