Model 3 LR long stay parking

[gotoPzero]

I am planning on making a trip that will last 5 weeks so was going to park the car at the airport.

If I turn off sentry mode what are the chances the battery will be ok for my return?

I will probably be on about 50% charge when I get to the airport.

There is a super charger near the airport so would only need enough charge to get me there on my return.

[Hans_Gruber]

I usually lose 3% a week, 5 weeks will be fine but I’d charge it to 80% before you park it up to be absolutely sure, especially if cabin overheat protection is triggered multiple times. Plenty of chargers near uk airports.
Some car parking sites will move the car from the drop off point to another part of the car park. Don’t due what the tesla behind me did and forgot to bring his key

[gotoPzero]

OK cheers. I left my iPace (this was when they first came out) and it lost (IIRC) about 40-50% in 4 weeks.
I dont have cabin protection on anyway and I will disable sentry. Sounds like I will be fine then.

[RotorRambler]

ChatGpt says:-

Summary Answer:

Yes, your battery will most likely be fine for 5 weeks if:
Sentry Mode is off
Cabin Overheat Protection is off
Other energy-draining features (e.g. Smart Summon standby) are off
You start with 50%+ charge
You don t leave third-party apps connected that keep the car awake

Vampire Drain Estimate:

Tesla vehicles, when sleeping properly, lose about:
0.5 1% of battery per day with Sentry Mode and other background features off.

So over 5 weeks (35 days), worst-case vampire drain might be:
~17 35% total.

If you leave the car at 50%, you d likely return to:
~15 33%, which is plenty to reach a nearby Supercharger.


Checklist Before Leaving:

1. Turn off Sentry Mode
Can be done from the in-car screen or Tesla app.
2. Disable Cabin Overheat Protection
Especially if leaving in a hot climate.
3. Disable Smart Summon Standby (if on)
Found in the Autopilot settings.
4. Ensure car is sleeping properly
Don t use third-party apps like TeslaMate or Teslafi unless they re in sleep-friendly mode.
5. Do NOT leave the car plugged in if at the airport, unless it s a long-term EV charging spot.

Tip:

Before you leave, check in the Tesla app every few days during the first week to make sure the battery isn t dropping faster than expected. If it is, that means something is keeping it awake.

[clockworks]

I've had an EV for about 7 months, and it loses around 1% every 3 or 4 days. 80KWh traction battery, so that's about 2KWh a week lost, seemingly to keep the 12v battery topped up.

The average car 12v battery is less than 1KWh, so left to its own devices (not topped up from the traction battery) it would be completely flat in well under a week.

My question is - why?

I've owned ICE cars that drain their batteries when switched off, but only if left for a month or more.
Why do EVs use so much more battery power just sitting there?

[paradigital]

clockworks said:

I've owned ICE cars that drain their batteries when switched off, but only if left for a month or more.
Why do EVs use so much more battery power just sitting there?

Have the ICE cars you’ve owned been “connected” vehicles, with an always on network connection that monitors environmental factors as well as vehicle data on a regular basis?

[gotoPzero]

RotorRambler said:

ChatGpt says:-

Summary Answer:
.

cheers!

[B5mike]

Left our Model Y unplugged for 5 weeks (at the time we only had one home charger and 2 EVs - had to prioritise the Models S as it had high vampire drain). Minimal loss in charge for the Y - this was early Spring, so colder than now.

[B5mike]

RotorRambler said:

ChatGpt says:-

Summary Answer:

Yes, your battery will most likely be fine for 5 weeks if:
Sentry Mode is off
Cabin Overheat Protection is off
Other energy-draining features (e.g. Smart Summon standby) are off
You start with 50%+ charge
You don t leave third-party apps connected that keep the car awake

Vampire Drain Estimate:

Tesla vehicles, when sleeping properly, lose about:
0.5 1% of battery per day with Sentry Mode and other background features off.

So over 5 weeks (35 days), worst-case vampire drain might be:
~17 35% total.

If you leave the car at 50%, you d likely return to:
~15 33%, which is plenty to reach a nearby Supercharger.


Checklist Before Leaving:

1. Turn off Sentry Mode
Can be done from the in-car screen or Tesla app.
2. Disable Cabin Overheat Protection
Especially if leaving in a hot climate.
3. Disable Smart Summon Standby (if on)
Found in the Autopilot settings.
4. Ensure car is sleeping properly
Don t use third-party apps like TeslaMate or Teslafi unless they re in sleep-friendly mode.
5. Do NOT leave the car plugged in if at the airport, unless it s a long-term EV charging spot.

Tip:

Before you leave, check in the Tesla app every few days during the first week to make sure the battery isn t dropping faster than expected. If it is, that means something is keeping it awake.

Some good info here, but newer Tesla's (3 & Y) have very low vampire drain, older ones have very high drain, so there is no average answer that is meaningful. Also try to avoid checking the car via the app - that wakes it up and causes more drain

[clockworks]

paradigital said:

clockworks said:

I've owned ICE cars that drain their batteries when switched off, but only if left for a month or more.
Why do EVs use so much more battery power just sitting there?

Have the ICE cars you ve owned been connected vehicles, with an always on network connection that monitors environmental factors as well as vehicle data on a regular basis?

I've had 3 ICE cars that do the the "app thing" of remote locking, vehicle status, driving statistics, etc. Kia, Volvo and Citroen.
Never had a battery problem. The Volvo was a plug-in hybrid, so just a 10KW traction battery, never noticed any reduction in range if parked up for a week fully-charged then unplugged.

Obviously the app needs the car to be partially awake, ready to receive a request, but EVs seem to waste a lot more power doing it.
Not too much of an issue for me (charging at home, 7p a KWh), but wasteful if it's costing 50p a day (public charging) just sitting there.

[PBCD]

gotoPzero said:

I am planning on making a trip that will last 5 weeks so was going to park the car at the airport.

Cost wise, wouldn't it be cheaper to get an airport taxi for such a long trip?

[Sheepshanks]

RotorRambler said:

ChatGpt says:-

………

Checklist Before Leaving:

1. Turn off Sentry Mode
Can be done from the in-car screen or Tesla app.
2. Disable Cabin Overheat Protection
Especially if leaving in a hot climate.
3. Disable Smart Summon Standby (if on)
Found in the Autopilot settings.
4. Ensure car is sleeping properly
Don t use third-party apps like TeslaMate or Teslafi unless they re in sleep-friendly mode.
5. Do NOT leave the car plugged in if at the airport, unless it s a long-term EV charging spot.

I’m reluctant to quote ChatGPT, but if all that suff is necessary it seems an omission by Tesla not to add a “long term parked” setting that does everything in one go.

[gotoPzero]

PBCD said:

gotoPzero said:

I am planning on making a trip that will last 5 weeks so was going to park the car at the airport.

Cost wise, wouldn't it be cheaper to get an airport taxi for such a long trip?

You would think so but parking is £80 cheaper than taxi before you drop the driver £10 tip each way so probably £100 cheaper in reality.

[P675]

I turn off sentry and overheat, minimal drain with that, maybe 1% a week. It is annoying that the security feature which you would want on in a car park needs so much battery to work, but you are basically running a PC the entire time if you leave it on.

[Funky Squirrel]

clockworks said:

I've had an EV for about 7 months, and it loses around 1% every 3 or 4 days. 80KWh traction battery, so that's about 2KWh a week lost, seemingly to keep the 12v battery topped up.

The average car 12v battery is less than 1KWh, so left to its own devices (not topped up from the traction battery) it would be completely flat in well under a week.

My question is - why?

I've owned ICE cars that drain their batteries when switched off, but only if left for a month or more.
Why do EVs use so much more battery power just sitting there?

The battery in my range rover has nearly 15 times the capacity of the one in my i3. In fact my motorbike has a bigger battery.
The alarm and permanent connection will be a large drain over time for the small 12v in an EV.