About to go away for 9 months… what’s the best % to leave the car in charge?

[Packyjoon]

Hi guys, I’m about to go on an oversea trip that is like 9 months long, just wondering what is the best way to store the Taycan when unused for a prelong period. It will be in the garage for sure, but should I leave it plugged in and trying to maintain a certain %? I can get my dad to drive the car once in a while if that’s the best for it, but that means leaving it on the drive mostly, which is ok with me. Thanks!

Sponsored

 

[MrBlueSky]

There has been a bit of debate on here regarding the best way to store your car however, I go abroad for 6-8 weeks at a time and do the following:

• I connect the EVSE to the car and set a profile for no less than 85% charge. That's my preference but you can set the percentage as you please. If I was going to be away for a longer period then, I would likely set the profile to 55%. Again, my preference.
• I connect a CTEK Lithium trickle charger to the 12V battery.

I have carried this out twice since collecting the car in May and it works for me.

 

[Packyjoon]

There has been a bit of debate on here regarding the best way to store your car however, I go abroad for 6-8 weeks at a time and do the following:

• I connect the EVSE to the car and set a profile for no less than 85% charge. That's my preference but you can set the percentage as you please. If I was going to be away for a longer period then, I would likely set the profile to 55%. Again, my preference.
• I connect a CTEK Lithium trickle charger to the 12V battery.

I have carried this out twice since collecting the car in May and it works for me.

All make sense thank you. Would you suggest to give it a drive every so often just to keep things running, or leaving it all connected for a few months would be just fine? Cheers.

 

[MrBlueSky]

All make sense thank you. Would you suggest to give it a drive every so often just to keep things running, or leaving it all connected for a few months would be just fine? Cheers.

Nothing wrong with giving it a drive now and again and it would be my preference if I could get my wife to drive it lol.

 

[kl98cwg]

You might want to take a look at this thread as it includes some info from a Porsche bulletin on car storage: https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/leave-car-for-2-months.6747/

A charger for the 12V battery is a good idea - I was only away for 3 weeks at the start of the year and that battery went flat after 2 weeks. Full details on this thread:
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/theft-alarm-low-12v-battery.14264/

Driving the car every so often also makes sense, particularly for the tyres I think.

 

[satchurator]

All make sense thank you. Would you suggest to give it a drive every so often just to keep things running, or leaving it all connected for a few months would be just fine? Cheers.

Do you trust whoever would be driving it? Might be sufficient for them just to occasionally check the HV battery SOC and the LV battery voltage after a minute or two of booting up.

There is still a lot of residual negative folklore from an early problem where the 12V battery would run down in long term storage situations. That was fixed in late 2021 IIRC.

Make sure your car is fully up date with software, not just by checking the PCM, but also with your service advisor.

Check your manual, in the Mobility and Minor repairs section - see "Notes on leaving the vehicle unused for long periods". In summary: use a charging profile set to 50% charge level, and have the car permanently connected to your EVSE and it's power source. Thats it.

One step beyond that would be to add a 12V battery tender. If you do that, make sure you get the right kind. I have the CTEK Pro25S, which has a lithium mode - necessary for LiFePO4 12V batteries.

 

[satchurator]

There is still a lot of residual negative folklore from an early problem where the 12V battery would run down in long term storage situations. That was fixed in late 2021 IIRC.

I shall double down on my folklore statement. I believe the latter day occurrences of 12V discharge problems have other unusual contributing factors: the theft alarm getting triggered, a genuine defect, aftermarket accessories leeching the 12V battery etc. These examples get generalized into perpetuating the 12V discharge FUD.

 

[tigerbalm]

Nothing wrong with giving it a drive now and again and it would be my preference if I could get my wife to drive it lol.

If even to prevent damage to the tyres by having them sit on the same contact patch for too long.

 

[IrwinJ]

I leave mine for 6 months every year. Let it go below 50% then put on charger set to 50% charge, put lithium trickle charger on the 12 volt battery and overinflated tires 3 to 5 pounds each. Done

 

[SergeyIndy]

I leave mine for 6 months every year. Let it go below 50% then put on charger set to 50% charge, put lithium trickle charger on the 12 volt battery and overinflated tires 3 to 5 pounds each. Done

I wonder if you could elaborate on the specifics for the 12V trickle charger in terms of what specific kind to get (Porsche branded, CTEK branded), then where do you connect it, and what setting the charger has to be on, so it is doing the trickle charging correctly. I have gathered all this information but every time I study it, I run into conflicting information since 12V chargers differ and what mode it should be set on when connected to the car.

 

[IrwinJ]

Here's the charger I used. There is no setting, you just attach the charger to the positive and negative terminals of the battery under the hood, and that's it - the charger knows what you're charging it to and handles the rest automatically. Easy peezy

Amazon.com: CTEK 56-926 LITHIUM US | Fully Automatic Lithium Ion Phosphate LiFePO4 Battery Charger | 5.0Ah - 60Ah | Maintenance Charging up to 120Ah : Automotive

 

[mocsman]

I also suggest putting it in Neutral instead of Park, provided that you are comfortable doing that where you’re parked. I left the car for a month in Park and I felt that the first time it disengaged was rather rough - felt kind of stuck for a split second.

 

[Packyjoon]

I also suggest putting it in Neutral instead of Park, provided that you are comfortable doing that where you’re parked. I left the car for a month in Park and I felt that the first time it disengaged was rather rough - felt kind of stuck for a split second.

Yeah I think I can deactivate the parking break and just leave it one the flat with stoppers under the wheels, definitely don’t want those lovely carbon ceramics to get stuck and falls apart

 

[Packyjoon]

Here's the charger I used. There is no setting, you just attach the charger to the positive and negative terminals of the battery under the hood, and that's it - the charger knows what you're charging it to and handles the rest automatically. Easy peezy

Amazon.com: CTEK 56-926 LITHIUM US | Fully Automatic Lithium Ion Phosphate LiFePO4 Battery Charger | 5.0Ah - 60Ah | Maintenance Charging up to 120Ah : Automotive

Thanks for the link I’ll look into it

Sponsored