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Need advise & tips: Parked for 7 days at 95 degrees heat @ cruise port

G2019

Member
Apr 16, 2019
133
16
Austin
It's our first long road trip (really excited) but we're taking a 7 days cruise and plan to leave our Tesla at the cruise port parking for 7-8 days. The nearest Supercharger is 60 miles from the cruise port. So I plan to fully charge the battery on the way to cruise port. So by the time I reach the port parking, it'll still have 65-70% battery remaining for 7-8 days. Since these cars have vampire battery draining, plus the outside temp is high, do you see any concerns it'll drain the entire battery or reach below 25% when we return back from the cruise?

Thanks in advance for your advises and tips!
 

ps004ynos

Member
Mar 16, 2016
184
181
Los Angeles
Have not done this with our X but with our 3.

Was the Disney cruise out of San Diego. Lost 9 miles over 5 days, not bad at all. Sentry mode was off though. Temperature was probably high 70 low 80s at the time.

Hope it helps.
 

re04586

Member
Jul 10, 2018
170
283
USA
I've left my X at the airport for 13 days in 80's temperature. Lost about 15-20% of a 75D battery, i checked in on it with the app only a few times to wake it up during the trip. This too was without sentry mode.

I think you will be fine.
 

mxnym

Member
Mar 9, 2018
839
306
Bloomington, IN
Doesn't the vehicle auto cool it if the internal temperature reaches 105 degrees or so ?
This is a feature called cabin overheat protection that you should probably turn off for your trip. You should probably also enable power saving if you have that function (MCU1 only?), and if you have that option, you can also uncheck the setting to keep mobile access awake during sleep in the same screen. Finally, if you're really feeling nervous about it, you could disable mobile access while you're away so that you won't be waking it up accidentally or intentionally to check on it.
 

bob_p

Active Member
Apr 5, 2012
3,594
2,748
This is a feature called cabin overheat protection that you should probably turn off for your trip. You should probably also enable power saving if you have that function (MCU1 only?), and if you have that option, you can also uncheck the setting to keep mobile access awake during sleep in the same screen. Finally, if you're really feeling nervous about it, you could disable mobile access while you're away so that you won't be waking it up accidentally or intentionally to check on it.

Also - don't enable sentry mode - since that appears to keep many of the electronics powered, including the USB plugs.

If possible, if you have enough charge to skip overnight charging for a night, recommend you enable as many of the power saving settings as possible (no sentry, disable always connected, enable power saving, disable overheat protection) and measure how much power loss you get. You can then make a rough projection of power loss over 7 days, though you'll likely get some additional loss if you have the vehicle outside in the sun, which will require additional power to keep the battery temperature within the safe range.
 

G2019

Member
Apr 16, 2019
133
16
Austin
Thanks all.

Plugshare is non-Tesla chargers?

Even if I enable power savings as y'all mentioned, it'll still turn the AC ON (as needed) to cool the cabin or the battery temperature within the safe range OR it won't at all turn ON anything?
 

bob_p

Active Member
Apr 5, 2012
3,594
2,748
Plugshare is a great resource for finding Tesla (Superchargers and Destination Chargers) and non-Tesla chargers - and something I'll usually check before going on a road trip to identify alternative charging options, in case a Tesla charger is unavailable when we arrive.

The interior cabin A/C will likely run only if you have overheat protection enabled - otherwise the interior will get hot (which is the likely cause for the console touchscreen discoloration/bubbling problems). If you're parking all day, a windshield sunshade may have minimal impact on interior temperature, primarily shielding the area underneath from extended UV radiation.

The battery pack cooling/heating system will likely run periodically to keep the pack within the operating temperature range.

For a 7 day cruise, with all of the power saving features enabled, you should be OK. After disabling overheat protection, the largest vampire draw is likely running the onboard processor (which happens if you have Always Connected enabled or if you are using Sentry mode).

I always have some anxiety about leaving our Tesla parked at the airport or cruise terminal for cruises. And sometimes will do a 12 hour or 24 hour parking measurement prior to a trip just to restore confidence we'll have sufficient charge when we return.

If you're going to the Galveston cruise terminal, we've parked our Tesla at the port several times for 7 day cruises - and haven't had a problem.

Stopping at one of the west Houston superchargers on your way to the cruise terminal, and getting nearly a 100% charge would give you the maximum charge when you park. The best supercharger would likely be at Rudy's at the Grand Parkway and 59 south of Sugar Land. You can get a full charge there and then drive highway 6 to Galveston (usually missing most of the traffic). Though you could also use the Supercharger on 290 near Beltway 8, but that will require driving cross town and down the Gulf Freeway where you might encounter more traffic.

There are also multiple destination chargers in Galveston. Port Parking and EZCruiseParking have Tesla and generic chargers, including car covers to reduce heat when parked outside and some indoor parking spaces. Plus, Moody Gardens has a couple of Tesla chargers, in case you need to add enough charge to make it to the nearest Supercharger.

As long you enable the power saving features (do a test park at home to estimate daily vampire drain), you should be fine. We've made multiple trips parking at the Galveston cruise terminal for 7 days and last year parking in a Houston airport garage for a 14 day trip - and we've been fine (though we usually charge to near 100% before leaving home, just to give us a little more cushion).
 

Need

Active Member
Nov 22, 2017
2,863
2,178
SoCal
Left our MX 75D at the airport last summer for 8 days. I lost about 22 miles. Cabin overheat protection will turn itself off after 24 hours, so it shouldn't matter much. I believe vamp drain on the MX is about 2 to 3 miles a day.
 

NoirMS

Member
Oct 21, 2018
199
141
Orlando
Thanks all.

Plugshare is non-Tesla chargers?

Even if I enable power savings as y'all mentioned, it'll still turn the AC ON (as needed) to cool the cabin or the battery temperature within the safe range OR it won't at all turn ON anything?
sorry, not an x here but I left my S in a shop for 14 days without plugging in.... vampire drain seemed to top out at 4 miles a day..... I don't expect you to be far off....btw, if it's the Waterford Lakes SC you'll hit b4 leaving, it's a good one, easy in easy out (currently at it now) 14 stalls, rarely used...
20190612_094729.jpg
 

Need

Active Member
Nov 22, 2017
2,863
2,178
SoCal
sorry, not an x here but I left my S in a shop for 14 days without plugging in.... vampire drain seemed to top out at 4 miles a day..... I don't expect you to be far off....btw, if it's the Waterford Lakes SC you'll hit b4 leaving, it's a good one, easy in easy out (currently at it now) 14 stalls, rarely used...
View attachment 418421

4 miles for a S is about 3 miles for a X with the same battery. I think vamp drain (miles/day) is about 5 for M3, 4 for MS, and 3 for M3 in general.
 
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G2019

Member
Apr 16, 2019
133
16
Austin
Thank you @bob_p @Need @NoirMS and everyone else for being very helpful and for the great tips. I plan to park outside and the temperature will be around 90's.

I never used a destination charger, are they specifically for those customers who stays in these hotels (at-least the hotel destination chargers)? These destination chargers normally requires the adapter that came with the mobile charger? how much does these chargers cost normally (let's say for 80-100 miles charge)?
 

Need

Active Member
Nov 22, 2017
2,863
2,178
SoCal
I never used a destination charger, are they specifically for those customers who stays in these hotels (at-least the hotel destination chargers)? These destination chargers normally requires the adapter that came with the mobile charger? how much does these chargers cost normally (let's say for 80-100 miles charge)?

Destination chargers are Tesla Wall Connectors installed usually at hotels or restaurants. You don't need adapter for those, but yeah usually they are reserved for customers. Some hotels will let you use it even if you don't stay there, but I would not count on it. And to charge 80 to 100 miles.. will need about 3 hours on a Wall Connector for MX. Probably good to find a restaurant with it and eat a meal for 2 hours and you get 60 miles out of it.
 

Rockster

Active Member
Oct 22, 2013
3,007
4,611
McKinney, TX
Are you leaving out of Galveston? We took a cruse in March and parked at an inside parking facility that had a Tesla wall charger for us to plug into while we were gone. It was great. They have a free shuttle directly to the ships, too.
 

BerTX

Supporting Member
May 2, 2014
3,505
3,559
Texas/Washington
^^^^^
Miami and ft Lauderdale are brutally hot in summer.

Btw: inside parking or perhaps just renting a car each way and leaving X at home.
Brutal to humans because of the humidity, but the car doesn't care what the temperature "feels like". The actual temperature is rarely above 90.
 

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