Vacation and plugging in

[kunal]

So I am going on vacation in November for just over 3 weeks. Should I leave the car plugged in for the entire 3 weeks, should I leave it unplugged? Suggestions?

If I plug in should I lower amperage? What's the best amperage for that long?

Thanks.

 

[Electric700]

I think you should leave it plugged in and set the charge range level to 50%, since that is better for your battery. I have seen here that using 120 V over a longer period can have some battery and range benefits, so you may want to use 6 Amps at 240 V (or 12 Amps at 120 V).

 

[TexasEV]

Tesla says "A connected Model S is a happy Model S". Just keep it plugged in and let the battery management software manage the battery. No need to overthink this.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

So I am going on vacation in November for just over 3 weeks. Should I leave the car plugged in for the entire 3 weeks, should I leave it unplugged? Suggestions?

If I plug in should I lower amperage? What's the best amperage for that long?

Thanks.

Did you not receive the little card that comes with every Model S that says it should be kept plugged in whenever possible?

 

[Darren]

Yes, leave it plugged in.

I recently went on a 2 week vacation and left my car plugged in at 5amps. Occasionally I checked my Tesla app and noticed that the car would start charging once the battery level goes down a certain amount.

 

[mknox]

I recently went on a 2 week vacation and left my car plugged in at 5amps. Occasionally I checked my Tesla app and noticed that the car would start charging once the battery level goes down a certain amount.

Yep. I noticed my car would charge exactly 5 kWh every other day while I was away. Topping up those vampire losses...

 

[gaswalla]

yep... every service center has the little cards reminding everyone that the car should be plugged in while away. I would put the desired charge at 50% (minimum setting) to optimize battery health during "storage" and keep plugged in

 

[brianstorms]

yep... every service center has the little cards reminding everyone that the car should be plugged in while away. I would put the desired charge at 50% (minimum setting) to optimize battery health during "storage" and keep plugged in

I picked up a handful of those cards when I was at a service center recently. They make great bookmarks.

 

[hikerockies]

Yep. I noticed my car would charge exactly 5 kWh every other day while I was away. Topping up those vampire losses...

Interesting that different cars seem to behave differently. My car charges once every 24 hours while it is plugged in and not being driven. It uses up between 2.5 and 3 kWh every time it wakes up to charge. I am on fw 4.5(.61).

 

[ZBB]

Did you not receive the little card that comes with every Model S that says it should be kept plugged in whenever possible?

I don't think those come with every Model S... Or at least mine didn't come one. Hadn't seen them until someone posted a pic recently...

 

[texex91]

Once it's charged, I unplug it--no need to keep it plugged in.

 

[gmontem]

Keep it plugged in and don't bother about the 50% charge limit, just in case your house mysteriously loses power long enough for your EV at 50% SOC to deplete down to critical levels. ;-)

Sent from my RM-877_nam_att_205 using Board Express

 

[TTT]

I plugged my car in Saturday night with scheduled charging set to 90% at midnight. I left it plugged in Sunday since it has been idle since Saturday night. As of Monday morning, vampire drained 2% of battery, but it didn't charge up to 90% this am as scheduled. What's going to happen while I leave it plugged in during my 2 week vacation?

 

[mibaro2]

It will charge up when it loses a certain %..I think 5 or 8%. So it may only charge every other day.

 

[mknox]

I plugged my car in Saturday night with scheduled charging set to 90% at midnight. I left it plugged in Sunday since it has been idle since Saturday night. As of Monday morning, vampire drained 2% of battery, but it didn't charge up to 90% this am as scheduled. What's going to happen while I leave it plugged in during my 2 week vacation?

It will top itself up when it depletes to a certain point. About a year and a half ago, I noticed my car would top up exactly 2.5 kWh every other day while I was away for a week. (I have a separate sub meter on the car's charging circuit). If you have it set to a schedule, it will honor the schedule and begin the topping up at your scheduled time.

 

[LetsGoFast]

Did you not receive the little card that comes with every Model S that says it should be kept plugged in whenever possible?

I didn't. They seem to have stopped giving them out at some point.

 

[Rocky_H]

Does no one read the manual anymore?