SOC Needed for Coast to Coast Model 3 Auto Transport Journey to Cover Phantom Drain

[Otteroverlord]

I'm going to ship my 2018 Model 3 LR from California to Georgia using Montway (open transport) and wondering what the
state of charge should be when the car departs from my house? 100% seems to high as car will never throw all that
electricity and will be clearly generate a ton of heat (which is bad). But since it's the height of Summer heat and can take up to 8 days
to make to Georgia, I know the car is gonna phantom drain like crazy even if I keep Cabin Overheat and Sentry Mode off. Any advice would
be greatly appreciated!

 

[Zcd1]

Hmmm, unless you have Standby mode enabled I fail to see how this could be an issue, and even then it wouldn’t be a big deal.

I’ve shipped my car cross country 3 times, all starting at around 70% and ending a couple of % lower at most.

 

[jkdman123]

Without sentry mode on, my SR+ loses about 1-2% per day. Not clear about what you think is gonna generate a ton of heat. Charging the battery to 100%?

 

[Otteroverlord]

Montway says the journey will take from 5 to 8 days to complete. And since a large swath of the country is experiencing a heat wave, I'm assuming that the heat of the exterior air may cause the cooling systems to run more than usual to cool the battery which would perhaps already be a higher SOC. Perhaps I'm making an incorrect assumption. Maybe my question is, rather: what should the SOC be at the time the car gets loaded onto the transport?

 

[jkdman123]

Montway says the journey will take from 5 to 8 days to complete. And since a large swath of the country is experiencing a heat wave, I'm assuming that the heat of the exterior air may cause the cooling systems to run more than usual to cool the battery which would perhaps already be a higher SOC. Perhaps I'm making an incorrect assumption. Maybe my question is, rather: what should the SOC be at the time the car gets loaded onto the transport?

As far as I know, the battery only needs to be actively cooled during operation or charging. The battery is not going to generate heat once it's charged to 100% and just sitting idle. I would guess that the temp of the battery MAY approach 120 degrees F at some point in the journey but I don't think that's going to be a big deal. And since the battery will not be rapid charging or discharging while being transported, even if the coolant system kicks on, it won't need to work very hard to bring the temp back down since it's only working against ambient air temp, and not excess heat generated by charging or operation. Personally, I'd be fine with charging to 80% (if it's not an LFP, otherwise go right up to 100% per Tesla guidance) and letting it go. I think if you disable sentry mode and don't check on the car too much you'll have plenty of charge at the end of the journey.

 

[Otteroverlord]

As far as I know, the battery only needs to be actively cooled during operation or charging. The battery is not going to generate heat once it's charged to 100% and just sitting idle. I would guess that the temp of the battery MAY approach 120 degrees F at some point in the journey but I don't think that's going to be a big deal. And since the battery will not be rapid charging or discharging while being transported, even if the coolant system kicks on, it won't need to work very hard to bring the temp back down since it's only working against ambient air temp, and not excess heat generated by charging or operation. Personally, I'd be fine with charging to 80% (if it's not an LFP, otherwise go right up to 100% per Tesla guidance) and letting it go. I think if you disable sentry mode and don't check on the car too much you'll have plenty of charge at the end of the journey.

I see. So since the car isn't being driven, heat is far less of an issue. Thank you, that helps a lot!

 

[S&B's M3]

Unrelated, I contacted Montway to move my M3 and found they do not possess their own fleet, but rather they are a broker and use others to move vehicles. Also, they may use more than one carrier for the trip, meaning your car could be moved from one truck to another to yet another. I didn't like this idea, so I went with an independent carrier.

 

[DayTrippin]

FYI - in the heat I am losing several % a day. I have nothing turned on like sentry mode, no cabin overheat protection and the car is sleeping most of the time. I assume the battery is getting too hot and the car battery cooling system is turning on to keep it from getting too hot.

I'd start with 70% to play it safe and to make sure you have enough energy to drive somewhere at the end. I'd also turn off cabin overheat to play it safe. At 70% it is a super high level from an SoC level. You can check the temps as it drives along as well. You'll likely only be in hot temps 2-3 days from LA.