State of the battery while on vacation

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alex0913
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I left my car for 4 weeks with a 50% charge on the LI battery. When I returned, the EV mileage was the same as when I left. I plugged in the charger and let it charge to full and the car started and worked perfectly.
Neither of these batteries are that fragile. If you are letting the car sit for 3 months or more then maybe you will have some concerns. Otherwise, don't worry about it.
 
It does appear that the HV battery does charge the 12v when the car is off and it is not plugged in. This morning, I set in the car for a period of time with the car off but in accessory mode while I was on the phone. I checked my Scanguage and the 12 volt was at 12.2. Just now (6 hours later), I checked the Scanguage (without turning the car or anything on) and the voltage was 12.8.
 
PHEV Newbie said:
Don't know if this applies to car Li batteries but the general advice for Lithium ion batteries for consumer electronics is to charge it only to 50% for storage, never a full charge (their advice is also never to fully charge or fully discharge the battery during everyday use, even with the device's battery management system, for best longevity).
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I store our Mitsubishi iMiEV in the garage between mid-Dec and April. I leave the Li-ion drive battery between 50 to 75%. In the spring it is pretty well as I left it. But other EVs work differently. The 12V battery should be kept on a tickle charger. Otherwise the 12V electronics running in the car will slowly discharge it. When in Park, the HV battery will not charge the 12V battery , at least in our car. Note Teslas have so called "phantom loads" on the HV battery while parked.
 
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Lars said:
I store our Mitsubishi iMiEV in the garage between mid-Dec and April. I leave the Li-ion drive battery between 50 to 75%. In the spring it is pretty well as I left it. But other EVs work differently. The 12V battery should be kept on a tickle charger. Otherwise the 12V electronics running in the car will slowly discharge it. When in Park, the HV battery will not charge the 12V battery , at least in our car. Note Teslas have so called "phantom loads" on the HV battery while parked.
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If I were leaving the car for 4 1/2 months (PHEV Newbie, how can you bear to be away from its PHEV goodness that long), I’d do what Honda does when it ships it to the dealer. Pull the main fuse and additionally disconnect the 12v battery and put it in a battery minder like PHEV Newbie suggests.
I too would charge it up to only 80% to take care of any temperature fluctuations that might cause a fully charged battery to become over charged.
And considering how expensive these LRR Michelin tires are ($225 each) I’d probably put the car on jack stands or get a friend to drive it every so often.
 
The iMiEV is a BEV, not a PHEV. We have a 2016 Prius as our "all year - primary" car. During the summer the Prius is used 90+% for vacation, and long trips. The iMiEV is great around town but with a 120km range, 80 in the winter with the heat on, it is not much of a long range car. Also if you get stuck in a winter pileup you will either freeze or drain your HV battery very fast, or both.
 
Doesn't the Honda link app update your battery level in 15% intervals? For example say you leave it at 60 and it drops to 45 could you not remotely check ?
 
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