Major Tesla advantage: It can sit for months without harm; no ICE can do that

[jbcarioca]

After 27,000 miles in 1 1/2 years, during which time I have been out of the US more than in it I have learned quite a bit about my car. Among the things I learned, important to only a few of us, is that one can leave a Tesla plugged in for months while the car waits patiently for the owners return. Tesla even told me there was no problem at all, just leave it plugged in set fro 50% or so.

Thanks to a Norwegian post about leaving a Model S outside in the winter for a month without being plugged in I gained confidence so I took delivery on mine several months before I had my own charging. My Model S lost about one percent per day, so I charged to 90% and left it for as much as two months. Zero problems ensued. Now my car has 27,000 miles and still zero problems.

An ICE has invariably issues with fuel pumps, water pumps and myriad other fluids and rotating pieces that really do not like to sit for months on end. I have lived in more than one country at the same time for thirty years and have always had one or more cars in each country, resulting in them sitting for months without use, followed by intensive use for a while, then sitting again. Early on I learned to use trickle charger for batteries, but one thing that always followed was early failure of all those parts I mentioned. Some manufacturers dealt with issues under warranty (Fiat, Peugeot, Maserati, Porsche, Audi) while others repeatedly denied warranty repair (e.g. Alfa, BMW( three cars, three countries, no more BMW for me!).

I have posted this in the Technical forum because it does not seem to fit easily anywhere else. Still, Tesla is the ideal vehicle for people with multiple residences and/or heavy travel schedules.

 

[mytes]

what about tires?, i was told one should inflate them to about 55lbs if leaving a car for months.

 

[BerTX]

what about tires?, i was told one should inflate them to about 55lbs if leaving a car for months.

That was the one thing I thought of -- we used to put cars on jack stands to keep the tires from getting flat spots. I wonder if there is an easy way to raise the car up with the air suspension and block it up, then release the air to take the weight off of the tires.

Or maybe modern tires don't get out of shape anymore?

 

[jbcarioca]

what about tires?, i was told one should inflate them to about 55lbs if leaving a car for months.

I used jack stands until a Michelin engineer who lived near me in France told me that the flat spots were no longer issues to worry about. he told me to leave the car normally inflated then check them when i returned unless the car would sit for more than a year or so. Since then I have done that. My Tesla with Michelin does not seem to lose pressure very quickly. My BMW with Pirelli run-flats in Brazil requires top off every two months or so. I have not had tire problems at all with any car since following my neighbor's advice, but storing the cars is easier.

FWIW, I have a Model 3 reserved for Brazil and another for the US. Hopefully they can be identically equipped.

 

[AudubonB]

I think I've diagnosed yer problem.....

Ya see there, sonny, you've chosen southern Florida and Ipanemaville as yer abodes. Guess you never were taught about how to manage a diversified portfolio.

And just a tad more seriously, one of the unsung advantages of life in the 3rd highest elevation home at 63ºN latitude is that autos can sit for many, many, many months at a time without falling prey to the ails of hot, humid...let's see, what's the au courant right word?....nasty... environments.

Also, Alaska doesn't have any ethanol in our gasoline, which is a very big problem for long-term storage in the lesser-48, and, if I recall correctly, even far worse em o Brasil. ¿Não é isso?

 

[jbcarioca]

I think I've diagnosed yer problem.....

Ya see there, sonny, you've chosen southern Florida and Ipanemaville as yer abodes. Guess you never were taught about how to manage a diversified portfolio.

And just a tad more seriously, one of the unsung advantages of life in the 3rd highest elevation home at 63ºN latitude is that autos can sit for many, many, many months at a time without falling prey to the ails of hot, humid...let's see, what's the au courant right word?....nasty... environments.

Also, Alaska doesn't have any ethanol in our gasoline, which is a very big problem for long-term storage in the lesser-48, and, if I recall correctly, even far worse em o Brasil. ¿Não é isso?

Aha! Except for my French abode, that was near Nice (pretty arid), the one near Los Angeles (pretty arid), the Greek one near Athens and so on...
However, my mild-mannered extremely Northern friend, I note the following: em Rio de Janeiro o conteudo da alcool em gasoline é 27,5%! Claro que voçe tem raison, mesmo quando voçe uso Espanol eu posso concordar com o senhor.*
* "in Rio de Janeiro we have 27.5% alcohol in gasoline, so it is obvious that you have a point even though you express yourself in Spanish, which we do not use here."
In fact the alcohol content certainly was a contribution factor to the BMW fuel pump failure in Brazil. The other two happened in France where there was zero alcohol in the fuel. I am quite confident that cold arid weather minimizes the ICE storage problems, but probably does not eliminate them. Alcohol in fuel certainly does cause issues, but the cars are certified for use there and have no stated cautions for storage. FWIW, the only carmaker who refused warranty for me is BMW and they did it in the US, France (diesel), and Brazil. Thus they have a different approach than the others with which I have dealt.

Possibly you would still agree that a BEV is a simpler vehicle to store than is an ICE?

Finally, Ipanemaville is not too far away, but I live in Alto Jardim Botânico, a far more congenial, cooler environment.

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

That might be as much of an issue with the cars as with the time spent in storage. I can't say I've had much in the way of problems with the components you mentioned after my cars sat idle for months, or even a year+ in some cases. Batteries go flat left and right, and sometimes a gasket will start weeping, but I've haven't seen anything major fail after storage. In fact, the only repair that might have been associated with storage was a "new to me"/rebuilt brake booster on my pickup leaking. But then again, the second replacement (ordered from the auto store's distribution center) had no problems, so I chalked that one up to the first rebuilt unit sitting on the store's shelves for months and/or years in the desert rather than the truck sitting idle for a few months.

 

[wycolo]

Diesel ICEs keep for long periods without issue, just disconnect the negative battery terminal(s) and scrub the post area clean to avoid electrical leakage.

EVs that are plugged in need to be checked each month for possible GFI disconnects or breaker kick outs. Might be a good idea to hook up a trickle charger to the 12 volt battery.
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[AudubonB]

WHAAaasss espanishified about "...em o Brasil...não é isso" ??????

BTW, ainda tem bondes em Jardim Botânico, or am I aging myself?

And yes, the gist of your comment I cannot dispute: BEVs are less problematic to store than ICEs. But certification or no, ethanolized gasoline has the shelf life of a mayfly. I goofed this past year and destroyed the carburetors in my improperly prepped chainsaw and gas-powered air compressor. Both filled with truly skanky varnished sludge on my return to Arizona. All a function of the alcohol. Yecch.

And wycolo: yes, diesel ages far better than any gas. My (pre-scandal) '06 TDI Golf even has the original battery in it - that's just about inconceivable in a vehicle living in a climate more temperate than the Alaska Range.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

WHAAaasss espanishified about "...em o Brasil...não é isso" ??????

You wrote "¿Não é isso?", but Portuguese does not use a leading inverted question mark. That's a Spanish thing that was not adopted by other Romance languages.

Also "em o Brasil" would be written "no Brasil". The definite articles begin with vowels and are often contracted: o(s) -> no(s), em a(s) -> na(s), de o(s) -> do(s), de a(s) -> da(s)

E.g. É do Brasiiiillll!

The indefinite articles and some demonstrative pronouns can also be contracted, but they're considered more informal.

(This is all subject to the usual IIRC qualification).

 

[jbcarioca]

WHAAaasss espanishified about "...em o Brasil...não é isso" ??????

BTW, ainda tem bondes em Jardim Botânico, or am I aging myself?

And yes, the gist of your comment I cannot dispute: BEVs are less problematic to store than ICEs. But certification or no, ethanolized gasoline has the shelf life of a mayfly. I goofed this past year and destroyed the carburetors in my improperly prepped chainsaw and gas-powered air compressor. Both filled with truly skanky varnished sludge on my return to Arizona. All a function of the alcohol. Yecch.

And wycolo: yes, diesel ages far better than any gas. My (pre-scandal) '06 TDI Golf even has the original battery in it - that's just about inconceivable in a vehicle living in a climate more temperate than the Alaska Range.

You're aging yourself. I've lived here for ~35 years, only bonde left is in Santa Teresa. Skanky alcohol does a job, no doubt we have 27.5% alcohol here in Brazil. All my ICE problems have probably been alcohol related (not mine, the cars) but...still would have zero with the Tesla sitting for months, not even without 12v trickle, which I have done always for Porsche, Maserati, Alfa (vampire losses rival an S) and others. Some I even installed a battery disconnect, but trickle works better.

You wrote "¿Não é isso?", but Portuguese does not use a leading inverted question mark. That's a Spanish thing that was not adopted by other Romance languages.

Also "em o Brasil" would be written "no Brasil". The definite articles begin with vowels and are often contracted: o(s) -> no(s), em a(s) -> na(s), de o(s) -> do(s), de a(s) -> da(s)

E.g. É do Brasiiiillll!

The indefinite articles and some demonstrative pronouns can also be contracted, but they're considered more informal.

(This is all subject to the usual IIRC qualification).

In your case IIRC should read, "since I do recall my Portuguese correctly". Not that anybody becomes too disturbed about that stuff. We've far too many visiting Argentines and Chilenos to become pedantic. Besides that have you ever met a pedantic Brazilian, much less a Carioca? Only my Mother-in-law and she's 92.

 

[wycolo]

@AudubonB: Did you run those engines dry before storing?
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[jbcarioca]

@AudubonB: Did you run those engines dry before storing?
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No, BMW advised to leave the tank full, so I did. No fuel system problems with any others. Several of my problems were gaskets leaking and actuators failing.

 

[AudubonB]

As far as my two little two-strokes: I emptied the fuel tanks but I neither drained the carburetor bowls nor flooded them with any fogging compound like Sea Foam. Very bad idea; now I'm paying for it.

 

[AudubonB]

Well fer cry-i-i. I've never written "em o" in my life. That was my evil twin cousin-in-law.

And as far as "¿".....I use that in all languages - English, Dutch, German....just not Japanese. I'm an equal-opportunity punctutationalistificator. ¿Capisce?