Should keep charging while going away for 3 weeks?

[wenjing8481]

Hi everyone,

I drive Model 3, and I do need everyone who drives Tesla especially Model 3’s opinions.

I’m going away for 3 weeks. I live in Toronto, we are experiencing really cold winter in Toronto here. I’m wondering should I keep my car charged while I am away? Or I need to unplug until I’m coming back after 3 weeks. The battery drops very quick in cold weather.

Please give advice as soon as possible, because I am leaving next Sunday.

Thank you so much for everyone’s help!

Wendy

 

[mongo]

Keep it plugged in, set charge level to 80% ish.

 

[Nocturnal]

Keep plugged in and charged like normal.

 

[Jrzapata]

Here is what I have been doing for when I leave town:
The night before I leave I charge to 80% and then set the charge to 50% and leave the car plugged.
I have left for up to 10 days and haven't been to the situation where vampire drain makes it to 50% and kicks off the charge.
Then when I land I set the charge back to 80% as I normally charge in a daily basis.

 

[wenjing8481]

Thank you so much for all the advices. I want to know the best or better way to keep the Model 3 battery’s life longer.

 

[duanra]

Keep it plugged and chsrged and don't think about it and enjoy your time away !!!

 

[Tam]

...advice

The manual says clearly that there is no advantage in unplugging your car when you are not driving.

Of course, if there's no plugging possibility at work then don't plug it in but if there's one, you should plug it in.

It's the same when your car is at home. Plug it in whether you will use your car often or leave it there for vacation.

On the other hand, my understanding is: There is no advantage to let your battery drop its State of Charge more than necessary.

That means there is no advantage to charge it up at 80% then set your limit down to 50% and let it loses its charge down to 50% while you are on vacation.

I think your battery lives longer and has more cycles if State of Charge is narrow rather than wide.

That means if you only drive off 5% a day, plug it in and let it charge back from 75% to 80% every day rather than driving off for 6 days to use 30% then charge it back up from 50% to 80% every 6 days.

 

[jdcollins5]

Another option is to set charging to 80% and leave it charged at 80%. When it drops 3% it will charge back to 80%. This way it will be at 80%, or close, when you get home.

 

[TexasEV]

Hi everyone,

I drive Model 3, and I do need everyone who drives Tesla especially Model 3’s opinions.

I’m going away for 3 weeks. I live in Toronto, we are experiencing really cold winter in Toronto here. I’m wondering should I keep my car charged while I am away? Or I need to unplug until I’m coming back after 3 weeks. The battery drops very quick in cold weather.

Please give advice as soon as possible, because I am leaving next Sunday.

Thank you so much for everyone’s help!

Wendy

I guess you haven’t RTFM, have you? Not even the battery section that strongly advises you to keep it plugged in?

 

[jsrawa]

A plugged in Tesla is a happy Tesla...

 

[insaneoctane]

• Plugged in is safest and recommended by Tesla
• 3 weeks isn't a long time in the scope of the battery's overall lifetime
• Setting max SOC between 50% and 55% is probably the ultimate technical choice for battery longevity
• Setting max SOC to 80% is more practical (you return to a car with 80% SOC and it probably is < 1/100 of 1% different than the technically ideal 50% SOC)
• Take the other's advice and don't overthink this, I suspect that you are splitting hairs

 

[Lloyd]

I plug the car in, set the slider to 50%. The day before my return I set the charge to what I need 80% or ??? with the remote app. Enjoy your trip and don't worry about your car.

 

[blackeducator]

Hi everyone,

I drive Model 3, and I do need everyone who drives Tesla especially Model 3’s opinions.

I’m going away for 3 weeks. I live in Toronto, we are experiencing really cold winter in Toronto here. I’m wondering should I keep my car charged while I am away? Or I need to unplug until I’m coming back after 3 weeks. The battery drops very quick in cold weather.

Please give advice as soon as possible, because I am leaving next Sunday.

Thank you so much for everyone’s help!

Wendy

I've left my Model 3 plugged in for a month, 3 weeks, 2 weeks.... But, this is in Florida. The battery is designed to not "overcharge" and to be operable (tho very sluggish) down to about -20°F. Some people remotely start to heat their car for about 30 minutes in really frigid weather.

 

[golfpilot]

50% is considered battery neutral on these batteries. for long term storage, that is where you want to leave it. for 3 weeks it really doen't matter, especially compared to 80%. Either way, leave it plugged in if you can. And don't worry about it, the model 3 BMS is great.

 

[Birdman325]

I plug the car in, set the slider to 50%. The day before my return I set the charge to what I need 80% or ??? with the remote app. Enjoy your trip and don't worry about your car.

This

 

[SeanM]

If you are going away for 3 weeks, then definitely makes sense to plug it in & keep charge around 80%. The Tesla will re-charge the bateery back to 80% only when it drops down a certain level.

 

[wenjing8481]

The manual says clearly that there is no advantage in unplugging your car when you are not driving.

Of course, if there's no plugging possibility at work then don't plug it in but if there's one, you should plug it in.

It's the same when your car is at home. Plug it in whether you will use your car often or leave it there for vacation.

On the other hand, my understanding is: There is no advantage to let your battery drop its State of Charge more than necessary.

That means there is no advantage to charge it up at 80% then set your limit down to 50% and let it loses its charge down to 50% while you are on vacation.

I think your battery lives longer and has more cycles if State of Charge is narrow rather than wide.

That means if you only drive off 5% a day, plug it in and let it charge back from 75% to 80% every day rather than driving off for 6 days to use 30% then charge it back up from 50% to 80% every 6 days.

Thank you so much for your kind suggestions!

 

[wenjing8481]

Thank you so much for all the people helps! I wrote an email to Tesla Customer service before I post it here, but it’s been more than a week, no response from Tesla technician department.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

I think it's important to clarify that keeping it plugged in doesn't mean it's charging all the time.

It simply means it will charge to whatever limit you set it, and then it will stop. Sure it will maintain that charge, but it won't be all the time.

If leaving it plugged-in I'd set the charge time to 1AM (or something like that), and I'd set the limit to 50%. That way once a day it will charge back up to 50% if needed.

 

[wenjing8481]

I guess you haven’t RTFM, have you? Not even the battery section that strongly advises you to keep it plugged in?

Sorry, what does RTFM mean?