Best way to shutdown a roadster for shipping

[markwj]

What is the most practical way to shut down a roadster for shipping? Assume the usual 4 to 8 weeks of shipping by sea, and somebody non-technical at the other end (but able to follow simple instructions to bring the car back to life). Something to reduce vampire drain, and possible bricking of the battery (in particular if the car gets held up in customs, or some other delay drags on).

I've seen several suggestions:

1. Inhibit APS, pull the service disconnect, and disconnect the little 12V battery in the wheel arch.
   
   
2. Remove the PEM cover (so the microswitch is popped, and main battery isolated).
   
   
3. Inhibit APS.
   
   
4. Just leave it as is - it will be fine.

Option #1 seems the best, but is non trivial. That service disconnect is hard to get to, prone to breaking, and very hard to explain to some guy at the destination how to reconnect it.

Option #2 seems scary as hell to me. It is reliant on a tiny microswitch for safety (with the cover off, those 400V connectors are visible). I see someone reaching in, accidentally pushing down on the microswitch, and ...

Option #3 seems workable. It will shutdown most systems. However, what happens to the drain on the main and little 12v batteries? Presumably the main pack will be ok. But, are the VMS and VDS now powered from the little 12V battery? Will this kill the 12V battery?

Option #4 seems scary. Charge to range mode full before putting it on the container, and 4 weeks should be fine. But beyond that seems scary. Especially if the container is hot, and that little coolant circulation pump is running.

Ideas, suggestions, comments, welcome.

 

[Roadster]

Mark, do you have something to share with the class? Say it ain't so...!

 

[hcsharp]

What is the most practical way to shut down a roadster for shipping? Assume the usual 4 to 8 weeks of shipping by sea, and somebody non-technical at the other end (but able to follow simple instructions to bring the car back to life). Something to reduce vampire drain, and possible bricking of the battery (in particular if the car gets held up in customs, or some other delay drags on).

I've seen several suggestions:

1. Inhibit APS, pull the service disconnect, and disconnect the little 12V battery in the wheel arch.
   
   
2. Remove the PEM cover (so the microswitch is popped, and main battery isolated).
   
   
3. Inhibit APS.
   
   
4. Just leave it as is - it will be fine.

Option #1 seems the best, but is non trivial. That service disconnect is hard to get to, prone to breaking, and very hard to explain to some guy at the destination how to reconnect it.

Option #2 seems scary as hell to me. It is reliant on a tiny microswitch for safety (with the cover off, those 400V connectors are visible). I see someone reaching in, accidentally pushing down on the microswitch, and ...

Option #3 seems workable. It will shutdown most systems. However, what happens to the drain on the main and little 12v batteries? Presumably the main pack will be ok. But, are the VMS and VDS now powered from the little 12V battery? Will this kill the 12V battery?

Option #4 seems scary. Charge to range mode full before putting it on the container, and 4 weeks should be fine. But beyond that seems scary. Especially if the container is hot, and that little coolant circulation pump is running.

Ideas, suggestions, comments, welcome.

I would use option 1 despite the drawbacks. Don't forget that the Roadster will turn on if enough movement is sensed by the accelerometer. I've heard that ships move enough to trigger this. Inhibit APS and disconnect 12v batt might be OK. I think that if you inhibit APS by removing the PEM cover that it won't enable it again by just putting the cover back on. You have to re-enable it from the diag screen. You also can't press the microswitch with your hand. Option 2 is just another way of doing option 3.

 

[X.l.r.8]

Does it have to be driven off or can it be pushed?

 

[LeoNordic]

The pricetag for errors on the choosen method 2-4 could be a bricked battery (40k$ + a lot of extra work/problems/time for you personally) or an injured person...in any case you would probably regret it for your life that method 2-4 failed in some way.

I would ”play it safe” go for alt.1 and ”make it work” on the recieving end. Training, pictures, video, hired help, Tesla WS, other Roadster owner or similar. The ”cost/effort” would probably be very low compared to the risk you thereby eliminates. (=Bricked/destroyed battery)

 

[ion_1]

Does it have to be driven off or can it be pushed?

#1 is the way to go in an ideal situation, however, X.I.r.8 asks an important practical question regarding the logistics of the shipping process to see if this is even feasible without someone available to enable the car. Over the years there has been a number of shipments overseas on this forum. Maybe not as long as 4-8 weeks, but it would be good to see what was done in those situations. Whatever you do, it may be worthwhile to be sure that the shipping and the receiving party fully agree on the method used.

 

[Stefan T]

And don't forget to pull down at least one window so you can enter the car

 

[ML Auto]

Unless you want to pull the service disconnect (the best way), your second best choice is the following:

Full standard charge.
Make sure key works in bottom of door.
Enter tow mode and set parking brake.
Inhibit APS.
Exit diagnostic mode.
Remove key from vehicle (best to secure it to outside of car-wiper blade works good).
Exit vehicle.
Car will need to be pushed if moved.
Just uninhibit the APS and exit tow mode and you will be good to go. Should be fine for at least three months. If the key gets locked in the car, charge port can be opened and shut about 10 times to turn the APS back on.

 

[markwj]

Mark, do you have something to share with the class? Say it ain't so...!

Unfortunately, it was so more than a year ago. With 3 kids and school runs, I just couldn't drive my roadster every day, so "let it go". Still miss it every single day. Perhaps one day I can get back into one.

So, I am in a 2014 S nowadays, and my wife drives an X. A switch from S to 3 is a possibility (to get the newer tech), but I am having fun hacking on the S.

 

[markwj]

We did some experimentation, and looked through the documentation, and found some conclusions:

1. A chart plotting SOC from 50% to 0% against time:
   
   
   • Standard roadster (service plug in, APS on), 50% -> 0% in 3 weeks.
   • APS inhibited (service plug in), 50% -> 0% in 14 weeks.
   • Service plug removed, APS inhibited, 50% -> 40% in 20 weeks (and still going strong).
     
2. Documentation on the working of the low voltage electrical system says:
   
   
   • Battery Safety Monitor is responsible for producing the constant 12v power from ESS via DC-to-DC converter.
   • Inhibiting APS only affects non-constant 12v power - if APS is inhibited, VMS, VDS and OVMS continue to run.
   • To OVMS, inhibiting APS appears identical to sending the car to sleep (even if ESS temperature > 31C so car would not normally sleep).
   • Temperatures (in particular ESS temperatures) are not monitored when APS in inhibited.
   • I don't see inhibiting APS as being able to have any affect on the little 12V battery (as constant 12v power is not affected).
   • To me 'inhibit APS' really means "just go to sleep, and don't let anything wake you up".
     
3. Extrapolating from APS inhibited, 50% -> 0% in 14 weeks, this should be absolutely fine for the kind of shipping journeys expected.

We did test inhibiting APS on a roadster at 91% SOC (standard mode). Three days later, it is down to 89% SOC.

Based on the above, simply charging to full and shipping the car seems risky (100% to 0% in 6 weeks looks like a distinct possibility).

However, it seems that charging to 100% (either range or standard, depending on how paranoid you are), then inhibiting APS, should be fine for 3 to 6 months. MLAUTO's extra recommended steps help with the access / moving issues. Henry's comment about moving the car waking it up (re-enabling APS?) is worrying - we will try the shake test to see if we can recreate that.

I agree that inhibiting APS then pulling the service disconnect is by far the safest. But does require somebody skilled at both ends (and with narrow long arms).

Thanks for all the feedback. Most helpful.

 

[Roadster]

Unfortunately, it was so more than a year ago.

 

[dhrivnak]

This is just my $.02 as I would charge to about 90% then inhibit APS and disconnect the 12V. Even with my APS on my Roadster has been parked for 38 days now in storage mode and I have dropped from 77% to 66% in 38 days. I am still well above the safety margin. Note I have the 3.0 battery but I still think I would be fine with the original one. The service disconnect is a bear to get at even if you have average sized hands.

 

[slcasner]

I can second the observation @dhrivnak makes above. I left my Roadster 1.5 with 3.0 battery connected to the charger in Storage mode for the entire month of September in 2017. At the beginning of the month the charge level was 73%; at the end it was 64% and no charging had occurred. The story of 50% to 0% in 3 weeks must be based on some other conditions, such as high battery temp so the coolant pump is running continuously.

 

[markwj]

I did just check the car we tested this on. Flapped the charge port a few times, and it woke up nicely. That is a very simple procedure for someone at the receiving end to do.

Only unexpected result was battery temperature. We have had problems getting this car to sleep. ESS is normally at 35C, and PEM at 38C, or so. OVMS cooldown cycles will bring that down to 31C, but within an hour it is back at 33C. Ambient (indoor garage) is stable at around 30C. After waking up from four days of inhibited APS, the car woke up with MOTOR, ESS and PEM all at 30C (matching ambient).

I couldn't find a way to get the car into tow mode AND inhibit APS. If I inhibit APS, the car says it can't go into tow mode. If I put it into tow mode, I can't get into the menu to inhibit APS (only option is to exist tow mode as it is a modal dialog).

My conclusion is that for relatively short term shipping, getting the car stable and then inhibiting APS seems a good solution.

 

[ML Auto]

I couldn't find a way to get the car into tow mode AND inhibit APS. If I inhibit APS, the car says it can't go into tow mode. If I put it into tow mode, I can't get into the menu to inhibit APS (only option is to exist tow mode as it is a modal dialog).

I just tapped the screen while the tow mode screen is showing and got into service menu to inhibit the APS.

 

[markwj]

I just tapped the screen while the tow mode screen is showing and got into service menu to inhibit the APS.

Strange. I couldn't get out of the screen (seemed like modal dialog with a big exit tow mode button as the only option). Maybe firmware difference.

 

[im4uttx]

Strange. I couldn't get out of the screen (seemed like modal dialog with a big exit tow mode button as the only option). Maybe firmware difference.

Sounded like the normal "tap-tap-tap..." method of getting into service/diag mode...doesn't work for you?

 

[markwj]

Sounded like the normal "tap-tap-tap..." method of getting into service/diag mode...doesn't work for you?

Not while the tow mode dialog was up.

Anyway, not really a problem (so long as car can be woken up at the other end).

 

[im4uttx]

Not while the tow mode dialog was up.

Anyway, not really a problem (so long as car can be woken up at the other end).

hmm...just tried it and it worked for me. Once I accepted the tow mode, and it went into tow mode, I tapped a few times and it brought up the service mode pin entry screen...

But as you mention, probably not required...just talking choices...

 

[KJA2001]

I am re-importing a Roadster Sport 2.5 from Japan to UK, shipping time eight weeks. Could someone give me an idiots guide to inhibiting APS an re-enabling as I am going to have to rely on the shipping company to do it for me?