Leaving car at airport unplugged

[keithf]

I will be leaving my 75D at Toronto airport parking for about 10 days .
I hope to have about 70% charge when I leave it.
I estimate the average temperature while away t to be -10 Celsius / 14 Fahrenheit
How much drain should I expect to see over the 10 days. Trying to figure if I'll have enough on return to get home
Thanks

 

[arcus]

Couldn't you find a wall plug at the parking lot? The trickle charge would at least offset the energy loss related to battery conditioning.

 

[keithf]

I thought of that but no guarantee there will be outlets in the airport parking garage or if I can park close enough to one. There are ev Chargepoint stations but they can not be reserved or guaranteed.

 

[Scott_K]

I’m not sure how much vampire drain you’ll get from parking in the cold for 10 days, but to reduce the amount of baseline energy required make sure to turn on Energy Saving mode (Controls > Displays > Energy Saving) and temporarily deactivate anything you might be using that polls the car frequently (eg TeslaFi, etc).

 

[Saghost]

I've parked unplugged for three or four days several times in cold weather - in each case, it showed a scary four or five mile drop in the first several hours after parked (taking into account the pack cooling?) - but then stabilized at the new value and stayed there for the rest of the time, not showing the vampire drain it normally shows when parked plugged in - even when I kept checking on the remote app every few hours.

I'm not positive what will happen for a longer period, but from what I've seen I'm pretty sure the car has a different set of programming for unplugged parking with stronger limits on how it spends power and I think it'll probably be fine as long as you don't have too far to go after getting back to the car.

Of course, having somewhere to plug in would be much better. Don't they have those bars of 120V outlets for block heaters up in your neck of the woods?

 

[keithf]

I've parked unplugged for three or four days several times in cold weather - in each case, it showed a scary four or five mile drop in the first several hours after parked (taking into account the pack cooling?) - but then stabilized at the new value and stayed there for the rest of the time, not showing the vampire drain it normally shows when parked plugged in - even when I kept checking on the remote app every few hours.

I'm not positive what will happen for a longer period, but from what I've seen I'm pretty sure the car has a different set of programming for unplugged parking with stronger limits on how it spends power and I think it'll probably be fine as long as you don't have too far to go after getting back to the car.

Of course, having somewhere to plug in would be much better. Don't they have those bars of 120V outlets for block heaters up in your neck of the woods?

I called the airport parking and unfortunately the airport terminal parking doesn't have 120 volt outlets . Maybe I'll charge up to 100 % before I leave home which gives me about 225 km usable range in winter and have 80% charge when I get to the airport. Hopefully at 10 km per day drain I'll still have about 80 km left to get to a supercharger on the way home .

 

[Dax279]

I just parked at the airport in Calgary last week with temps lower than minus 20 for five days and lost about 50kms of charge.

 

[keithf]

That's good news . My estimate of 10 km per day looks about right. So I think I'll be ok for 10 days I also assume the car will go into deep sleep at 20% or less state of charge so I should be ok . At least to get to the supercharger on the way home .thanks

 

[Graffi]

I suspect a good portion of the range loss is due to a cold soaked battery. This portion you will get back as the battery warms up. jmho

 

[George I]

Set Energy saving mode on, Always connected off. With those settings I loose a bit under 0.7-0.9%/day in summer and a 1-2%/day when it is well below freezing. Expect at 10% loss in 10 days but be prepared for up to 20%. If in doubt charge to 100% not too long before you leave. When you arrive at the airport your will be sitting at well below 90% and since it is winter battery damage from too full (and hot) a battery should be negligible. Charge to 100% before you leave home to improve your odds of not having to charge on the way back.

 

[keithf]

Thanks everyone for your input. Definitely eases my anxiety about leaving the car at the airport .

 

[Snowstorm]

Note that Toronto airport has L2 plugs if you park at the daily park lot, they are in he valet section but some have reported that they can request to park there if you ask.

 

[scottm]

I suspect a good portion of the range loss is due to a cold soaked battery. This portion you will get back as the battery warms up. jmho

??

You don't get any % back once it's gone until you charge again.. warming the battery by driving it will not magically increase remaining charge / available range.

 

[Buster1]

??

You don't get any % back once it's gone until you charge again.. warming the battery by driving it will not magically increase remaining charge / available range.

Actually, I think you do. Kinda like turning on Range Mode. It heats up the pack and allows you to squeeze out a few more electrons/ miles.

 

[RCWtristan]

I will be leaving my 75D at Toronto airport parking for about 10 days .
I hope to have about 70% charge when I leave it.
I estimate the average temperature while away t to be -10 Celsius / 14 Fahrenheit
How much drain should I expect to see over the 10 days. Trying to figure if I'll have enough on return to get home
Thanks

Just went out of country 11 days beginning of January. Left car in outside exposed parking lot. My 'S' was only 4 weeks old so I was a bit anal, espec since super cold spell for our area (Wash DC, Baltimore). Half the time, daytime highs 15-20(F). Nightimes about 0. Windy. So I used phone app and checked every day. Here's pic of my daily chart. I noticed the first day or two the vampire loss was biggest (7 range miles lost per day), then things sort of normalized. Overall avg was approx 3 miles per day. Would have been more if 2nd half of my trip temps hadn't started coming back up.

Also, I have 100D. Yours is 75D. Probably same rate of vampire loss, don't know. You just have a smaller bank from which to be making the withdrawals.

 

[scottm]

Actually, I think you do. Kinda like turning on Range Mode. It heats up the pack and allows you to squeeze out a few more electrons/ miles.

..you know, I think you're right a warm battery can eek more juice out and you'll get more usable range from it and that's why battery warming happens.

I think what I meant is I've never seen the % readout increase (go up) while the car is parked.. just because the ambient temperature went up, or battery heating was being used. And if you're driving (on level ground) that consumes power at a rate that far exceeds any extension in range due to warming while driving, so again, the % just declines. And while heating while driving it's a double whammy of watching % deplete because of traction and heating simultaneously.

The way I read the post I was responding to was that it seemed to suggest the % charge would be seen to rise as battery warming happens. That never happens unless you're also charging.

 

[keithf]

Just went out of country 11 days beginning of January. Left car in outside exposed parking lot. My 'S' was only 4 weeks old so I was a bit anal, espec since super cold spell for our area (Wash DC, Baltimore). Half the time, daytime highs 15-20(F). Nightimes about 0. Windy. So I used phone app and checked every day. Here's pic of my daily chart. I noticed the first day or two the vampire loss was biggest (7 range miles lost per day), then things sort of normalized. Overall avg was approx 3 miles per day. Would have been more if 2nd half of my trip temps hadn't started coming back up. View attachment 279899 Also, I have 100D. Yours is 75D. Probably same rate of vampire loss, don't know. You just have a smaller bank from which to be making the withdrawals.

That's great information from a real world experience . If I get similar drain to you for my 10 days at Toronto Airport covered parking then I should have no problems. Thanks for the feedback

 

[artsci]

I left my car at the airport for 3 days with the range at about 120. I mistakenly left the heater on, only discover that mistake on the flight back. When the drive home began I had about 40 miles of range for a 26 mile drive, but outside temps were about 25F so I knew that I had to drive slower than normal. So I’d get range warnings, I set the nav for home. Sure enough, after 6 miles the system produced a warning that I had to drive under 50 mph to reach home. So I slowed down and reached home with only 3 miles of range left.

It was the first time in five years of ownership that I was a bit nervous about range, but slowing down did the trick. I’ll never make the mistake of leaving the heater on again. So as others have advised, set everything to reduce drain of any kind.

 

[scottm]

I left my car at the airport for 3 days with the range at about 120. I mistakenly left the heater on, only discover that mistake on the flight back.

How did that mistake happen? After parking one must move the slider to keep HVAC on after exiting. Is this just a habit that you've formed...?

 

[artsci]

How did that mistake happen? After parking one must move the slider to keep HVAC on after exiting. Is this just a habit that you've formed...?

I’m not really sure, but probably a mistake with the phone app, which I periodically check when I’m traveling by air. Probably hit the on button when I was viewing the climate page.