Long term parking at home - plugged in

[phaduman]

Sorry for this spam - I know this gets covered so many times...

I have seen various recommendations, starting from 2012, and I am hoping there is a recent summary somewhere based on collective knowledge learnt by the community. Fast forward to end of 2016, and I am hoping the new knowledge is the following for long-term storage:

• keep car plugged in
• set charge between 50 and 60% (I will keep at 60%)
• make sure range mode is off
• drop Amps setting to 10 or so, to make sure there is no tripping while gone.
• anything else?

Can some experts just validate? Thanks so much, appreciate it! If I ask SC guys, they say just set it to anything between "Daily" range and keep it plugged. Is 60% SOC better for longer battery life than 90%, for long term storage? I would think so - but SC guys are reluctant to confirm. Hence the summary above for validation.

thanks a lot!

 

[kort677]

sounds good

 

[mspohr]

I'm not an expert... I just play one at TMC :;
Not sure range mode makes a difference. You might want to turn on power save mode (not always connected) but if it's plugged in, you don't have to worry about power draw.
I've left my S plugged in for three weeks on vacation in winter. Every 3-4 days it loses about 10 miles range and the charger will turn on to top it off.
I think 60% is good (that's what I did).
Good point about dropping the charge current to 10 amps. I left it at 40 but I've never had any problem with the breaker tripping.

 

[jerry33]

The only time range mode will make a difference is if there are temperature extremes where the car is parked--then range mode off will keep the battery at a more constant temperature. Range mode on will allow the battery to go to the safe limits.

An example with my car is last week, parked outside and plugged in, with range mode on ('cause I forgot to turn it off) and -4 C the yellow regen line was close to zero and the regen disabled warning came up--the power also had a yellow line. There were 20 minutes of pre-heating, but no charging. The next morning at -9 C and range mode off the regen line was more than 30 kW. Again 20 minutes of pre-heating and no charging (strictly speaking, charging stopped at about 03:00--only had to recover about ten miles, drive time was 05:00).

 

[slipnslider]

Sorry for this spam - I know this gets covered so many times...

I have seen various recommendations, starting from 2012, and I am hoping there is a recent summary somewhere based on collective knowledge learnt by the community. Fast forward to end of 2016, and I am hoping the new knowledge is the following for long-term storage:

• keep car plugged in
• set charge between 50 and 60% (I will keep at 60%)
• make sure range mode is off
• drop Amps setting to 10 or so, to make sure there is no tripping while gone.
• anything else?

Can some experts just validate? Thanks so much, appreciate it! If I ask SC guys, they say just set it to anything between "Daily" range and keep it plugged. Is 60% SOC better for longer battery life than 90%, for long term storage? I would think so - but SC guys are reluctant to confirm. Hence the summary above for validation.

thanks a lot!

As someone who doesn't own a tesla, but is thinking of buying one, the above seems like a huge hassle. Shouldn't the car automatically do these things? Am I expected to be an electrical engineer to know how to best use my car?

 

[phaduman]

As someone who doesn't own a tesla, but is thinking of buying one, the above seems like a huge hassle. Shouldn't the car automatically do these things? Am I expected to be an electrical engineer to know how to best use my car?

Nah, you would be fine! Tesla offers a simple recommendation. Keep the car plugged in, and make sure you don't have charging set at 100%. That is it.

This is for those in TMC .

 

[TexasEV]

As someone who doesn't own a tesla, but is thinking of buying one, the above seems like a huge hassle. Shouldn't the car automatically do these things? Am I expected to be an electrical engineer to know how to best use my car?

How would a car automatically plug itself in and set the charging limit down to 50%?
No, you don't need to be an electrical engineer to best use the car, but you do need to RTFM. Driving a Tesla is different enough from any other car that you should educate yourself first, especially about charging. Glad to see you're taking the first step by reading TMC.

 

[brkaus]

As someone who doesn't own a tesla, but is thinking of buying one, the above seems like a huge hassle. Shouldn't the car automatically do these things? Am I expected to be an electrical engineer to know how to best use my car?

Your question is valid. That's why the SvC recommendation is simply plug it in.

The difference in longevity between 60% and 90% is likely minimal. Folks here just want to do their very best.

 

[jbcarioca]

Sorry for this spam - I know this gets covered so many times...

I have seen various recommendations, starting from 2012, and I am hoping there is a recent summary somewhere based on collective knowledge learnt by the community. Fast forward to end of 2016, and I am hoping the new knowledge is the following for long-term storage:

• keep car plugged in
• set charge between 50 and 60% (I will keep at 60%)
• make sure range mode is off
• drop Amps setting to 10 or so, to make sure there is no tripping while gone.
• anything else?

Can some experts just validate? Thanks so much, appreciate it! If I ask SC guys, they say just set it to anything between "Daily" range and keep it plugged. Is 60% SOC better for longer battery life than 90%, for long term storage? I would think so - but SC guys are reluctant to confirm. Hence the summary above for validation.

thanks a lot!

I don't bother with range mode and ignore amp settings. I typically have my car stored for 2-3 months at a time. Mine usually charges for a few minutes every day or two. Mine never has had any problems at all. I usually leave it at 50%.

 

[jerry33]

I don't bother with range mode and ignore amp settings. I typically have my car stored for 2-3 months at a time. Mine usually charges for a few minutes every day or two. Mine never has had any problems at all. I usually leave it at 50%.

Range mode only makes sense when you're going to be driving in cold weather. No sense in having it on in any other condition--especially when charging.