Parking at SeaTac airport

[UnknownSoldier]

Searching only yields a very old thread from 2013.

Does anyone know of the best place to park near SeaTac airport? I know the airport-owned lot has 48 spaces for EVs with free charging but the daily cost is $30. Are there other lots around the airport which are good to park at that offer charging stations? Ideally for way less than $30/day?

Alternatively: I'm only going to be gone for 4 days. Will the car really lose much if any significant charge in just 4 days? It's a 2016 pre-facelift S 90D and I'm more than happy to charge it to 100% before I leave that morning. Can I just park at any self-parking lot and leave it there unplugged for 4 days and return to a car which still has plenty of charge for my drive home?

Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[PLUS EV]

Unplugged for 4 days in these temperatures (assuming you are parked outside), you should be prepared to lose up to 50 rated miles. It will probably be more like 10-20 but you want to prepare for the worst!

I believe there is also a way to make your Model S "hibernate" while it is parked, but I can't remember the button sequence at the moment. Doing this will save energy while not in use, but will also cause it to take a minute to "wake up" when you get back to it.

 

[Marcboy]

I lose around 10 miles a day right now. Granted, I have a camera on, and BT Can plug.

MasterPark Garage, have a plug, they can recharge your car, just call them the day before. (pay for charing, Blink network, I think)

 

[ww73]

You can pay less at SeaTac:

1. Get a one time coupon for $20 a day at SeaTac.
2. Thru your employer, get a corporate account for $20 a day.

However, everytime I park the charging stalls are full/ICEd. If you charge full prior to your flight, 4 days should be okay for a 90D (depends on how far your home is).

Off airport, SeaTacPark Services | SeaTacPark offers charging, but it's outdoors.

Hope that helps.

 

[MyJoule]

You can minimize the vampire drain by de-slecting "always connected" on the controls page. We've never had the car parked as cold as in SEA, but we park in PHX all the time and the vampire drain is about 3 miles/day YMMV

 

[dss33]

We have used MasterPark garage every time we’ve traveled. Great experience and the car is valet parked in a garage. Only $14 a day with the coupon on their website. And the shuttle ride to the airport is just a few minutes. Just make sure you go to the garage - they have a few surface lots too. They’re cheaper, but not covered and not valet (meaning all sorts of people are driving around your car).

Hope this helps!

 

[dss33]

And re: vampire drain, we left our 75D S for about a week and lost about 7 miles per day. And that’s with Always Connected on and it was in mid-January so the temp was similar to how it is now.

So charging to 100% before making the drive there will give you plenty to work with and you won’t even need to have MasterPark charge it (you’d need a Blink card to do so).

 

[Tyl]

I hope all in our community will suggest to airports and all neighboring long term garage/parking lots to have parking spaces for EV's with just a simple 120v regular HOUSEHOLD plugs available for us to plug into.

Any long term parking structure with 120v regular household plugs will work for EV's as we leave our vehicles for a few days. Gaining 72 miles a day while we are parked... PERFECT! Our batteries stay warm and cozy and all is right with the world.

YES... It will require a little planning on our part to carry our charger with us, along with our 120v adapter but, this is the easiest and least expensive solution for these lots.

Keep it simple.

 

[dknisely]

Searching only yields a very old thread from 2013.

Does anyone know of the best place to park near SeaTac airport? I know the airport-owned lot has 48 spaces for EVs with free charging but the daily cost is $30. Are there other lots around the airport which are good to park at that offer charging stations? Ideally for way less than $30/day?

Alternatively: I'm only going to be gone for 4 days. Will the car really lose much if any significant charge in just 4 days? It's a 2016 pre-facelift S 90D and I'm more than happy to charge it to 100% before I leave that morning. Can I just park at any self-parking lot and leave it there unplugged for 4 days and return to a car which still has plenty of charge for my drive home?

Thanks for the help in advance!

I doubt you will ever find an EV parking space open. I've never seen one. About 25-50% are ICEd, and the rest are full. I don't think they do any anti-ICE enforcement whatsoever (probably don't even have an ordinance on which to do so).

 

[Robotpedlr]

I doubt you will ever find an EV parking space open. I've never seen one. About 25-50% are ICEd, and the rest are full. I don't think they do any anti-ICE enforcement whatsoever (probably don't even have an ordinance on which to do so).

I have a very different experience in the garage... they fill up fast, but I normally always find one on the 5th floor. Don't really see many ICED, just a lot of leafs, Tesla, etc. There has been a time or two where they were all full, but that is rare in my experience. But I normally travel early in the day, so that may be why I am a little luckier.

Hopefully they will add more soon, as it is just a 120v plug which should be easy to add to another 50 spots. Heck but them on the 7th or 8th floor to get them out of the way a little more...

 

[dknisely]

...

Hopefully they will add more soon, as it is just a 120v plug which should be easy to add to another 50 spots. Heck but them on the 7th or 8th floor to get them out of the way a little more...

Agree that 120 VAC plugs would be ideal for Teslas. I'm glad that somebody is finding spots, but I would never, ever count on one from my experience. One way to discourage ICEing would be to place them in terrible locations, which would be fine by me. But, power is usually near the exits.

 

[PLUS EV]

I've never had a problem finding a spot at Sea-Tac and I also rarely, if ever, see them ICEd. It's almost as if we are talking about different airports!

I guess I do tend to travel different days/hours than "normal" people but I wouldn't really think that would have much of an effect at an airport. I also use the 4th floor parking sometimes, so maybe that is less crowded. But I definitely charged on the 5th floor last time and there were plenty of empty spaces.

 

[MikeBur]

I've never had a problem finding a spot at Sea-Tac and I also rarely, if ever, see them ICEd. It's almost as if we are talking about different airports!

I guess I do tend to travel different days/hours than "normal" people but I wouldn't really think that would have much of an effect at an airport. I also use the 4th floor parking sometimes, so maybe that is less crowded. But I definitely charged on the 5th floor last time and there were plenty of empty spaces.

4th floor is either “pay a lot more for monthly parking” or pay a hefty premium as short-term parking. If you fly enough it may make sense, though most are relegated to the 5th floor. I do wonder why most spots are Teslas, considering many are not charging and have more than enough SoC. I feel for the Leafs I see parked in regular spots and feel something very different for the Volvo, Volt and other phev drivers. Then bring on the unplugged Cars (not just ICE unfortunately), for those I am tempted to buy these and roll them to a main thoroughfare to ensure a ticket/tow.

 

[MikeBur]

I doubt you will ever find an EV parking space open. I've never seen one. About 25-50% are ICEd, and the rest are full. I don't think they do any anti-ICE enforcement whatsoever (probably don't even have an ordinance on which to do so).

They do actually ticket for ICEvehicles now. They don’t ticket phev owners though...

 

[scottyd]

I fly a few times a month and rarely have a problem finding a spot to charge in the SeaTac charge. Did so successfully yesterday.

Part of my success is that I usually depart early, arriving at the airport by 5. Also sometime I park on the backside of the actual charging spots and borrow a socket from a car that is done charging.

 

[MikeBur]

I fly a few times a month and rarely have a problem finding a spot to charge in the SeaTac charge. Did so successfully yesterday.

Part of my success is that I usually depart early, arriving at the airport by 5. Also sometime I park on the backside of the actual charging spots and borrow a socket from a car that is done charging.

How do you know a Tesla is done charging when it’s locked? It’s rare I need to charge, though when I do I really, really, need to charge. If someone unplugged me prematurely then I would take an exceptionally dim view of it.

 

[scottyd]

How do you know a Tesla is done charging when it’s locked? It’s rare I need to charge, though when I do I really, really, need to charge. If someone unplugged me prematurely then I would take an exceptionally dim view of it.

I look at the mobile charger icon. If its flashing it’s charging, right?

 

[PLUS EV]

I look at the mobile charger icon. If its flashing it’s charging, right?

The light turns off when the car is locked (i.e. when the driver is away from the car). I am definitely not a fan of other people unplugging my car, ever. Although this appears to be common practice among Leaf owners, it should not be done with Teslas.

 

[Robotpedlr]

Plus at the airport it serves no purpose to unplug someone’s car. As it is still sitting in the spot and each spot has it’s on plug. It’s not like you can plug another car in without parking in that specific spot.

 

[Saghost]

The light turns off when the car is locked (i.e. when the driver is away from the car). I am definitely not a fan of other people unplugging my car, ever. Although this appears to be common practice among Leaf owners, it should not be done with Teslas.

The lights on the EVSE turn off when the car is locked? Certainly the charge port lights do, but I thought the suggestion was to look at the mobile connector - the EVSE. AFAIK, those lights stay on, and will be scrolling if the car is drawing power.