Vacation Battery Protection

[AIR.LUCID]

If it were me, I would leave it plugged in set to 80% and not worry about it. I don't think 2 or 3 weeks is long enough to do anything special-- or at least I wouldn't have thought to do anything special haha!

What do Tesla owners do?

 

[DeaneG]

What do Tesla owners do?

Set to 80% charge limit, plug it in and leave. The car will recharge as needed to maintain 80%.

 

[Sandvinsd]

I have a Chargepoint Home Flex that does a nice job of this too, but our Tesla charger can't - only possible by the car. It is common for newly introduced EVs to have charge scheduling enabled by OTA update some months after a car is introduced. I find it more convenient to schedule charging in the "charger" (EVSE) rather than in the car, as I always want to charge immediately when I plug in away from home. It would be great if Lucid added scheduled charging with a checkbox that says "charge immediately when away from home".

The Nissan Leaf has that option.

 

[Bbq9]

That's the thing - it doesn't seem to once it has initially done so. It charges fully and goes to sleep, drains while it is plugged in because of the cooling system and then only starts recharging when woken up. I don't know if it was designed this way or is a bug. I've never left it plugged in for longer than 12 hours so I don't know if/when it wakes itself up to recharge. Hence why I think plugging it in a 110 (with slow charging on a partially charged car) would be a better solution since it would take quite a few days to charge this car up on a 110v, especially if there is drain due to a hot garage and by the time it stops hopefully you are closer to the end of your vacation and it doesn't matter. @Bbq9 have you noticed how it behaves on a 110v outlet? Also @borski might have some input on letting it sit plugged in for an extended period.

There was one day last week where it was particularly hot. I put the car away hot n sweaty (from the SF to home run) and plugged in. A little later I noticed the app was saying the exterror temperature was 88 and the rate of charge was 0.8kWh … but zero miles being added. Basically at that garage temperature, the 110 was powering the battery cooling system.

Now, I was all good… free solar etc etc. but I did think I might have to connect up my 14-50 socket

 

[Bbq9]

Set to 80% charge limit, plug it in and leave. The car will recharge as needed to maintain 80%.

You can also stop / restart charging remotely. So I would do that.

e.g. While on vacation, I would leave it plugged in, and simply start / stop for an hour or three every day or three.

 

[Slam08]

I purposely got a “dumb” EV charger. I figured one smart thing talking to another gets complicated. Best to just let one thing do it.

 

[Easyrider949]

l’m very interested in the final solution to this dilemma, as I too will be leaving on some foreign trips and my car will be parked in my garage for 3-4 months while I am gone. I was planning on leaving the car with a 70 SOC. I am also worrying about the 12v battery going dead too, I was told by the Service Center to keep the car plugged into the EVSE (in my case a ChargePoint Flex) and the main battery pack will maintain the 12v batteries. But now I’m wondering if this procedure will work based on what others are saying about the car and how it currently charges. I will follow this thread closely and keep asking follow-up questions to the service team about this problem.

 

[Bel]

I purposely got a “dumb” EV charger. I figured one smart thing talking to another gets complicated. Best to just let one thing do it.

What model did you get?

 

[Bel]

l’m very interested in the final solution to this dilemma, as I too will be leaving on some foreign trips and my car will be parked in my garage for 3-4 months while I am gone. I was planning on leaving the car with a 70 SOC. I am also worrying about the 12v battery going dead too, I was told by the Service Center to keep the car plugged into the EVSE (in my case a ChargePoint Flex) and the main battery pack will maintain the 12v batteries. But now I’m wondering if this procedure will work based on what others are saying about the car and how it currently charges. I will follow this thread closely and keep asking follow-up questions to the service team about this problem.

I have this one for 12v car battery and had it for several years. Works great. Actually chargers up a poorly charged battery too albeit it takes several days. Comes with connector plug and thats what i installed. Its very low cost but not at all the reason i bought it but just a good one i could find.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CZ7KWP3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[DeaneG]

I have this one for 12v car battery and had it for several years. Works great. Actually chargers up a poorly charged battery too albeit it takes several days. Comes with connector plug and thats what i installed. Its very low cost but not at all the reason i bought it but just a good one i could find.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CZ7KWP3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

The CTEK line of smart chargers also work as maintainers - they're great if you have a rarely-driven ICE vehicle: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FRLO9Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Hoosier Owner]

You have no worries. I just came back from a 2-week vacation, leaving the car only 25% charged, unplugged. When I came back it was still over 20%. But the key (no pun intended) is to keep your keys and the emergency card far enough away from the car. Otherwise it will sense that key's presence and the awakaning and sleeping cycle would drain your battery.

 

[hydbob]

You have no worries. I just came back from a 2-week vacation, leaving the car only 25% charged, unplugged. When I came back it was still over 20%. But the key (no pun intended) is to keep your keys and the emergency card far enough away from the car. Otherwise it will sense that key's presence and the awakaning and sleeping cycle would drain your battery.

Wow, that's great! 5% over 2 weeks is amazing

 

[Sandvinsd]

Wow, that's great! 5% over 2 weeks is amazing

Good to know since Lucid will have to store my car at the delivery studio for a month or two, due to their inability to communicate and deliver the car in a timely fashion, until I am able to take delivery. I delayed my trip based on their assurances that the car would be delivered in MaY if not well before. If they had communicated properly, I would not have pushed the trip later and likely would have been back by the time the car was ready. Now they will be storing ant I will no longer be in a hurry to get it. I hope the battery keeps the charge while they hold it for me until sometime in Q3.

 

[borski]

I have had no issues leaving it plugged in on my 48A charger, but my keys aren’t near it. I just set it to 80% and let it charge as needed. I’ve also gotten *out* of the habit of checking it in the app every 5 minutes since that wakes the car up and makes it charge even more, haha.