Noah Romsdal Hallundbæk Sørensen
Tesla owner expected to see noticeable battery wear after 16,000 miles and extensive fast charging.
A Tesla Model Y owner in Canada has reported striking battery health results after six months of ownership and roughly 16,000 miles of driving.
The findings come amid ongoing debate about whether frequent DC fast charging significantly shortens EV battery life.
According to the owner, the vehicle received more energy from fast chargers than from home charging during the test period, making the results particularly noteworthy.
Battery check
Data shared by the owner showed 2,588 kWh delivered through AC home charging and 2,888 kWh through DC fast charging over six months.
Skeptical of readings from the Tesli monitoring app, which suggested no measurable degradation, the owner carried out Tesla’s full battery health test. The procedure requires the battery to begin at about 20% charge and remain connected to an AC source capable of supplying at least 5 kW.
The process discharged the battery close to empty before recharging it to full capacity, taking roughly 20 hours to complete.
Unexpected result
The owner said they expected the battery to retain around 96% to 97% of its original capacity. Instead, the test showed 99% remaining capacity.
A full charge still displayed 326 miles (525 km) of estimated range, matching the figure shown when the vehicle was new.
The test also indicated a nominal full-pack capacity of 82.8 kWh, unchanged from an earlier assessment. Cell imbalance increased from 16 mV to 30 mV, though the owner did not view this as a concern.
Charging habits
The owner attributed the strong result to two key practices: preconditioning the battery before fast charging and keeping the charge limit at 75%.
They also reported trying not to let the battery fall below 35% state of charge. The plan is to continue using a similar mix of home and public charging before repeating the test in another six months.
While a single vehicle cannot settle the broader discussion around battery degradation, the results suggest that charging behavior may be as important as charging speed. Avoiding extremely high and low charge levels, along with proper battery preparation before fast charging, may help reduce long-term wear.
