Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Okay for Car to be Unplugged at the Airport Weekly?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Thanks for the feedback. I plan to take it to the airport with 70%+ charge. There was earlier posting about the 12V battery prematurely dieing if it wasn't regularly plugged in. Scares me a little. Further reading indicated per Tesla "A plugged in battery is a happy battery." and passages from the owners manual that it should be plugged in as much as possible. This scares me a lot.

I am only in kidding myself...I will buy it shortly but want the know if the prudent thing is to take the Wife's Audi when I go to the airport.
 
I don't have a charger in my parking garage and I often travel 4-10 days at a time with an unplugged car.

Just go to the settings and make sure you:
  • Turn on energy saving
  • Turn off Always connected
  • Turn off cabin overheat protection
I loose 0.3 to 0.5% per day, but this is also at a temperature controlled garage, so the battery management system doesn't need to heat or cool the battery while I'm gone.

And as mal_tsla says, the main battery will maintain the 12V, not the charger. If you make sure the car is fast asleep by putting on the right settings and don't constantly wake it up by checking on the app. The usage on the 12V should be minimized.

Come to think of it, Tesla should really put in a "long term parking" setting. This subject comes up quite often, and it would also be nice for the rest of us to just have a on/off switch in the settings (or even better, in the app).
 
Should note: if it's cold at the airport while you're gone, your battery drain will be substantially higher.

I ran into serious drain while parked for a week at the airport in February — the one week where it got bitterly cold. They have chargers, but they were all occupied, and I'd stupidly planned on using the chargers to recharge while I was gone. I, the idiot, had ~80 miles charge left. Even with energy saving on, always connected off, and range mode on I lost ~6 miles per day, enough that I wouldn't have made it home on the charge I had left. Ended up squeezing into a not-spot by the chargers and plugging in for a few hours to get enough charge to make it home.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: Quick2Judge
Should note: if it's cold at the airport while you're gone, your battery drain will be substantially higher.

I ran into serious drain while parked for a week at the airport in February — the one week where it got bitterly cold. They have chargers, but they were all occupied, and I'd stupidly planned on using the chargers to recharge while I was gone. I, the idiot, had ~80 miles charge left. Even with energy saving on, always connected off, and range mode on I lost ~6 miles per day, enough that I wouldn't have made it home on the charge I had left. Ended up squeezing into a not-spot by the chargers and plugging in for a few hours to get enough charge to make it home.
Could you please quantify the temperatures in question ? When I left the car parked in San Francisco last winter, I had similar concerns, but with ambient temperatures in the 40s (hey, it's not Ohio) then, I lost <20 miles total over 10 days. This time around I actually ended up losing proportionally more in hot weather (~10 miles in 4 days), perhaps because the BMC automatically tries to cool the car battery regularly ?
 
You are totally fine doing this. I leave my S unplugged from Thursday to Monday, every weekend, and only lose a mile or two each day. No problems.
Hi JAREADE - thanks. Okay I just placed my order! Congrats you are the first to know. We will keep it our little secret. Have you noticed any significant battery degradation issues - is your max storage capacity less than others with equivalent aged vehicles? Based on everyone's feed back I think I will have no problem getting home. Still worried this usage pattern (unplugged four days a week almost every week) may damage the battery.
 
  • Like
Reactions: redan
Hi JAREADE - thanks. Okay I just placed my order! Congrats you are the first to know. We will keep it our little secret. Have you noticed any significant battery degradation issues - is your max storage capacity less than others with equivalent aged vehicles? Based on everyone's feed back I think I will have no problem getting home. Still worried this usage pattern (unplugged four days a week almost every week) may damage the battery.

:) In 8K miles in 5 months, I have noticed 0 degradation of the battery. Last week I charged to just under 100% on my S 90D - 295 miles. I had to head out before it finished - adding those last few miles takes significantly longer.
 
Could you please quantify the temperatures in question ? When I left the car parked in San Francisco last winter, I had similar concerns, but with ambient temperatures in the 40s (hey, it's not Ohio) then, I lost <20 miles total over 10 days. This time around I actually ended up losing proportionally more in hot weather (~10 miles in 4 days), perhaps because the BMC automatically tries to cool the car battery regularly ?
Ranged between -20° and 20° F. 40° isn't remotely cold.
 
Hi JAREADE - thanks. Okay I just placed my order! Congrats you are the first to know. We will keep it our little secret. Have you noticed any significant battery degradation issues - is your max storage capacity less than others with equivalent aged vehicles? Based on everyone's feed back I think I will have no problem getting home. Still worried this usage pattern (unplugged four days a week almost every week) may damage the battery.

Congrats! I'm sure you are going to love it.

I haven't had mine plugged in regularly for 6 months, and I haven't seen any degradation so far, not compared to new or to other 75's.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Quick2Judge
Just did it, no biggie. Lost about 1.5% per day.

High state of charge at high temperatures is what causes premature degradation. A parked car at medium to low charge is not a risk factor for battery lifetime; in fact it may enhance it slightly.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I plan to take it to the airport with 70%+ charge. There was earlier posting about the 12V battery prematurely dieing if it wasn't regularly plugged in. Scares me a little. Further reading indicated per Tesla "A plugged in battery is a happy battery." and passages from the owners manual that it should be plugged in as much as possible. This scares me a lot.

I am only in kidding myself...I will buy it shortly but want the know if the prudent thing is to take the Wife's Audi when I go to the airport.
I left mine in my garage for 30-45 days at a time before I finally managed to obtain my Condominium Board approval to install my connection. In total it was about six months. Zero problem, although I charged to 90% before leaving because I never knew how long I would be gone. You'll never have a problem if you figure on 1.5% per day loss and allow enough charge so you can get where you will go with 20% or so remaining prior to charging. That's the conservative way, but it also is the worry-free way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Quick2Judge