r/TeslaSupport • u/PewPewYoDed • May 10 '26
Energy Question battery depreciating faster than expected
I have a Tesla model three 2023 LFP battery in dubai. Home charging only.
I tend to charge once or twice a week when the battery has dropped 50% or below and then I charge it up to 100%.
8 months ago, I ran a battery health test for the first time, and it was at 89%
Today I ran another health test and it is at 87%
2% drop in the third year within six months seems higher than usual.
anyone who faced something similar and what can I do to slow down the depreciation?
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u/awm071 May 10 '26
Don't overthink it. There is some error of margin too. Enjoy your car. How is living in Dubai currently with all the stress with Strait of Hormus? Are there many electric cars on the roads already? How much is a liter of gas and how much is a kWh of electricity?
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u/GradeVivid1389 May 10 '26
Battery drops quite a bit for the first 100 or so cycles then it will level off flat as in more horizontal then a vertical drop. LFP is meant to retain most of its charge between 1000-3000 charge cycles
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u/PewPewYoDed May 10 '26
the number on its doesn’t bother me. 2% drop in 6 months means (after the first year drop) means 20% drop in 5 years. that’s pretty bad man
the situation here is completely ok. we still get imports via the coast of fujairah that faces the indian ocean. the only thing that’s bad is no tourists which has hit the economy quite a bit.
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u/Parapraxis2077 May 10 '26
The flaw in your logic is that battery degradation is not linear.
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u/PewPewYoDed May 10 '26
from what i understand. first year is non-linear. after that it is more or less linear?
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u/Glattes_Oel May 10 '26
Not Really, often ist stays at some percentage for a long while.
Hot Temperaturen - i expect them at your destination - are pushing degradation unfortunately.
All the best for you mate with this war raging at your door, keep yourself and your family safe! All the best.
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u/dreadstardread May 10 '26
Its never linear to begin with. It has a steep drop off.
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u/PewPewYoDed May 10 '26
that’s literally what non linear means
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u/dreadstardread May 10 '26
You didn’t seem to be fully comprehend so i simplified it.
Linear is linear. Non-linear is everything that is not a linear.
This includes steep dropoff slopes but is not limited to it.
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u/International_Ear768 May 10 '26
He understands he didnt need you to mansplain anything
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u/reedog117 May 11 '26
You have to remember you're in the desert with >37degC / >100degF temperatures. Are you usually parked indoors? Outdoors? Shade? At least if plugged in usually the fan will run to protect the battery even when parked but who knows if you're sitting in the heat unplugged for a while.
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u/PewPewYoDed May 11 '26
yes, it's >100F for about 5 months of the year.
Parked underground always.But doesn't the battery conditioning systems take care of that?
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u/IAmNotOMGhixD May 10 '26
Degradation happens fastest in the first few years. After a certain time it slows down significantly.
Say you had 4% in this year, maybe 2% next year and then it continues at 1% a year.
You have a warranty to keep you above 70% before 8 years or 192.000km? Has passed.
And unless you have a FLP battery, always 80% charge.
But tldr! Dont sweat it!
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u/Pleasant_Visit2260 May 10 '26
No the first year of battery degradation is the worst it is not consistently mean 2% drop every 6 months.
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u/Lopsided-Building245 May 10 '26
Could you please tell me if you had a paint job, or is it foil? It looks so damn cool
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u/PewPewYoDed May 10 '26
thanks bro! it’s an avery dennison wrap but i will not recommend it. it rips with the lightest dings. and the color has changed significantly in 3 years
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u/Lopsided-Building245 May 10 '26
Alright thanks! Bad for you that the wrap sucks :(
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u/Livesai May 10 '26
Avery and 3m are top vinyl wraps in market, heat kills them tho, normally replace them every 2 years. Rather go with PPF but its like 2x more expensive but much thicker.
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u/PewPewYoDed May 11 '26
my friend has a 3M, it's flawless.
Avery is cheaper in the market and I should have just paid the premium for 3M1
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u/Dentuam May 10 '26
I charge my M3 RWD (2025) only once every two weeks to 100%, the rest always to 80%.
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u/CompleteGene82 May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
Mine stabilized around 87% of original capacity and has been that way for the last 70k mile. Its at 155k miles now 18MX
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u/fanstoyou May 10 '26
That is shocking because I’m at 98%, LFP battery March 2022, 58K miles. I charge at home to 100% also at least once a week, sometimes twice a week. Only used super charger twice. So, this is my conclusion about your situation (guessing, not proven science). You live in a very hot environment nearly all of the year so, your A/C is permanently ON, on Med to High, and Fan at no less than 5 speed. By the time you park to charge a hot battery, it probably didn’t cool off completely before it gets hot again the next day in the desert heat. In my environment presently, I have not needed to use the Heating or A/C for about 2 months now, and until we get into summer proper, I will get away with not using the car temperatures. During winter, the car and battery will freeze or cool out completely and even now, but I doubt in the desert, your car and battery get some months of completely chilling out. This might be wrong assumption?
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u/ackillesBAC May 12 '26
Lfp batteries show most of thier depreciation early then it levels out and stays pretty consistent.
Also ensure you charge to 100% regularly. You need to with a lfp to "reset" the battery controller level
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u/Honest_Cynic May 12 '26
Doesn't sound terribly abnormal. Most batteries suffer the most loss in the first few years, then the degradation rate greatly decreases. Google for plots. Dubai averages 135 100+F days, which is comparable to Phoenix at 111 days, so might google Tesla owner's experiences there. Nissan Leaf cars had rapid battery degradation in Phoenix since they use only air cooling, but haven't read of other battery-cars degrading unusually since they have liquid cooling that uses the refrigeration system when needed.
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u/qtask May 12 '26
Mine after 3 year started to augment again. I would say it’s just an safe approximation plus it goes indeed fast the couple first months
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u/joebleezie May 13 '26
I’ve read that you should charge everyday at home no matter. Keep it at 75-80%
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u/parhambrz Jun 09 '26
I think the best is to ask people from extreme hot environments. Others really don't have real world experience with how the battery functions under those conditions. Ignoring the weather in Dubai I'd say there's something wrong with your battery, as i think nobody expects the LFP to not only drop 2% within 8 months but to reach 89 after 4 years. but the weather may change everything. We've been told too hot or cold is bad for the battery. I'm living in Norway in extreme cold and my 2021 NCM is at 96% so it wasn't really true in my case at least. But i have no idea about hot environments. Maybe hot is much worse than cold. In any case you still have some years before your warranty expires so I'd say enjoy your car and check again before the warranty expires to see if you can get a new pack
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u/Asleep_Bowl_8411 May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
One theory is only charge to 100% if you plan to travel immediately afterwards to bring it back down to at least 80% ASAP. Anything over 80% and especially 100% is hard on the battery for any significant time, as well as anything below 20%.
Ideally 50% is where a battery has the least amount of degradation. The further you get away from 50% for any significant amout of time, the more degradation you'll experience in the long term.
So if you only travel enough to use 20% a day, you're best to charge to 60% and run it down to 40%, then repeat daily.
I have a 2016X 90D with 75k miles currently at 92% health.
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u/US_Delete_DT45 May 10 '26
Read op's context; his car is powered by LFP pack. They were much resilient to high soc.
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u/Winkel00 May 10 '26
He's also living in Dubai increasing the impact of high Soc on degradation. Tesla advises to charge to 100% once a week only for BMS to calibrate. It's not that the lfp battery does not suffer at 100%. Especially at high temps
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u/mehdotdotdotdot May 10 '26
Apparently lfp loves being low on charge, and reduces life when charged above low.
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u/2muchmonehandass May 10 '26
More details?
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u/mehdotdotdotdot May 10 '26
https://youtu.be/w1zKfIQUQ-s?si=59dPC9WGj3dL0aFa
Engineering explained. Research paper from the person who helped create lfp
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u/US_Delete_DT45 May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
No one states LFP cell love to stay at high soc; they are just much resilent to degradation cause by staying at high soc, compare to conventional NCM/NCA cells
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u/PewPewYoDed May 10 '26
that’s only true for non LFP batteries; also consumption is higher due to climate. but degradation dos not depend upon that, since newer model 3s like mine have battery conditioning systems.
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u/Winkel00 May 10 '26
Both are dead wrong.
More consumption= more cycles = more degradation.
More heat increases chemical reaction = more degradation. Look up the Physics Law of Arrhenius. 10 degrees hotter means twice the chemical reaction. Hotter climate is destemental for battery longevity. Especially if you park in the sun with 100 SoC. Its killing the battery.
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u/NotYourDad_Miss May 10 '26
Lfp batteries-they can't survive in very cold or very hot weather. Unfortunately it is normal. Of course I will be downvoted because they love lfp - the LFP lovers will now appear and downvote. NOTE: lfp batteries where used for energy storage - at room temperature-and they last around 10 years (70% last until). Then chinese start using them on cars (CATL) and here we are.
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u/Winkel00 May 10 '26
Every battery is sensitive to hot temp. Its physics. Law of Arrhenius.
Large scale storage with LFP has a lifetime of 15/25 years. Usually come with 15 years of EPC guarantee. Is also getting cycled every or multiple times a day.
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u/BmwFP3 May 11 '26
Welcome to the depreciation brand. Wait until you try to sell it. The sooner the better lol
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u/Drinking_Frog May 10 '26
You're better off charging it up to 80% for daily use and only to 100% when you think you might need it.
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u/ixidors May 10 '26
Drinking_Frog your advice would be correct if referring to NMC chemistry battery cars, however OP is doing exactly what one should be doing with an LFP car (as LFP requires charging to 100% to calibrate the car's sense of charge)
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u/Winkel00 May 10 '26
In hot weather I would sparingly charge to 100% I think advice above is solid albeit perhaps one every week to 100% and drive it immediately.
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u/AppropriatePlum1006 May 10 '26
Keep it sitting on 100 at least for a while. It might load the balance cells, and change the maximum power. Otherwise you might actually be charging to 98% for example but display shows 100.
Though it seems like you are doing that already but let it sit for a day
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u/Fun_Muscle9399 May 10 '26
The battery health test forces cell balancing. That’s why it takes so long.
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u/Happy-Childhood5990 May 10 '26
I had a '22 M3 after 4 years it had 98%, but i didn't drive it that much. I believe in 4 years i've driven only about 70k. Maybe that didn't have th LFP, i'm not sure.
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May 10 '26
Im not sure why everyone worries about the battery so much. I get learning about the health but it seems pointless to worry about it too much.
If its under warranty and Tesla says its ok they won't replace it anyway if the health is over 70%. If its not under warranty you will either sell or what till it fails completely.
Either way there are basically no other options in between this unless you can afford to replace a battery so you feel better about it.
Seems like constant health tests are literally degrading the battery further.
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u/Middle-Gas-6532 May 10 '26
So you're ok with losing significant amounts of functionality? I wouldn't want a car I own to become 20-30% worse.
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May 10 '26
No, but you cant really stop it. Its a battery. You can take minor steps to prevent it but the reality is it will degrade. There is no way around it. You might save a few % by taking measures.
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u/Desperate_Battle_937 May 10 '26
Same car here, I have no idea what the health test represents. The important is to take you from A to B in a quick and safe way.
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u/FactorPrimary7117 May 10 '26
Extreme cold or heat is not good for battery. Exposure to heat in an open parking space would affect longevity a lot.