Do you know that you must keep your battery charged?

[DrTaras]

The Tesla full long press release on the matter (upthread and this link) says it's from 50% SOC.

Thank you for that

Still want them to upgrade Roadster firmware to do this.

Agreed. Thank you for advancing the story when you posted that earlier!

[DrTaras]

I don't see why the PEM would be damaged. I would suspect that the PEM could be "booted back up" as soon as a pack with charge is available.

Thank you for pointing that out

To me, having the car "cry out for help" (with audible alarms, cellphone texts, etc.) seems like the right approach.

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"
Its a good start, but still looking for further dummy-proofing

[DrTaras]

I don't know if this is a different manual than the one you have, but the info you are looking for is the section "Leaving the vehicle unplugged"

Of the 6 highlighted places only the one that you point out "Leaving the vehicle unplugged" is specific. The others are more vague with "extended period of time" or "designed to be plugged in."
Like I said, I have read the manual and I don't remember if there was different wording in the 1st 340 as opposed to after that.
In school we were given 2 types of tests (over generalizing): Closed book and open book. The reading the manual and being expected to remember everything is like getting 100% on every test you ever took, assuming you read the material. People even don't get 100%s on open book tests! More dummy-proof makes for better PR for Tesla and for EVs. My $0.02

[Norbert]

People even don't get 100%s on open book tests! More dummy-proof makes for better PR for Tesla and for EVs. My $0.02

Well, it is also a collective learning process.

[eledille]

This probably assumes that you start from a full charge on a 300mile battery; my guess. That being said, can you please provide the link where those words are written, especially about killing the parasitic loads. That would be great for the Model S but I am still leery for there is a difference between hibernating, which still consumes some battery and complete battery shut off before the battery bricks! We might, on the Roadster, already have the former.

vfx: Thank you.

DrTaras: The sequence of events published by Tesla clearly shows that pumps and fans continue to run until the battery dies. I don't have the time to dig up the reference, maybe I'll edit the post or someone else finds it, or you could look it up yourself. Quote from the Tesla press release about Model S bricking:

Model S batteries also have the ability to protect themselves as they approach very low charge levels by going into a “deep sleep” mode that lowers the loss even further. A Model S will not allow its battery to fall below about 5 percent charge. At that point the car can still sit for many months. Of course you can drive a Model S to 0 percent charge, but even in that circumstance, if you plug it in within 30 days, the battery will recover normally.

If anyone can come up with any reasonable suggestions as to what "going into a deep sleep mode that lowers the loss even further" might mean other than killing parasitic loads, then I'm all ears.

• If you park at 50% SOC you can be away for a whole year, as I said.
  
• If you disregard all warnings and drive it down to five percent, you can still ignore it for "many months".
  
• If you insist on putting a 12-gauge load of buckshot through your foot by driving until the car will not move, then leave it without plugging in, it will still be OK for at least 30 days.
  
• Whenever the car detects that the battery is in danger, it will emit various visible and audible warnings, send messages to your phone, and even call Tesla for help.
  

What more do you want? This scenario is much less likely to occur than ruining an ICE because you forgot to have the timing belt changed.

[PV4EV]

As far as I know all recent and future Tesla's have GSM as standard. Surely this could be set up at purchase time so that the car simply sends a TXT to the owners cell-phone (rather than just Tesla Service) alerting them to plug it in ASAP ?


I find it hard to believe that even Mr Drucker doesn’t carry a cell phone around with him, or read SMS or emails for more than a couple of weeks at a time.


Is there some reason why this would not work ?

[NigelM]

As far as I know all recent and future Tesla's have GSM as standard. Surely this could be set up at purchase time so that the car simply sends a TXT to the owners cell-phone (rather than just Tesla Service) alerting them to plug it in ASAP ?

Is there some reason why this would not work ?

What about when someone loses their cellphone or changes their number but forgets to "tell" the car? What about the person who's in a coma in the hospital?!? We want it DUMMY-proof!!!

(Sarcasm...in case you didn't notice)

[NigelM]

....too many make nasty quips at those who do not agree with their, 'this is the only way people should live' outlook on life!

....those who were verbally stoned - medved comes to mind...

Hypocritical?

[dsm363]

As far as I know all recent and future Tesla's have GSM as standard. Surely this could be set up at purchase time so that the car simply sends a TXT to the owners cell-phone (rather than just Tesla Service) alerting them to plug it in ASAP ?


I find it hard to believe that even Mr Drucker doesn’t carry a cell phone around with him, or read SMS or emails for more than a couple of weeks at a time.


Is there some reason why this would not work ?

I hate to defend this guy but don't think his car would have had GSM built in since it's a 1.5.

I guess people don't feel 'permanently damage the battery' and 'not covered under your new vehicle warranty' are not strong enough. Tesla should add stronger, more natural language as mentioned before.

[PV4EV]

... We want it DUMMY-proof!!! ...

(Sarcasm...in case you didn't notice)

A dummy proof car will need an endless list of warnings to be acknowledged before it will start, which will test if they can read and make choices, EG:-


WARNING : Car will fall towards the ground if you drive off a cliff. This Tesla is not equipped with an anti-gravity drive. Do you understand this ? [yes] [no].

[CAR: If 'no' Then Enable_gene_pool_cleansing_underseat_spike_device]

etc.


Feel free to add your own anti-dummy warnings