Battery thermal management - does it work when car is unplugged?

[johndoe74]

Does anyone know whether the battery thermal management system will kick in, while the car is parked and unplugged? I am guessing not, as it would mean running the A/C system without plugged in for extended period of time. Here in AZ, the road surface temp can hit 120F+, even my garage hits 110F at night. I am a little worried about the long term effects of this on the battery life.

[brianman]

battery thermal management system will kick in ... as it would mean running the A/C system

My understanding is that cabin AC and battery thermal management are different systems.

[Jason S]

Different systems and the battery is kept cool enough. I don't know if 110 is too hot or not; it could be that it is cooled to a target temperature above that.

If parked in your garage the general assumption is that it'll be plugged in. If parked in a hot parking lot the assumption is that you have a few Kwh left to allow the relatively low usage needed to cool the car.

[donauker]

Does anyone know whether the battery thermal management system will kick in, while the car is parked and unplugged? I am guessing not, as it would mean running the A/C system without plugged in for extended period of time. Here in AZ, the road surface temp can hit 120F+, even my garage hits 110F at night. I am a little worried about the long term effects of this on the battery life.

I don't know on the Model S, but the Roadster will use the AC to cool the pack when the car is parked and unplugged if the battery temp gets to around 40C.

[jomo25]

It would be nice to get something that explained the scenarios like this (for the Volt):
Volt thermal management system temperature band?

[dsm363]

The car is basically always 'on' from what I understand at least. The battery temp is closely monitored at all times and is liquid cooled in the Model S.

from Model S Specs and Standard Features | Tesla Motors

Powertrain
Model S is a rear wheel drive electric vehicle. The liquid-cooled powertrain includes the battery, motor, drive inverter, and gear box.

[NigelM]

Does anyone know whether the battery thermal management system will kick in, while the car is parked and unplugged?.

Yes, it will.

[NuclearPowered]

If the ambient temperature is 110f, how long can you park unplugged without the battery management system shutting down due to low power. Assume an 85 kwh pack.

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[jerry33]

If the ambient temperature is 110f, how long can you park unplugged without the battery management system shutting down due to low power. Assume an 85 kwh pack.

I don't believe this is known. The only official word (from the Tesla Blog) is "For example, a Model S battery parked with 50 percent charge would approach full discharge only after about 12 months. 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"

From this I'd estimate four weeks but we won't really know until someone tries it. I expect most owners will be having too much fun driving to do this kind of test anytime soon. Maybe Tesla will release some better numbers.

[Jason S]

They've claimed a month even if you parked it at 'empty'. However I doubt that is at 110 average ambient temp. (110???????!! You parked it on a sand dune in summer in the Sahara?)

Again it all depends on what temp is too warm for the batteries. If the temp is 160 and it isn't being driven, then the one month claim should still hold.