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newbie question about charging
- Thread starter railroader1988
- Start date
In that situation, the car is going to request a charge after it drops 2-3% down, to get back to the 90% (thus initiating another charge / bill).
Since you can change the charge percentage in the app (I do it all the time) if you set it to 90% then left for a week, you would open your tesla app, slide it down to 50% (since you dont need a charge cause you are not there driving your car), and it would likely lose 2-3% for the week provided you dont have on sentry mode or anything like that.
Once you get back, you would unplug and drive (and raise the slider in the app back to "whatever" (you want it to be).
Since you can change the charge percentage in the app (I do it all the time) if you set it to 90% then left for a week, you would open your tesla app, slide it down to 50% (since you dont need a charge cause you are not there driving your car), and it would likely lose 2-3% for the week provided you dont have on sentry mode or anything like that.
Once you get back, you would unplug and drive (and raise the slider in the app back to "whatever" (you want it to be).
swaltner
Active Member
“How long is a piece of string?”
Like Tesla Superchargers and EA/… CCS stations, some of the standard L2 charging stations like those from ChargePoint get configured to bill for idle time after the charging session is complete. This is currently very rare, but it does happen and likely will happen more over time. We can’t answer your question with a blanket answer. ChargePoint stations should say on the screen what the price for charging is - per kWh or minute- as well as parking fees, if applicable, which would start being billed after your car stopped charging, but stayed connected. That pricing info should also be in the app.
Leaving an EV plugged into long-term parking at an airport for a week would be expected. Leaving an EV plugged into a public charging station at your apartment complex or at work would be inconsiderate and should be avoided if possible.
Like Tesla Superchargers and EA/… CCS stations, some of the standard L2 charging stations like those from ChargePoint get configured to bill for idle time after the charging session is complete. This is currently very rare, but it does happen and likely will happen more over time. We can’t answer your question with a blanket answer. ChargePoint stations should say on the screen what the price for charging is - per kWh or minute- as well as parking fees, if applicable, which would start being billed after your car stopped charging, but stayed connected. That pricing info should also be in the app.
Leaving an EV plugged into long-term parking at an airport for a week would be expected. Leaving an EV plugged into a public charging station at your apartment complex or at work would be inconsiderate and should be avoided if possible.
RTPEV
Active Member
@swaltner's answer pretty much said what I was going to say, but I will reiterate anyway:
Don't do this! You are needlessly tying up a valuable resource for the week, and it is largely unnecessary. Well, okay, maybe you are stuck with having to immediately leave on a trip after arriving home and need your car to be at 90% immediately upon return. But other than that specific corner case, don't leave the car plugged in while you're gone!
Yes, it will continue to charge as needed (you don't have to manually initiate new charging sessions), but it's likely that the charging station that charges by the hour is not counting the time it's actually delivering electricity, but rather the time that the connector is plugged into the car. This would mean that you would be charged for the entire week, which I imagine would be hugely expensive.
This would be a perfect case for just plugging into a 120V outlet for the week. Have you explored this option?
Don't do this! You are needlessly tying up a valuable resource for the week, and it is largely unnecessary. Well, okay, maybe you are stuck with having to immediately leave on a trip after arriving home and need your car to be at 90% immediately upon return. But other than that specific corner case, don't leave the car plugged in while you're gone!
Yes, it will continue to charge as needed (you don't have to manually initiate new charging sessions), but it's likely that the charging station that charges by the hour is not counting the time it's actually delivering electricity, but rather the time that the connector is plugged into the car. This would mean that you would be charged for the entire week, which I imagine would be hugely expensive.
This would be a perfect case for just plugging into a 120V outlet for the week. Have you explored this option?
srs5694
Active Member
I'd also like to +1 @swaltner's answer, and add this:
Why would you want to leave the car plugged in for a week at your apartment's (condo's?) semi-public EVSE? Although "phantom drain" is a thing, a Tesla will not normally lose a huge amount of charge in one week unless you enable energy-sucking features, such as Sentry Mode or cabin overheat protection (in hot weather). Even if you do activate such features, if you're at home and simply don't need to drive much, you could always plug back in every few days to replenish your charge, without hogging the EVSE.
More details about your situation might enable us to provide better answers.
Why would you want to leave the car plugged in for a week at your apartment's (condo's?) semi-public EVSE? Although "phantom drain" is a thing, a Tesla will not normally lose a huge amount of charge in one week unless you enable energy-sucking features, such as Sentry Mode or cabin overheat protection (in hot weather). Even if you do activate such features, if you're at home and simply don't need to drive much, you could always plug back in every few days to replenish your charge, without hogging the EVSE.
More details about your situation might enable us to provide better answers.
I would get a friend to unplug and move your car after it is charged.
You could give them a key card and setup valet mode.
Or you could remotely unlock and start the car for them the relock it.
Keeping it plugged in the whole week is likely to make someone upset unless you've got lots of chargers and few EVs.
You could give them a key card and setup valet mode.
Or you could remotely unlock and start the car for them the relock it.
Keeping it plugged in the whole week is likely to make someone upset unless you've got lots of chargers and few EVs.
srs5694
Active Member
I missed the "...then leave for a week..." part of the original post. Over the course of a week, a Tesla is unlikely to lose a lot of charge unless Smart Mode is enabled, or maybe cabin overheat protection in hot weather. Even then, over the course of a week, it might not completely drain the battery, depending on the car. Even if the drain is significant, the car will disable the energy-sucking features once the charge drops to 20% (that figure is from memory; I think it's right, but it might be some other percentage in the same general ballpark). Thus, you'd be unlikely to come home to a completely dead battery. The worst-case likely scenario is that the charge will be a bit below 20% when you return, and you'll need to plug in and charge overnight.
If you don't use Sentry Mode or other energy-sucking features, parking for a whole week will result in just a few miles worth of range loss, so you shouldn't worry too much about it. You might want to check your range when you return just to be sure it's OK, but it's unlikely to drop more than a few miles.
One in-between caveat is that every time you check your Tesla app, the car will wake up, and this will result in a small amount of range loss (maybe a mile or so). Thus, if you're away and the car is unplugged, you should not check your Tesla app frequently.
just an update to this thread, one remember
1: I'm an EV newbie, so be gentle lol
2. the charger is in my assigned parking spot, for my sole use, no one elses, so I'm not hogging the charger , its assigned to my paid parking spot..
3.. I figured out my answer, with trial and error, once my vehicle reach's the set charge, and stops charging the wall connector goes into " pending state", and when charging is needed to continue, it switch's automatically back to "charging " as displayed on its screen.
4. also discovered there is no idle fee, on the assigned charger, as per my first bill.
and as a bonus I found a fast DC charger around the corner from me, thats free!!
1: I'm an EV newbie, so be gentle lol
2. the charger is in my assigned parking spot, for my sole use, no one elses, so I'm not hogging the charger , its assigned to my paid parking spot..
3.. I figured out my answer, with trial and error, once my vehicle reach's the set charge, and stops charging the wall connector goes into " pending state", and when charging is needed to continue, it switch's automatically back to "charging " as displayed on its screen.
4. also discovered there is no idle fee, on the assigned charger, as per my first bill.
and as a bonus I found a fast DC charger around the corner from me, thats free!!
