Leaving Model 3 Parked for 3 months

[TheGrimSweeper]

I’m going to be out of the country for the next 3 months and plan to leave my Model 3 parked in my closed garage for the whole time.

It’s in San Francisco, so temperature wise there won’t be any extremes. Garage seems to stay at 68F at all times.

Now I’ve asked my neighbor to come plug the car in overnight once a week to keep the battery happy.

Should I ask him to drive it once a month or so too? Or is it ok to just sit still and hang out?

Any tips for keeping Tesla happy and Parked for a few months is appreciated!

 

[Veritas1980]

Why don’t you just keep the car plugged in at all times?

I would set the charge to 50% and ask the neighbor to take it for at spin once or twice a month.

 

[Tam]

...once a week to keep the battery happy...

My reading of owner's manual is: There's no advantage in keeping it unplugged for that long if you can keep it plugged.

 

[TheGrimSweeper]

Thank you both. Will keep the car plugged in and will advise my neighbor to re-plug it in when he drives it.

Is once a month ok to take it for a spin? Is there any actual harm if it just sat for 3 months?

 

[Krugerrand]

Thank you both. Will keep the car plugged in and will advise my neighbor to re-plug it in when he drives it.

Is once a month ok to take it for a spin? Is there any actual harm if it just sat for 3 months?

No harm in leaving it parked for 3 months plugged in. Why give your neighbor the chance to scratch or dent it?

 

[gaswalla]

Ok to leave it for 3 months.
Heck, we have proof it's ok: that's how long the 3's are sitting in the lots before they get delivered to their new owners

 

[ebmcs03]

Just make sure to pump your tires to max to avoid flat spots.

 

[Veritas1980]

Just make sure to pump your tires to max to avoid flat spots.

That was my reasoning for having the neighbor taking it for a spin once in a while. Haven’t heard that you could just pump the tires hard before, but you learn something new every day on this forum.

 

[widodh]

That was my reasoning for having the neighbor taking it for a spin once in a while. Haven’t heard that you could just pump the tires hard before, but you learn something new every day on this forum.

Some people also jack up a car and put it on supports to take the stress away from the tires

 

[Tam]

Edmunds recommendation for 30 day car storage:

How To Prep Your Car for Long-Term Storage | Edmunds

Among it is: Don't use the parking brake. Use a tire stopper called chock instead. For Tesla, I think its equivalent is to go to Service screen and activate "tow" mode to free the brakes. (To prevent brake pads from fusing into rotors).

 

[HG Wells]

BUT what about lightning ?
If it is even drizzling my wife makes me unplug the car.

 

[voip-ninja]

BUT what about lightning ?
If it is even drizzling my wife makes me unplug the car.

From power surges? How could you possibly be always monitoring the car and disconnecting it in the event of a power surge?

The charger built into the car is designed to protect itself against surges. If you use HPWC this also has surge protection circuitry in it. As a "last" resort (before doing something crazy like unplugging it all the time) you can install a surge arrest device in your breaker panel that the car charging circuit is hooked up to.

 

[PoitNarf]

BUT what about lightning ?
If it is even drizzling my wife makes me unplug the car.

With a name like HG Wells I thought you would be aware that if your Model 3 is struck by lightning it unlocks the flux capacitor feature.

 

[Brenzo]

What about using tire savers like these from Amazon. Claim to prevent flat spots.

Do you think it’s necessary to keep plugged in if only gone for 2 weeks? Will be winter time in non-heated garage I share with condo neighbor. When plugged in the cord might be somewhat in the way, or at least a minor annoyance.

 

[HG Wells]

With a name like HG Wells I thought you would be aware that if your Model 3 is struck by lightning it unlocks the flux capacitor feature.

Flux capacitors are merely a marketing ploy, by one of my competitors.

 

[ewoodrick]

I’m going to be out of the country for the next 3 months and plan to leave my Model 3 parked in my closed garage for the whole time.

It’s in San Francisco, so temperature wise there won’t be any extremes. Garage seems to stay at 68F at all times.

Now I’ve asked my neighbor to come plug the car in overnight once a week to keep the battery happy.

Should I ask him to drive it once a month or so too? Or is it ok to just sit still and hang out?

Any tips for keeping Tesla happy and Parked for a few months is appreciated!

Maybe you should charge him $40 each month for the opportunity to drive the car

 

[dsvick]

BUT what about lightning ?
If it is even drizzling my wife makes me unplug the car.

I'd be more concerned that your wife is telling you to go outside and play with high voltage electrical systems in a rainstorm...

 

[chinnam3]

What about using tire savers like these from Amazon. Claim to prevent flat spots.

Do you think it’s necessary to keep plugged in if only gone for 2 weeks? Will be winter time in non-heated garage I share with condo neighbor. When plugged in the cord might be somewhat in the way, or at least a minor annoyance.

Yes, seems like a good idea

https://www.amazon.com/BUNKERWALL-T...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=EWB0307FXHDDC42SG14P

 

[m3snowy]

Edmunds recommendation for 30 day car storage:

How To Prep Your Car for Long-Term Storage | Edmunds

Among it is: Don't use the parking brake. Use a tire stopper called chock instead. For Tesla, I think its equivalent is to go to Service screen and activate "tow" mode to free the brakes. (To prevent brake pads from fusing into rotors).

But tow mode only works for 20 minutes; from the user manual:

Caution: Transport Mode automatically cancels and the parking brake is applied if Model 3 is rolled faster than 5 mph (8 km/h), 12V power is low, or if Transport Mode has been continuously enabled for 20 minutes. Model 3 sounds its horn to warn you that Transport Mode is about to cancel.​

 

[Cirrus MS100D]

I'd be more concerned that your wife is telling you to go outside and play with high voltage electrical systems in a rainstorm...

Pffft. She knows EXACTLY what she’s doing.