Heathrow Airport Superchargers

[MaximusE]

Trying to plan airport parking at Heathrow and have looked but it appears the Hilton is closed for bookings for a 1 night stay, I assume it’s closed due to Covid still?

are the superchargers still accessible? And if so what’s the process for making sure you don’t get a ticket?

 

[pgkevet]

I used them at the height of the pandemic. It was a ghost town and weeds everywhere, closed and had to pee in the bushes. I couldn't find anyone and eventually paid a parking ticket machine to use to leave (about a fiver). Apparently I needn't have done that and could have just pressed the call button at the exit to speak to remote control guys.

 

[westrow3]

I was there a couple of weeks ago, it's a covid quarantine hotel, loads of security but just drove round to the superchargers no problem. The barriers were open.

 

[spooksman]

I've used it loads during COVID, as you say, it's now a COVID hotel, so you can't stay. You can just drive up and use the chargers, and when leaving, press the button and they let you out - no charge.

I was there on my own one dark cold night, to be honest, it was a bit scary!

Oh, and as you drive up to the chargers, the ones on the right (kind of behind you as you drive in, not those in front of you) are V3 ones, so faster charging, go for those.

 

[Tinca]

I was there yesterday afternoon (Sunday 22nd August). All OK and the chargers are open. As @pgkevet says, it has an odd feel with the car parks around the hotel overgrown and no-one around. The charger worked OK with several 250Kw ones available - as @spooksman mentions these are on the right as you drive in. 150Kw units on the left.
Stay in your car though - I made that mistake a few months ago of striding up to the hotel to get a drink whilst charging. I was told, politely but firmly, to get back in my car!
Cheapest SC I've seen a while too. 22ppu yesterday.

 

[MaximusE]

Great advice here as always, thanks very much everybody! I’ll give it a 90% charge before we leave the car at the airport hotel, so sentry can be enabled. Only away for 7 days, so drain hopefully shouldn’t be an issue….

 

[MrBadger]

Only away for 7 days, so drain hopefully shouldn’t be an issue….

I've found sentry drain recently to be much higher than before so I remotely turned ours off whilst away at it went through ~9% in under 18 hours. Thankfully followed by >15 hours at 0% once sentry disabled. I've not seen it go through at quite that pace before - I normally banked on ~7% per 24 hour period. (LR AWD)

 

[nshanx@hotmail]

Hi - thinking of planning to leave my Model 3 in airport car park for 7 days what would be the approx drain of battery?

 

[NSS89]

Hi - thinking of planning to leave my Model 3 in airport car park for 7 days what would be the approx drain of battery?

Around 1% a day as a rough figure but if you keep checking the car via the app it could become a lot more.

 

[init6]

Around 1% a day as a rough figure but if you keep checking the car via the app it could become a lot more.

And you need to make sure sentry is off too.

 

[T.W.R]

Hi - thinking of planning to leave my Model 3 in airport car park for 7 days what would be the approx drain of battery?

Around 1% a day as a rough figure but if you keep checking the car via the app it could become a lot more.

Really?? I left mine two weeks ago at Heathrow for 9 days and it may have dropped 1-2 percent tops, with sentry off mostly other than some bored messing about on the app a few times. It was almost negligible.

I’d driven 100 miles to get there at 4am, battering the efficiency and then 100 miles back at 70-80 with no charge or issues.

My only concern was some t*at dinging my door whilst I’d paid to stay parked within the terminal parking at Heathrow … great!

 

[NSS89]

Really?? I left mine two weeks ago at Heathrow for 9 days and it may have dropped 1-2 percent tops, with sentry off mostly other than some bored messing about on the app a few times. It was almost negligible.

I’d driven 100 miles to get there at 4am, battering the efficiency and then 100 miles back at 70-80 with no charge or issues.

My only concern was some t*at dinging my door whilst I’d paid to stay parked within the terminal parking at Heathrow … great!

To be fair I was estimating according to my own phantom drain which I’ve noticed is around 1% a day. I’m a new owner though and do mess with the app more than I should so maybe that explains it.

Yeah I’d be the same and it’s my only real concern when parking somewhere like that for a long period. Sentry mode would definitely keep my mind at ease but it drains the battery quite a bit so don’t think it’s feasible to leave it on. A few years ago I parked at Heathrow long stay and when I returned someone had scraped and dented the passenger side front wing - it was quite bad. It was a courtesy car (Q7) so I was extra worried about being stung for it. The car park staff were no help at all and said there’s nothing they can do!

 

[btc1k]

Just had 2 weeks at Heathrow, closed app and didn't poll it at all, car had same battery % as when I left it.

Believe it goes into a long term sleep for energy preservation if left like that.

 

[init6]

Believe it goes into a long term sleep for energy preservation if left like that.

The car is either awake or asleep. If you have sentry on the the car is still awake. Sleep only occurs when sentry is off which is why some people think there is a 'deep sleep' state.

 

[init6]

There have been a few reports of newer cars not losing as much battery as expected. I wonder if the LFP batteries behave differently? Although the latest manual still cautions about battery loss:

The Battery can discharge at a rate of approximately 1% per day, though the discharge rate may vary depending on environmental factors (such as cold weather), vehicle configuration, and your selected settings on the touchscreen. Situations can arise in which you must leave Model 3 unplugged for an extended period of time (for example, at an airport when traveling). In these situations, keep the 1% in mind to ensure that you leave the Battery with a sufficient charge level. For example, over a two week period (14 days), the Battery may discharge by approximately 14%.

 

[Taff18]

I left mine recently at Glasgow Airport for just over a week. The temperature was cold as well and was really please that it only lost 1% during the stay. That was a real relief meaning a much quicker stop at Abington SUC to top up on the way southbound again. Sentry was disabled and I resisted the temptation, apart from once, to check in on it!