Leaving town for 3 months in Dec-Feb. Car will be outside during this time. Any advice that what should be done during this time period to reduce battery drain? How can I handle complete battery drain during this time and what needs to be done upon return to car. Thanks
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Leaving Model 3 for 3 months
- Thread starter guapopoppo
- Start date
Turn off Sentry Mode, Overheat protection (though it's probably going to be around freezing temps in NY so I don't think this would matter), don't periodically wake your car up by opening your Tesla App, and assuming you don't have a garage, would it be possible to run an extension cord to a 120V outlet as suggested above?
Not knowing what model they have could make it an issue in and by itself unless they can plug in to 120. For instance, in one 24 hour period I lose 3 to 4 miles. In the OP's case were talking storing it for ~91 days, so at a loss of 3 miles per day that's 278 total miles drained and at 4 miles it exceeds any Model 3's EPA range at 364. If they have a LR and only lose 2 miles per day, they may be OK, since the loss would only be around 180 miles. Also, does freezing weather drain a battery to some extent?
Last year I took the car off the road for 3 or 4 months over the winter. Ran an extension cord to the car from the house, plugged in the mobile charger and set it to maintain a ~60% charge and left it be. It was all ready to go in the spring.
IdaX
Member
Can you leave it with a friend who'll plug it in maybe? It will have completely no charge after a few weeks only and you'll need to jump the 12V just to get it to take a charge once you get back.
I do not believe this to be true. After a while of being left idle, car goes into deep sleep mode and idle loss becomes negligible. there is also an "anti bricking" reserve, so you don't need to worry about terminal damage to HV pack. But, yes if you have a low 12v battery that could possibly drain, and it is true that leaving unplugged for that long a period is something you should avoid.
I suspect you would be OK to start upon return, but you are MUCH better off finding a place you can leave it plugged in to 120v. Don't you have any friends who would be willing to house it and "exercise" it once in a while?
Given the cold temperatures the car will experience, strongly recommend you figure out some way to keep it plugged in. 120V will be adequate. Maybe a friend with driveway or garage space?
Don't charge to max. Top off to about 90% SoC and you should still be above 15-20% when you return.
Don't use the app or wake the car more than once a week to check how its doing. Turn off sentry, turn off dashcam, disable wifi, uncheck live traffic on the map, pause music playback, unplug any all usb devices, chargers etc. Add a few extra psis to cold tires (say 45-48psi) And youre all set.
Disclaimer:Kept mine like this unplugged for 13-30 days (so significantly shorter than you plan) and in relatively warm 15-20F NY winter weather. Zero issues and slow low vampire drain.
Aside from the next few days, temps in NY will moderate and stay above freezing until mid December...but as usual Jan Feb will be a different story.
Don't use the app or wake the car more than once a week to check how its doing. Turn off sentry, turn off dashcam, disable wifi, uncheck live traffic on the map, pause music playback, unplug any all usb devices, chargers etc. Add a few extra psis to cold tires (say 45-48psi) And youre all set.
Disclaimer:Kept mine like this unplugged for 13-30 days (so significantly shorter than you plan) and in relatively warm 15-20F NY winter weather. Zero issues and slow low vampire drain.
Aside from the next few days, temps in NY will moderate and stay above freezing until mid December...but as usual Jan Feb will be a different story.
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My car drains less than 2 miles in range when sleeping for 24 hours - it will last way more than a few weeks before it would have no charge.
OP - do you use Teslafi or something similar so you can get a sense what your typical drain is while the car sleeps? That will give you a good idea of how long it would take assuming no 'deep sleep' (which I believe does happen below 20%).
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
I would also turn the Summon off (See the menu for AutoPilot in the central display)
I just left unplugged (intentionaly, while travelling, I never check remotely) for one week and lose 3%
I park in a garage (LR AWD M3) and the daily temperature at this time in Northern California was from 60F to 50F.
Note: I would check at halfway, if going below 20% can you have someone driving to a Supercharger?
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AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
You really should try to find a way to have it plugged in, but sounds like that's not an option. Failing that, there are recommendations here, which may or may not work.
So one thing you should do is TEST whatever you are going to do before you leave on your trip, for a couple days, to see what the rate is. This will make sure you don't have any surprises! If you lose 7 miles over 2 days you're likely going to have problems and your setup is not going to work. Ideally do a 4-day test and make sure you lose less than 8 miles (hopefully closer to 5-6). I realize this could be difficult to find the time to do...but at least try to do a check over a couple days.
Charge just to 90-95%, not 100%. If that extra 5% made a difference you're probably hosed anyway.
This is the list I have seen - I don't guarantee that they all matter, but it doesn't really hurt to do them, since you appear to be desperate. Mostly repeating what @Perscitus said above.
1) Disable Sentry
2) Disable Summon Standby Mode (Shouldn't matter since you're at home, but be sure to turn it off)
3) Disable Cabin Overheat Protection (doesn't really matter but may as well)
4) Turn off the TeslaCam and remove the flash drive. Remove ALL USB devices.
5) Turn off Data Sharing (should disable Live Traffic - note you'll need to toggle it on again later)
6) Turn off WiFi - careful - it has a tendency to turn on again, so make sure it is off when you leave the car.
7) Pause music playback or select a non-existent source.
One key thing to add:
Note if you use an Apple device (maybe Android too - no idea), you do NOT need to open the app to check on your vehicle range - use the widget for the Tesla App! It will show you 1) the miles, and 2) when the miles was last updated, and it will not wake up the vehicle. I believe it updates whenever the car wakes up on its own, so it's kind of like using those as "free" checks.
Regarding the "deep sleep" below 20% - I haven't seen evidence of that - there was a recent case here where someone lost about 5% in 5 days, going from 20-15% (because they left Summon Standby on at the airport for a 12-day trip - so they lost a total of at least 45% over that time period - 7 days to get to 20%, followed by 5 days of drain from 20% to 15%). So that's not a deep sleep below 20%.
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You need to find a place to at least plug it into 120 even if you have to rent a garage.
IdaX
Member
You know, I haven't tried it so don't consider this advice, but I've at least thought about disconnecting the 12V battery before leaving on a long trip like that. Then there wouldn't be any power draws, and you'd have charge when you return.
Now, would that damage the car by letting the battery freeze though.... maybe! Not sure. Anyone else actually know anything about that (as opposed to uninformed speculation)?
Now, would that damage the car by letting the battery freeze though.... maybe! Not sure. Anyone else actually know anything about that (as opposed to uninformed speculation)?
Kilotango74
Active Member
I second this recommendation. There are places that would do long storage on my car when I was in the Navy and gone for anywhere from 6-11 months. Leaving your car not plugged in for that long outside is asking for trouble in my opinion. Especially if just anyone can walk by and do whatever to your car.
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