Going on vacation for 2 weeks - what should i do?

[troyhouse]

I will be going on vacation for 2 weeks, and wanted to know what should i do from charging perspective. Should I plug in the charger and let it charge or charge upto 80% and leave it as is.

there were some reports about battery getting drained and wanted to avoid any unwanted issues. please advise.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jasonh4451]

I went away for two weeks about a month ago and one week after getting my 3. I left it plugged in in my garage set to 50% charge. It lost about 4% the first 24 hours and then about 1% per day thereafter. It started at about 75% charge so it never hit the 50% charge limit while I was away and thus didn’t charge.

No problems when I returned.

 

[Shock-On-T]

Yep, just set charge limit to 50% and enjoy your trip!
The battery is happiest at 50%

 

[eye.surgeon]

Yep, just set charge limit to 50% and enjoy your trip!
The battery is happiest at 50%

this. then remotely charge it to whatever you need the night before you get home.

 

[bradkeller]

Here's a similar thread over at model3owners club.

Charging while on vacation

 

[jerry33]

Two weeks isn't enough to even worry about. Two months, yes, do the 50% thing, but two weeks is peanuts. Just charge as normal and park it. The car sleeps deeper the longer you let it be, so don't keep checking with the App if you are not plugged in. Also make sure that all the energy saving settings are turned on, pre-condition is turned off, etc.

 

[brkaus]

Leave it for me to maintain the battery properly or two weeks. Anything less is just a big mistake

On a serious note, just plug it in and leave. If you want to set the charge down lower, below 70%, then go for it.

 

[jamnmon66]

Leave it for me to maintain the battery properly or two weeks. Anything less is just a big mistake

On a serious note, just plug it in and leave. If you want to set the charge down lower, below 70%, then go for it.

Yes. Do this & enjoy your trip. Extended time at high charge levels is the only problem.

 

[Carrera]

The battery is happiest at 50%

Where does this come from? I'm not charging mine until it's down to about 50% and another member insisted I leave it plugged in all the time and keep it fully charged (90%). See post in the thread below. From my read "regularly" doesn't mean every minute of every day. We are using the car regularly and charging it regularly.

First it won't turn on, now it won't turn off

 

[Shock-On-T]

Where does this come from? I'm not charging mine until it's down to about 50% and another member insisted I leave it plugged in all the time and keep it fully charged (90%). See post in the thread below. From my read "regularly" doesn't mean every minute of every day. We are using the car regularly and charging it regularly.

First it won't turn on, now it won't turn off

It comes from researching the topic over many years.
Any advice to keep the battery over 50% is a concession to practicality, which is a reasonable concession to make.
I usually charge to 90% then let the car run down to about 40% before plugging in again.
It’s all pretty academic if you stay between 20-90% as there’s barely any increase in degradation.
The only things that will seriously harm the battery is long (weeks) at 100% (esp. if hot weather), or letting it run dead-flat and leaving flat for days.

 

[Carrera]

Thanks @ShockOnT that's my conclusion as well and confirmed by my Tesla service advisor. It's my wife's car and she is charging at 150 miles of range left or lower. That works for her comfort level. I might add she doesn't miss visiting gas stations and much prefers "refueling" at home. Now if I can just teach her how to clean her windshield!

 

[gregd]

Is there any reason you can't just plug it in and leave it that way? I think we're over-thinking this. Best habit is to plug the car in whenever it's not being used.

There's very clear evidence that a lot of small charges is better than a fewer number of big ones, so the ICE model of waiting for the car to get down to (pick-a-number) of miles is the wrong approach. Just plug it in. If you're going to leave the car unused for months, then it's probably worth the next level of optimization, setting the charge level to 50%. Otherwise, just plug it in with the defaults, and the car will manage the rest.

 

[Cloverdale]

What effect on the tires after 2 weeks parked?

 

[dafish]

If you run Sentry Mode and it will be someplace secure you might turn that off and set charge level to 50%. It would likely not charge at all while you were gone.

 

[brkaus]

What effect on the tires after 2 weeks parked?

Nothing.

 

[vindroid]

if leaving plugged, what about things like power surges, lightning etc.?

 

[brkaus]

if leaving plugged, what about things like power surges, lightning etc.?

If you worry about that stuff, leave it unplugged. I would typically skip plugging in if severe storms are forecast.

But we have 2 teslas and one WC, so no matter what one gets left unplugged.