Battery Care

[Palpatine]

I received this email from Tesla Motors. It looks like it was a mass email to everyone to give some tips on battery maintenance. I will post it here and then ask my question for everyone.

==========================

Your Roadster’s battery is one of the most sophisticated battery systems in the world. It is the component that most distinguishes your vehicle from others on the road. As an owner, we thought you would benefit from a short charging tutorial to promote battery health and improve your overall charging experience.

Arguably the most important yet often overlooked concept is a continuous connection. The Roadster is designed to be plugged into its charger when not in use. Whether you drove to the market or beat a Ferrari around the track, your Roadster should be connected to a charge location while at rest. When connected, the battery is cooled while remaining systems work towards optimization. Remember, if your SOC (State of Charge) falls below 10%, the longevity of your battery will be negatively affected.

Another critically important opportunity to protect the longevity of your battery is the use of Storage Mode. If your Roadster is not driven frequently, charge in Storage Mode. Setting the charge mode to Storage will keep the battery at a 35% to 45% SOC, thereby protecting your battery from temperature spikes and unpredictable environments.

Remember your Roadster warranty as it relates to the Energy Storage System (Battery) does not cover damage caused by:

• Exposing an unplugged vehicle to ambient temperatures above 120°F (50°C) for over 24 hours

• Storing an unplugged vehicle in temperatures below -40°F (-40°C) for over seven days

• Leaving your vehicle unplugged where it discharges the battery to at or near zero state of charge

To ensure your roadster warranty does not become void, consult your Warranty Guide booklet.

If you have questions, please contact your Customer Service Advocate or call 1-877-88-Tesla.

For emergencies or Roadside assistance call 888-622-1432.


Regards,

Stephen Smith | Customer Relations Associate

 

[Palpatine]

Arguably the most important yet often overlooked concept is a continuous connection. The Roadster is designed to be plugged into its charger when not in use. Whether you drove to the market or beat a Ferrari around the track, your Roadster should be connected to a charge location while at rest. When connected, the battery is cooled while remaining systems work towards optimization.

I often do this. I just leave it plugged in at all times while in my garage. But sometimes when I walk by the car and I notice "Done Charging" on the VDS, I assume that the equilization/optimization internally is complete. So I have been known to unplug the car and close the charging port so that the VDS turns off and the port light turns off.

What do you think? Silly thing to be thinking about the VDS being needlessly on 100% of the time?

Also, is Tesla Motors endorsing beating a Ferrari around the track with this email?

 

[meloccom]

It should be interesting to see how Tesla refuses a warranty claim on tha basis of :"Exposing an unplugged vehicle to ambient temperatures above 120°F (50°C) for over 24 hours". I can't think of a place on earth where it is ever likely to go above that temp for a 24 hour period.
Scenario: Perhaps you are in Las Vegas and it's in the middle of summer and there is a heat wave. It might get above 120 for maybe 6 hours at a stretch each day so the heatwave would need to last 4 days and your car would be unplugged throughout to achieve 24 hours unplugged above 120.
The other reading is that you must plug your car in within 24 hours if it is subjected to 120 degrees but that's not my reading of the wording.
The opposite scenario, where your car is parked outside your house unplugged in Northern Alaska and it gets down to minus 40 whilst your away on holidays (in Las Vegas!?:wink for more than a week is far more likely.
The one they will get some owners for will be for letting the SOC fall close to zero as I'm sure the PEM would record that somewhere and could be retrieved by Tesla in the event of a warranty claim.
One thing I think it does show is that the roadster uses more energy to keep it's battery cool than it does to keep it warm.

 

[Palpatine]

The one they will get some owners for will be for letting the SOC fall close to zero as I'm sure the PEM would record that somewhere and could be retrieved by Tesla in the event of a warranty claim.

It would really be a rare situation to be at or near 0% SOC and leave your Roadster not plugged in for a long period of time. I cannot imagine any Tesla Roadster owner being quite that unaware of the needs of the battery. But I am sure that Tesla Motors has had it happen. That might be what inspired the email to be sent out to everyone.

I wish they could share the story or situation.

 

[TEG]

It should be interesting to see how Tesla refuses a warranty claim on tha basis of :"Exposing an unplugged vehicle to ambient temperatures above 120°F (50°C) for over 24 hours". I can't think of a place on earth where it is ever likely to go above that temp for a 24 hour period....

If you left it in a paint drying booth after a repaint.

Or in a shipping container in the sun where temp inside is much higher than outside ambient.

 

[TEG]

It would really be a rare situation to be at or near 0% SOC and leave your Roadster not plugged in for a long period of time. I cannot imagine any Tesla Roadster owner being quite that unaware of the needs of the battery. ...

I bet there are some Tesla owners that have loads of exotic cars stashed at various residences around the globe. (Sacrilege I know, but) it might not be their favorite car to drive, so it might sit a bunch. Also, someone might be forced by work to spend a long time far from their roadster. So, I could imagine some cases where a Roadster does sit neglected for a long time.

Check out this: Abandoned exotics.

 

[Palpatine]

Or in a shipping container in the sun where temp inside is much higher than outside ambient.

Parked outside on black pavement in the sun during a heatwave in Arizona or Texas? The heat coming off of the black pavement could be significantly higher than just the normal outside temperature. Especially if it is a black Tesla that absorbs more heat.

The coastal area of the Pacific Northwest is actually the ideal area for long lasting battery with the temperature ranges being so moderate. Never too hot or too cold. The worst we get is about 90 degree F for a few days per year. Most of the summer is 70 to 80. During the winter it rarely gets below freezing for very long. Only a few snow days per year.

 

[TEG]

It should be interesting to see how Tesla refuses a warranty claim on tha basis of :"Exposing an unplugged vehicle to ambient temperatures above 120°F (50°C) for over 24 hours". I can't think of a place on earth where it is ever likely to go above that temp for a 24 hour period....

Getting their policy in order as global warming starts to kick in?

 

[TEG]

It would really be a rare situation to be at or near 0% SOC and leave your Roadster not plugged in for a long period of time...

More scenarios:

• The Roadster is bought for a museum and left on static display.
• Injury prevents the owner from driving it for a long while.
• The car is passed along to a new owner that doesn't (yet) know the battery care needs.

Another example of an exotic car just put in a cage and left alone for a long time:

Some people own a lot of cars! (practically one of everything interesting) so it does seem possible that someone out there might have a Roadster and not drive it much.

---

I can see it now ... "I was out of town and I let my cousin use my place... He found the keys to my Tesla and drove it until it was empty and just left it unplugged since he didn't know where to charge it."

Perhaps a Roadster left at < 10% SOC for more than a day or so should start to beep the horn once an hour in "please feed me mode"!

 

[mpt]

More scenarios:

I can see it now ... "I was out of town and I let my cousin use my place... He found the keys to my Tesla and drove it until it was empty and just left it unplugged since he didn't know where to charge it."

Perhaps a Roadster left at < 10% SOC for more than a day or so should start to beep the horn once an hour in "please feed me mode"!

That's the most likely scenario, the un-initiated in the ways of the Li-ION battery pack.

Once we get to the Model S we'll be dipping into a less technical pool of owners with a 'whatever' attitude.

I'd suggest that the car sounds a continuous alarm if it's adandonded at <10% SOC... perhaps the 'Dismiss...' message for the alarm should include 'You promise to return to put me on charge? If you don't I'm calling home!'

Perhaps that not so crazy; it calls home over GSM, Tesla call you... that'd be service!

 

[JRP3]

Is there a way to disable the vehicle so that it actually uses no energy when
left sitting? Seems as if there should be, say if you had to go away for a month or so and couldn't or didn't want to leave it plugged in.

 

[malcolm]

Is there a way to disable the vehicle so that it actually uses no energy when
left sitting? Seems as if there should be, say if you had to go away for a month or so and couldn't or didn't want to leave it plugged in.

However, all battery types self-discharge, even when not powering anything. Apparently it's really bad to leave it with a high level of charge somewhere it might get hot.

It needs to be left connected to run the cooling everynow and then - ideally in Storage mode.

Is this the worst "Standby" setting ever?

 

[vfx]

TEG's battery warning horn is a great idea! My phone does this as well as my laptop, why not my car? An override of course would be nice if you are frantically trying to get a charge for the car and you don't want a "crying baby" waking up your real baby escalating your stress.

Another 0% battery scenario is when Roadsters and Model S' get into rental fleets. There will be many runouts. Maybe rental fleet cars need a more serious battery warning and perhaps shutoff or a super secret reserve that the driver never knows about. It could have a countdown screen that says,

This car needs to get connected to a charge cable
in 35 minutes or you willl be penalized $10,000 dollars...​

Mods
Shouldn't this go in the battery discussion section?

 

[raymond]

Remember your Roadster warranty as it relates to the Energy Storage System (Battery) does not cover damage caused by:

• Exposing an unplugged vehicle to ambient temperatures above 120°F (50°C) for over 24 hours

If the ambient temp is 86°F (30°C) the temp inside a car can easily reach above values. Does this also hold for the roadster? (Why not?) So can you ever leave your car in the sun (parking lot) during the day? I would hope so!

Does the A/C kick in when the car is turned off to keep the batteries cool? Only above a certain SOC?

 

[johnr]

If the ambient temp is 86°F (30°C) the temp inside a car can easily reach above values. Does this also hold for the roadster? (Why not?) So can you ever leave your car in the sun (parking lot) during the day? I would hope so!

Does the A/C kick in when the car is turned off to keep the batteries cool? Only above a certain SOC?

I'm sure the Roadster would get just as hot setting in the sun as any other car. I can see why leaving it at over 120°F for an extended time would void the warranty...lithium batteries are very sensitive to hot temperatures (have you heard of the iphones that burst into flames sitting in a hot car?). It's simple to just leave the car plugged in all the time when it's in the garage, and if parking in a hot place just don't leave it too very long. I think I heard that the car's A/C automatically runs to cool down the batteries when necessary even when the car is turned off, but that would drain the batteries pretty quickly (but someone here who owns a Roadster will have to verify that).