Don't forget about flat spots on the tires. Not driving for 7 months can definitely cause this which will result in an uneven (not as smooth) ride. Someone needs to keep the tires inflated to max, or preferably put the car on jack-stands. 7 months is a long time to let a car sit.
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What happens to my Tesla 3 if I leave it in the garage unplugged for 7 months?
- Thread starter JorgeJ
- Start date
Chickenlittle
Banned
Set mouse traps. Roadster threads are full of cars idle for long time with mice chewing through wires
You are indeed correct. By 'ultimately' I meant in case mistakes are made by persons caring for stored Tesla or if you are charging with, for example, an EVSE that does not self-refresh after a power outage (old Copper Creek EVSEs take note!). I believe all Tesla chargers do self-refresh but test to be sure. Also be sure that any extension cord connections are NOT laid directly on the ground but are secured high and dry.
Mouse poison better than traps. Use lots!
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You don't need to own the car to read the manual....you realize you can download the manual off the internet and read it beforehand, right????
Also, I'm sure it's been asked and answered (multiple times) in this forum already. Search is your friend, my friend....
Keep her plugged in. You can set charge level pretty much anywhere between 50%-80%...doubt it makes any difference what you set it at as long as you’re somewhere in the middle. The car has a battery management system and I’d let it handle the details. I’d make sure climate protection is on just in case garage gets hot at some point.
A 12V tender does not cause the systems to run it is just sustaining the 12V. The HV system cycling the 12V takes FAR more power than a 12V tender and causes deeper cycling of the 12V. There is no need to close the main contactor as much and at the same duration. Please explain why 12V on a 12V system will cause the contactor to close. I have my S down to very low drain over days, a fraction of what it was before.
one concern i have about leaving my car in "storage" for several months is that I might lose the connection to the car.
that's why i too would leave battery at 50% and call it a day. this whole using the mobile app to toggle between 80 and 20% every few weeks is a good one.. but if you lose connectivity, the battery could be stuck at 80% or 20% for weeks on end, which is hardly a disaster.. but i'd say less than optimal.
it has been said many times on this forum that lithium ion batteries are "happiest" when they are at 50% ste of charge. note of course that we don't officially know what 50% really is.. but 50% on the dial is a pretty good approximation.
my parents have a lexus hybrid SUV that they leave unused in greece for months and months at a time. honestly the biggest pain they have dealt, is not the main battery, or the 12 Volt that they keep on a trickle charger, the minor problem they have is that when they return to the car after months and months of being away the automatic windows won't power up/down for several miles b/c the little batteries that run those components drain from being idle... after about 15-30 miles of driving the windows come back to life.. Lexus mentions it can take as much as 60 or 80 miles of driving, but we have never had to wait that long.
not sure if the windows in the S/X or the 3 have a similar limitation.
that's why i too would leave battery at 50% and call it a day. this whole using the mobile app to toggle between 80 and 20% every few weeks is a good one.. but if you lose connectivity, the battery could be stuck at 80% or 20% for weeks on end, which is hardly a disaster.. but i'd say less than optimal.
it has been said many times on this forum that lithium ion batteries are "happiest" when they are at 50% ste of charge. note of course that we don't officially know what 50% really is.. but 50% on the dial is a pretty good approximation.
my parents have a lexus hybrid SUV that they leave unused in greece for months and months at a time. honestly the biggest pain they have dealt, is not the main battery, or the 12 Volt that they keep on a trickle charger, the minor problem they have is that when they return to the car after months and months of being away the automatic windows won't power up/down for several miles b/c the little batteries that run those components drain from being idle... after about 15-30 miles of driving the windows come back to life.. Lexus mentions it can take as much as 60 or 80 miles of driving, but we have never had to wait that long.
not sure if the windows in the S/X or the 3 have a similar limitation.
I see. The energy is still consumed, but provided but the 12V tender.
This way the HV is barely used
Correct, more importantly there is not the long cycle of charging the 12V that has more significant parasitic loads. I am also starting to suspect that the Tesla dash cam is a power drain using power to run the camera and any supporting systems at night for the motion detection. It would be nice to have a "car on" option so the cam only runs when the car is on as I don't need motion event of my garage wall or anywhere in front of my car for that matter. I also need to find out why a pump is running so often in my car when parked in the garage,
You sure Model 3s operate the same as Model S in relationship to battery maintainers? I asked a mobile ranger if there was any benefit of using a battery maintainer on the model 3 and he said no, basically... but I know that people also dont tend to believe everything the MFR says about a product.
Lasttoy
Active Member
.jg.
Member
Yes - plus the car seems to do stupid stuff to the 12v battery. Some guy did some measurements and analysis, which showed that the car was putting the 12V battery through 5 charging sessions per day. https://syonyk.blogspot.com/2016/10/tesla-model-s-12v-battery-analysis.html This might explain the relatively short lives of 12V batteries in Tesla cars.
.jg.
Member
I am not sure about the 3 but I think when mains power is available, S and X cars will draw power from the mains for computers, heating/cooling and charging the 12V, as well as for the main battery. I'm not sure whether or not the car will cycle the 12V battery when on mains power.
If I was storing for & months I would take the 12V offline, and disconnect the HV system completely by pulling the control connector under the rear seat. With the main pack at about 70% it should be fine as there will be zero load on the 12V and HV system. Only case I would not is if there are extreme climate concerns. Leaving the car plugged in would not be my choice but if I did that I would put a GOOD 12V charger on the battery. Cycling the 12V is a bad idea no matter how it is done.
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
It works basically the same way on the 3. Presumably because the on-board charger would be really inefficient at low loads (just a guess).
Seriously? I am not saying your wrong, but I would love to see more discussion of this option. I guess you are talking about shutting down the BMS and all systems for 7 months? I am not sure that is a good idea. I think the BMS runs everyday for a reason (looking for bad cells, balancing, ? ...). Multi-cell batteries like Tesla uses may require monitoring and correction. I am not really sure. I would be interested in what other people think about the adviseablity of this option?
If you disconnect the 12V battery, the traction battery will not have any drain on it because it will remain isolated from the car. If you have a wall plug nearby, put a maintenance charger on the 12V too, even though it's disconnected from the car. The internal drain on the traction battery from the BMS itself is so small as to be unnoticable, even after 7 months. The battery isn't doing anything, so it won't go out of balance.
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