Advice, please: I won’t be driving my Model 3 for about a week. It will just be sitting in my garage. Should I keep it plugged in to the wall charger all that time or should I charge it to the regular 80% and then unplug it for the week? Thanks.
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To charge or not to charge?
- Thread starter longshadows
- Start date
The Tesla manuals say to keep the car plugged in whenever possible. Our batteries are happiest at a 50% state of charge. Plug it in, set it to 50%, and don’t worry about it.
Why won’t new Model 3 owners RTFM? It answers lots of their questions, including some they didn’t even know they had.
People learn in different ways. Not everyone enjoys sifting through large volumes of text to find a quick answer. And, the enthusiast community often covers a question more accurately than the manual, usually written for the masses.
But, since your question was rhetorical, I'll ask one, too: Why do some forum members passive-aggressively belittle new members for asking questions, when, if the questions were beneath them, they could simply ignore the thread.
Reading the manual is sound advice, especially for something as advanced and full of features as your Tesla. Choosing not to do so means you may miss out on great features, possibly do things that are not optimal for the car's lifetime. Which is just a nicer way of saying RTFM - what TexasEV said. Do you maybe see the irony in your response: it is even MORE snarky than TexasEV's RTFM (and encourages people to stay ignorant about their fabulous new car).
By design.
He didn't say, "Hey, welcome! That question, and a lot of other great info, is covered in the manual. It makes for some good reading to learn about your new car. The answer, BTW, is leave it plugged in. Here's a link to the online version, etc..."
He said, "Why don't these M3 owners Read The ****ing Manual..."
He didn't say, "Hey, welcome! That question, and a lot of other great info, is covered in the manual. It makes for some good reading to learn about your new car. The answer, BTW, is leave it plugged in. Here's a link to the online version, etc..."
He said, "Why don't these M3 owners Read The ****ing Manual..."
Tesla suggests leaving the car plugged in. I generally do that, except when electrical storms are in the forecast. I figure car will last fine for a week on 80% charge.
Anyway - here was a thread from a few data ago.
Vacation “rules”
Anyway - here was a thread from a few data ago.
Vacation “rules”
I have made exactly that post several times here (or one almost exactly like it). This is polluting the OPs thread, but since the OP is just the latest example of this phenomenon, and we are asking rhetorical questions, here is one.
Why do people come to a message board for a product, and hit the "new thread" button before even taking a quick look to see if someone asked a similar question? (remember this is a rhetorical question so I am not expecting an answer). The answer is normally some variation of "they want the answer quick and asking is faster than searching" or "they dont think to search".
Its perfectly fine to be someone that doesnt read the manual.. but its a bit "less" fine to not read said manual, then have a question about operation, and run to "someone else" before even taking a look to see if you can find said information.
Now, we dont know if the OP in this thread read the manual or not. They didnt say. The answer to their specific question is called out directly in the manual though. I have linked the text from that page here several times, as this question or some small variation of it is asked here on TMC in the model 3 section at least 1-2 times a week by someone, and has been since I joined in late november.
Back to the OP. OP, as mentioned tesla says to leave the car plugged in, when not using it. Their specific instructions, on page 122 of the tesal models 3 owners manual (which can be located in your tesla account, which should have a link to the latest version) says:
===========================================================
About the Battery
Model 3 has one of the most sophisticated
battery systems in the world. The most
important way to preserve the Battery is to
LEAVE YOUR VEHICLE PLUGGED IN when
you are not using it. This is particularly
important if you are not planning to drive
Model 3 for several weeks. When plugged in,
Model 3 wakes up when needed to
automatically maintain a charge level that
maximizes the lifetime of the Battery.
Note: When left idle and unplugged, your
vehicle periodically uses energy from the
Battery for system tests and recharging the
12V battery when necessary.
There is no advantage to waiting until the
Battery’s level is low before charging. In fact,
the Battery performs best when charged
regularly.
Note: If the Model 3 Battery becomes
completely discharged in a situation in which
towing is required, the owner is responsible
for towing expenses. Discharge-related towing
expenses are not covered under the Roadside
Assistance policy.
==============================================
This text in the manual addresses the OPs EXACT question, with a definitive answer, directly from the manufacturer. Now, there are several here (many in fact) who chose not to follow this advice from the manufacturer, for their own reasons, and have had no issues. I suspect that a large portion of this advice from tesla is to prevent people "coming back to a dead battery" because there was more drain than expected over a period of time (and the bad publicity that would have generated if a lot of tesla owners became "stranded" somewhere).
For a 1 week stay somewhere, its my belief it doesnt matter. If OP wants to use Sentry mode where the car is parked, it then matters. If the car is parked in the sun and cabin overheat protection is on, it then matters. If the trip ends up being longer than expected, it could then matter. If its plugged in, none of the above matters, and one thing we can know for sure is that TESLA doesnt think it hurts the car in any way to stay plugged in. They dont say it hurts the car to NOT be plugged in, they just recommend it stay plugged in so we can assume that leaving it plugged in will not hurt.
So, if one has the option, they should plug it in, unless they have some aversion to doing so for some reason.
Also, OP on anything to do with charging the car, there is a TON of information here at TMC and just about any question you can think of regarding charging has likely already been asked, so you could likely find a lot of the information you are looking for by taking a quick search around TMC before posting a new thread.
Congrats on your new tesla, btw!
TiggerTime
Member
Let's dig deeper in the rhetorical question bag.
Why to forum members not read previous responses by others before hitting reply to a question only to reiterate the same response that has been given already and probably more than once at that?
Oh, and welcome to TMC and the Tesla family.
Why to forum members not read previous responses by others before hitting reply to a question only to reiterate the same response that has been given already and probably more than once at that?
Oh, and welcome to TMC and the Tesla family.
When you are on any forum page it is in the top right corner (magnifying glass icon).
Also, before I get absolutely hammered for the part of the post you quoted, I ask people to remember I stated that as a rhetorical question, in reply to other rhetorical questions in the thread. I was not attacking this OP unless one considered me posting that rhetorical question in this thread as an attack... It was not ment as such.
TiggerTime
Member
Don't get me wrong, I'm willing to use the search function, and it should also be know forum search functions are not as robust as a Google search function.
now I see it, I was looking for a dialog box titled search that one normally types text into.
now I see it, I was looking for a dialog box titled search that one normally types text into.
Bill Price
Active Member
Now wait a minute. Is it possible that you may be misjudging him? Let's give him the benefit of the doubt, shall we? Innocent until proven guilty? What he "actually said" was, "Why don't these M3 owners RTFM?" Who is to say that he didn't mean, "Why don't these M3 owners Read The Fabulous Manual?"
TiggerTime
Member
Agreed, the search function on here is not the best. I have tried finding info with the search that I saw previously in a thread but usually not very successful.
You just self-fulfilled your own prophecy...
Your excellent and massively detailed answer is way better than the manual, including your hypothesis about sentry mode and cabin overheat. The manual is kind of like HR: you think it is for you, but it's really for the company.
That's why people ask questions on enthusiast boards, IMO. They know reading the manual will get them a safe, general, probably obvious answer. I get the same feeling when I reach the level 1 tech support people; I often know more than they do and want to talk to someone who really knows what's going on.
Three great lessons I have learned from the internet.
1)Almost any problem that I encounter has also been experienced, asked about on the internet.
2)Google search is much better at finding the links to the information that I need.
3)There is probably a YouTube video showing how to fix what is broken.
That is really all I need to know.
1)Almost any problem that I encounter has also been experienced, asked about on the internet.
2)Google search is much better at finding the links to the information that I need.
3)There is probably a YouTube video showing how to fix what is broken.
That is really all I need to know.
Oh yeah, then there is that small thing about item 4:
4) A massive amount of the information you get off the internet is incomplete, marginally informed or just plain wrong.
So I prefer to reference the correct information by reading the factory manual written by people that are experts. Apparently not the most common approach though...
Leafdriver333
Somewhat Active Member
The manual says especially if for several weeks.
OP asked about a week.
So it is not that important if the car is plugged in or not for a week as long as there is enough charge to handle vampire leak.
OP asked about a week.
So it is not that important if the car is plugged in or not for a week as long as there is enough charge to handle vampire leak.
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