2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD With 82 kWh Battery: Charging Analysis

Today we will take a look at the most recent fast charging test of the 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Range (AWD) version, conducted by Bjørn Nyland at a V3 Supercharger (250 kW) in Europe.

This is the car recently range tested, which is supposedly equipped with a 82 kWh battery (Panasonic cells).

Additionally, the video shows a Performance version (but this session was noticeably slower, maybe because of older software), and an older 2019 Tesla Model 3 Long Range, which was the fastest charging version so far. The data comes from the ScanMyTesla app.

The main thing for us is to see how the 2021 compares to the 2019 version, as well as to other tests.

The shape of the charging curve is typical to Tesla, although the peak charging power of 249 kW is available only for a short while.

Charging from 20% to 80% SOC took about 31 minutes.

The chart below is only for illustrative purposes:

The average power in the very important range from 20% to 80% SOC is 94 kW, which is 38% of the peak value.

The peak C-rate* – charging power in relation to the total battery capacity of 82 kWh (estimated) – is about 3.0C.

The average C-rate when charging from 20% to 80% SOC is over 1.1C.

*C-rate tells us how the charging power relates to the battery pack capacity. For example: 1C is 1-hour charging power (current), when the power value in kW is equal to the battery pack capacity in kWh. 2C would be enough to recharge in half an hour.

The net battery capacity of 76.5 kWh (estimated) stands for about 93% of the total battery capacity.

The rate of range replenishing depends on the energy consumption and the energy consumption depends on the use case. Here we will focus on the WLTP test cycle.

• WLTP
  Taking into consideration the WLTP range of 614 km (382 miles) and available battery capacity of 76.5 kWh, we can assume energy consumption of 125 Wh/km (200 Wh/mile).
  The effective average speed of range replenishing when charging from 20% to 80% SOC would be 12.5 km/minute (7.8 miles/minute).

Comparisons with other EVs

Now, it’s time to compare the results to the other tests. We have a total of six examples:

Let’s start with the first three cars, tested by Bjørn Nyland. As we can see, the car from 2019 has the best charging curve, despite it having less battery capacity by a few kWh.

The 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Range holds the peak value much shorter, while the session for the Performance version appears to be a bit strange (we will leave it aside).

Here we have a comparison of all six cars (blue and yellow are Tom Moloughney’s tests), which also shows that the 2019 cars noted better results than 2021 (the peak value lasted up to almost 30% SOC).

The average charging power in the 20-80% SOC window, in the case of 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR tested by Bjørn Nyland are below 100 kW (Tom Moloughney noted 106 kW), while the older cars noted noticeably more than 100 kW (128 kW and 113 kW).

The interesting thing is that even at a CCS2 charging station (without exceeding 200 kW), the average was around 128 kW.

The 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Range (AWD) tested by needed some 31 minutes to go from 20% to 80% SOC, while the 2019 equivalent did it in just about 22 minutes. That’s a significant difference.

The peak C-rates at V2 Superchargers are similar between the packs.

The thing that is different is the average:

Finally, the range replenishing speed comparison. Because the new 2021 cars have a higher WLTP range, they can partially offset the lower charging power.

The three quickest one are the older cars (2019-2020):

The conclusion from the DC fast charging tests of Long Range Tesla Model 3 at V3 Superchargers is that the older cars – 2019-2020 – appear to have a better charging curve with a wider window of peak power.

Of course, a lot depends on a particular session, but that’s what we see from this particular comparison.

It remains an open question whether Tesla sacrificed some of the charging performance for higher energy density (longer range) and/or efficiency, longevity, or cost of the batteries, in the latest editions of its cars.

Bjørn Nyland is already considering an additional test of the 2021 Long Range version with LG Chem’s LG Energy Solution batteries.

General info:

* Some values on the charts are estimated from the data source.

** Temperature of the battery cells might highly negatively affect charging capabilities. We don’t have data about temperatures of the battery at the beginning and during the charging process. In cold or hot weather, as well as after driving very dynamically, charging power might be significantly lower than shown on the charts (in extreme cases charging might be impossible until the battery temperature will not return to an acceptable level).