Do you know why Tesla recommends fully charging LFP batteries once a week?

Everyone drives differently. Some people drive long distances every day, while others use their cars only occasionally. Even users who haven’t driven at all for a whole week may wonder if they still need to do a full charge.

So why does Tesla give the same “once a week full charge” advice to everyone?

The main reason is simplicity. From the manufacturer’s point of view, it’s difficult to explain charging intervals based on each user’s driving distance or energy use. A simple weekly rule is easy for everyone to understand, even if it’s not the most precise approach for every case.

Our recommendation is a little different. We suggest doing a full charge once every five cycles.

Here’s why. When measuring battery condition, two values are important: voltage and current (technically called coulombs).If you look at the charging curve, you can see that for LFP batteries, the voltage stays almost flat through most of the charge process and only rises sharply near the end. On the other hand, NCM batteries show a clear voltage change throughout the entire charging range.

When voltage barely changes, it can’t be used effectively to estimate the battery’s state of charge. That’s why LFP batteries rely mainly on current measurements to calculate how much energy has been charged or discharged.

But current measurement isn’t perfect either. Suppose the current sensor has an error of about 0.1%. After one full charge and discharge cycle, that error can accumulate to about 0.2%. After five cycles, the total difference could reach roughly 1%.

That’s why it makes sense to fully charge your LFP battery about once every five cycles. Doing so helps the BMS recalibrate and keeps your battery state estimation accurate.