Leaving car in garage.

[sirknightowl]

I need advice. I will be on vacation for a week. How do i leave my tesla plugged or unplugged? Ahould i change the charge level?

 

[Petermcg]

A week is nothing. Keep it plugged in at the level you’re comfortable with.

 

[JulienW]

For one week as long as you don't leave it unplugged with <30% or plugged in at >90% it will be fine.

 

[Gordon87]

Last year, I had a problem with Sentry Mode active when my car was plugged in while I was out of town, where it stopped the car charging until I had someone do a reboot. So when I am out of town, I turn off Sentry Mode. Of course, subsequent software updates may have fixed the problem, but watching my charge level drop fast daily while half way around the world was not pleasant.

Since then, I just set the car to 70% or 80% and leave it plugged in.

 

[sirknightowl]

A week is nothing. Keep it plugged in at the level you’re comfortable with.

My car gets delivered on the 19th the same day i leave. I dont have any experience on a comfortable charge

 

[sirknightowl]

Last year, I had a problem with Sentry Mode active when my car was plugged in while I was out of town, where it stopped the car charging until I had someone do a reboot. So when I am out of town, I turn off Sentry Mode. Of course, subsequent software updates may have fixed the problem, but watching my charge level drop fast daily while half way around the world was not pleasant.

Since then, I just set the car to 70% or 80% and leave it plugged in.

So i just set it to limit 80% then leave it plugged in. I only have an ordinary outlet.

 

[RED MDL3]

You get can plug in and set the charge level to 70% and relax while you travel.

 

[jrweiss98020]

From the manual, p. 179:

Model 3 has one of the most sophisticated battery systems in the world. The most important way to preserve the Battery is to LEAVE YOUR VEHICLE PLUGGED IN when you are not using it.

If you only have a 120V outlet for charging, I would keep it at 80-85%.

 

[sirknightowl]

From the manual, p. 179:



If you only have a 120V outlet for charging, I would keep it at 80-85%.

Yea i only have a normal house plug. Barely getting the car delivered tomorrow. So set my charge level at 80 and leave it plugged in...?

 

[skygraff]

Yea i only have a normal house plug. Barely getting the car delivered tomorrow. So set my charge level at 80 and leave it plugged in...?

Should work just fine.

Do yourself a favor and turn off summon standby mode (or don’t turn it on - can’t remember what’s default), sentry mode at home (unless you absolutely need it), and, if in a warm climate, cabin overheat protection. No need to spend money refilling the battery to keep those functions active while you’re away.

Oh, and set the charge time for sometime during overnight hours when electricity is typically cheaper. Otherwise, the system will constantly replenish any lost charge to maintain that 80% rather than just top it off once a day.

I feel sorry for you. I also had to go away for a week right after taking delivery when all I wanted to do was go driving. As tempting as it may be, fight the urge to compulsively check the app since that wakes the car and, in turn, uses energy.

 

[BuggDDS]

Plug it in, set to 80%, have a great trip, and know you have something awesome to come home to!

 

[sirknightowl]

Should work just fine.

Do yourself a favor and turn off summon standby mode (or don’t turn it on - can’t remember what’s default), sentry mode at home (unless you absolutely need it), and, if in a warm climate, cabin overheat protection. No need to spend money refilling the battery to keep those functions active while you’re away.

Oh, and set the charge time for sometime during overnight hours when electricity is typically cheaper. Otherwise, the system will constantly replenish any lost charge to maintain that 80% rather than just top it off once a day.

I feel sorry for you. I also had to go away for a week right after taking delivery when all I wanted to do was go driving. As tempting as it may be, fight the urge to compulsively check the app since that wakes the car and, in turn, uses energy.

Thankyou. I was asking them if they can delay the deliver until i come back since its just a week. They said they couldnt. They need to work on that. So with the app you can have the car to stop charging even if its plugged in? So once its topped off to 80 percent i stop the charging and charge it again later...

 

[skygraff]

Thankyou. I was asking them if they can delay the deliver until i come back since its just a week. They said they couldnt. They need to work on that. So with the app you can have the car to stop charging even if its plugged in? So once its topped off to 80 percent i stop the charging and charge it again later...

Yes, you can start and stop charging as well as set the charge target in the app (actually finer control for that than main screen). However, unfortunately, you can only manage charge scheduling via the in-car UI.

Unless you use a charge schedule (whether start time or time to be complete - daily), the basic logic is to maintain that SOC as long as it’s plugged in. I don’t know if it has a swing point to which it will allow a drop like a thermostat (if so, certainly not adjustable) but maybe somebody else has evidence of that. I’ve always used a scheduled charge time at home and haven’t tracked it closely when road tripping/car camping; fortunately, scheduling is location based so, while traveling, it will simply charge when you plug it in.

 

[jrweiss98020]

Thankyou. I was asking them if they can delay the deliver until i come back since its just a week. They said they couldnt. They need to work on that. So with the app you can have the car to stop charging even if its plugged in? So once its topped off to 80 percent i stop the charging and charge it again later...

Once again, per the manual, there is NO NEED to do that! Just plug it in and leave it! Once it reaches 80%, it will use minimal electricity to keep the 12V battery charged and run the monitor systems. Sentry and Summon OFF are a good idea. Sentry will use ~5KWh (20 mi) per day.

 

[RScottyL]

I need advice. I will be on vacation for a week. How do i leave my tesla plugged or unplugged? Ahould i change the charge level?

Yep, you will need to remember the ABC's of owning an electric car:

Always
Be
Charging

You will want to charge it daily to about 80% for a happy Tesla!

If you are ever going on a big trip, then you can charge to 100%!

 

[Ofarlig]

Don't need to do anything really, I have had mine sit for 4-5 weeks unused and nothing happens. Unless you want to you do not need to have it plugged in, I lost less than 1% charge per week.

 

[one2many]

Well you may want to put a small TV tuned to the Hot Rod channel so
it does not get lonely.

 

[Occar]

Just leave it plugged in all the time you are able to. Don't worry about it. Ignore anyone who starts giving you bizarre battery advice. It's a non issue. You do more harm than good if you adopt weird charging habits.

The only thing to be mindful of is the only thing Tesla tells you do be mindful of. Unless you're going to specifically need the top 10% of the battery, leave it set at 90% or below.

 

[XLR82XS]

Does nobody RTFM anymore?!?