I often travel for work and park outside for up to 5 days at a time. Living in Cleveland Oh where it often gets below freezing has me a bit concerned that the battery will be dead when I arrive home from a trip. I've read estimates anywhere from 2-8 miles of range loss PER HOUR when a Model S sits unconnected in below freezing weather. Is this true? If so, I certainly would be stranded at the airport even at the low range loss estimate. Does anyone have any insight into this?
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Lengthy Airport Parking in Cold Weather
- Thread starter Tim Carcione
- Start date
NigelM
Recovering Member
I can't speak for cold weather environments; but a couple of times recently I parked under cover at airports and was losing 8-10 miles per day. Was just away for 2 weeks and I would not have had enough battery left to get me home if I had left the car at the airport; fortunately Tesla was replacing a rear seat belt for me so I left it at the service center near the airport, they charged it for me before I got back - great service, but not everyone will have the same situation.
In short, I find that extended airport parking is still an issue.
In short, I find that extended airport parking is still an issue.
How far are you away from the airport? That does seem excessive as a per hour loss even in the cold but will let people with actual cold weather experience comment. They plan to implement a sleep mode again which should help. Also, Fastpark has a 110V outlet now which wouldn't do much in the cold but might help offset daily losses.
Cleveland (CLE) Airport Parking - Airport Fast Park | The Fast Park
ToddRLockwood
Active Member
I believe you could reduce battery drain considerably by powering the car down after you park it. Five days does not strike me as being a particularly long time, even in freezing temps. Certainly, you'd want to park the car with as full a charge as possible. If you can park in the sun, with the windshield facing south, that might help warm things up for a few hours a day. Can't hurt.
The previous post seems like the perfect solution for you. Pulling 8A from a 120V outlet should be enough to keep you topped up.
The previous post seems like the perfect solution for you. Pulling 8A from a 120V outlet should be enough to keep you topped up.
Cottonwood
Roadster#433, Model S#S37
I have found that there is a big (>20mi) battery drain to heat up the battery and interior after it is cold soaked (below 0˚F), but I am very surprised to hear of that big of an arctic vampire load...
I live 30 miles from the airport. I called Park Place (owned by Fast Park) and they think they have a charging station but they don't know whereI fly out tomorrow so will do a little investigating. What does (or will) the sleep mode do?
Do a range charge (probably not necessary) if you are really concerned and the 30 miles of driving will knock it back down to a stand charge. Just finish your range charge right before you leave.
We don't know when sleep mode is coming back but it should reduce the ~10 miles of range lost a day when the car is just sitting there. For a 5 day trip you should be just fine even without plugging in. If you have less than 60 miles or so when you get back, find a public charging station and charge up before you head home as a fall back option.
If you already haven't signed up for them, sign up for Chargepoint and Blink networks (the free versions). You won't get your cards in time but can call in on Chargepoint at least and get a charge started. Will need to bring your J1772 adapter of course (better to just leave it in the car at all times anyway). Looks like a chargepoint station is at
Baker Electric Building
7100 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44103 United States,
When you land, also use your phone to preheat the cabin too.
Scout out 110 in the airport garage. This is what I use for long term parking at the airport. In winter you'll be fine as on current software, battery conditioning is supposed to run off shore power. I live a 2 hour drive from the airport. I'll leave the car charging, stop it short of full charge with the app, then restart charging the day before I get back to ensure a full ( or near full) charge on my return.
Nickjhowe
Member
@Tim - do you have a source for the 2-8 miles/hour? There are two different factors - how much power is the car consuming (vampire drain) and how much range does the car think it has.
The latter number goes down with vampire drain and is only recovered with charging. The range also goes down as the battery gets cold, but comes back as the battery warms up. And the range will only decrease as the battery is cooling - once it reaches steady state the range will stabilize - other than vampire drain.
So it might appear that the car is losing range when in fact that isn't the case.
The latter number goes down with vampire drain and is only recovered with charging. The range also goes down as the battery gets cold, but comes back as the battery warms up. And the range will only decrease as the battery is cooling - once it reaches steady state the range will stabilize - other than vampire drain.
So it might appear that the car is losing range when in fact that isn't the case.
I have a few places I can go at the St. Louis airport. 120V outlets are more common than you might think in covered parking garages, and I've found they're accommodating. Otherwise, I park in uncovered parking with the 240V/16A J1772's.
Rumor has it sleep mode is coming back, so this winter you may find yourself better off.
Rumor has it sleep mode is coming back, so this winter you may find yourself better off.
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