Vacation charging

MRU

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Lucid AGT
We’re going on a 2 month overseas trip starting mid-Feb. Does anyone have BMP for charging during long idle time? I do intend to charge it to 100% - and then do I keep the charger plugged in or remove it and not wake up the car till we return/keep the app firmly closed? I have the Lucid charger, 100A breakers, unheated garage but here in Seattle even in deep winter, it rarely gets below 40 in the garage. Should I be worried about overheating or fire risks if the charger keeps clicking on and off to top up the battery if it’s plugged in? Not a tech or engineering guy so I have no idea. Any guidance would be welcome.
 
Set your car's charge limit to 50% and leave it plugged in. Charging to 100% and leaving the car to sit at that SOC is absolutely not best practice. Long periods at 100% SOC will accelerate battery degradation. This is why a maximum charge level of 80% is recommended for daily driving. Charge to 100% only at the start of a long trip.
 
You mean limit it at 50%?
 
You mean limit it at 50%?
Yes, set the charge limit to 50%, and ideally run the car down to that level before departing. But for a two month trip, I wouldn't be too worried about leaving it anywhere between 40% and 80%. Just avoid charge levels above 80% unless you are about to leave on a long drive.
 
In two months the battery will go down about 10% if not plugged in and if you do not wake the car using the app. You could just charge to 60% or 70% and leave it unplugged while you are away. I agree with @DeaneG that charging to 100% would not be good for the battery. It is very hard on the battery to leave it at a high state of charge for long periods of time.
 
And leaving it plugged in won’t overheat the battery as it keeps topping up?
 
We’re going on a 2 month overseas trip starting mid-Feb. Does anyone have BMP for charging during long idle time? I do intend to charge it to 100% - and then do I keep the charger plugged in or remove it and not wake up the car till we return/keep the app firmly closed? I have the Lucid charger, 100A breakers, unheated garage but here in Seattle even in deep winter, it rarely gets below 40 in the garage. Should I be worried about overheating or fire risks if the charger keeps clicking on and off to top up the battery if it’s plugged in? Not a tech or engineering guy so I have no idea. Any guidance would be welcome.
I live in Portland Oregon and currently am in Palm Desert California with my wife for a 6 week vacation.

Not sure why you need to keep the car plugged in at all?

I set my charging at 80% unplugged. Today was the first time I checked my charge after 3 weeks. It now registers at 75%

Why kept it plugged in if it only loses about 10% after 6 weeks?

Next year I plan to rent a condo here for 4 months. Don't really see the need to plug it in at all if it only loses about 30% for the 4 months.

If I am wrong, would like to know about it from those more knowledgeable than me on this topic.
 
What I’ve done with my Teslas in the past is to charge it up (80%) before I leave. Leave the car plugged in and set the charge limit really low, like 10%. Then the car will naturally discharge on its own but if something happens where it gets too low you don’t risk it bricking itself.
 
I live in Portland Oregon and currently am in Palm Desert California with my wife for a 6 week vacation.

Not sure why you need to keep the car plugged in at all?

I set my charging at 80% unplugged. Today was the first time I checked my charge after 3 weeks. It now registers at 75%

Why kept it plugged in if it only loses about 10% after 6 weeks?

Next year I plan to rent a condo here for 4 months. Don't really see the need to plug it in at all if it only loses about 30% for the 4 months.

If I am wrong, would like to know about it from those more knowledgeable than me on this topic.
There is no harm in keeping the car plugged in so long as the charge level is set to 80% or less. You do not derive any benefit from allowing the car’s battery to slowly drain over time. In fact, the wear and tear on the battery is arguably LESS when left plugged in because repeated charging of 1-2% (top offs) are less impactful on the battery than when you ultimately need to charge the cumulative loss all at once if you leave the car unplugged.
 
And leaving it plugged in won’t overheat the battery as it keeps topping up?
EVs aren't electric scooters. They have very sophisticated electronics, software, and thermal control systems to manage the battery and keep it healthy in all operating conditions.
 
We’re going on a 2 month overseas trip starting mid-Feb. Does anyone have BMP for charging during long idle time? I do intend to charge it to 100% - and then do I keep the charger plugged in or remove it and not wake up the car till we return/keep the app firmly closed? I have the Lucid charger, 100A breakers, unheated garage but here in Seattle even in deep winter, it rarely gets below 40 in the garage. Should I be worried about overheating or fire risks if the charger keeps clicking on and off to top up the battery if it’s plugged in? Not a tech or engineering guy so I have no idea. Any guidance would be welcome.
I have left the car parked after charging to 70% for up to 4+ months. I set it to charge at 50% and it never triggered. I should be fine for your 2 months either way - plugged or not. Agree dont charge to 100% in this situation. I left it plugged in the make updates etc worry free.
 
I have left the car parked after charging to 70% for up to 4+ months. I set it to charge at 50% and it never triggered. I should be fine for your 2 months either way - plugged or not. Agree dont charge to 100% in this situation. I left it plugged in the make updates etc worry free
Was that in cold weather?
 
I expect the charger will likely kick in for me at 50%, this being winter. As an aside, AZ in summer - bold choice!
 
Thank you everyone for your advice, very informative. I’ll do the 70% charge + limit 50 + keep plugged in. 🙏
 
When I took delivery of my AT a couple weeks ago, the Lucid salesperson said specifically NOT to set the charge to 100% and leave it plugged in, that doing so would cause battery damage. Agree with the idea of setting it in the daily range and leaving it plugged in; that's what we've always done with our Tesla and were instructed to do that by Tesla reps (they said a plugged in car is a happy car).
 
When I took delivery of my AT a couple weeks ago, the Lucid salesperson said specifically NOT to set the charge to 100% and leave it plugged in, that doing so would cause battery damage. Agree with the idea of setting it in the daily range and leaving it plugged in; that's what we've always done with our Tesla and were instructed to do that by Tesla reps (they said a plugged in car is a happy car).
Thanks that’s very useful info.
 
Also, the owner's manual is helpful:
Lucid battery information.webp
 
I just had some surgery last month and can't drive my Lucid for about 8 weeks. I am following the Lucid guidance above - set the charge limit to 50% and plug it in to my Lucid charger while the car is just sitting in my garage. The one thing that has surprised me is that the Lucid charger is not automatically holding the car at a 50% charge. I open the app essentially every day and the car starts charging (usually from an indicated 49% to the 50% goal). I didn't open the app for about a week or so, and was surprised when I did to see the battery charge had dropped to 45%.

I was able to update the vehicle software from 2.5.0 to 2.6.0 during this period, but I haven't been able to try it yet. My goal is to able to drive the car again by the beginning of March.
 
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