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Parked at work. The prospect of leaving the car at work while I find other transportation home is kind of a non-starter though (I might as well not have a car at all in that case). My parents will probably have it during the summer when driving to work isn't a necessity. Since they don't have a garage, we figured we'd just figure out a way to run electricity to the car (or build a small carport). In the end, we'd rather the car not be an all-consuming responsibility. I'm sure it'll be sorted out by the time we take delivery.
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That won't be as bad then. If you had to go find a public charge station every now and then to charge, that would get old fast but if you can charge at work, that'll make it easier.
Is there no way for you to even get a 110V outlet to trickle charge the car at night and heat the pack up in the morning? I know you said it probably wasn't possible but maybe talking with the apartment complex and offering to pay for it and a monthly energy fee ($25 or something) would talk them into it.
Is there a business or parking garage near your apartment that would rent a space with a 120v plug?
GSP
Lcaudle24
Member
Confused on Failure of MS to Stay "Topped Off" While Plugged In
I know I am late to the party on this point, but I find myself using the iPhone app to switch the charge (in my plugged-in S) to "Max Range" for a few minutes to trick the car into charging and after a few minutes, I switch the mode back to "Standard." This essentially tops off the battery to the maximum "Standard" charge (239-241 Mi.). I wonder if this is bad for the battery to be doing this - it surely helps to keep a topped off battery; especially a day or so before I return from a business trip.
Does anyone have any thoughts on whether this is a bad practice - I assume it is if no other reason that Tesla apparently has programmed the car NOT to stay in a topped-off condition when continually plugged into to a power source?:cursing:
I know I am late to the party on this point, but I find myself using the iPhone app to switch the charge (in my plugged-in S) to "Max Range" for a few minutes to trick the car into charging and after a few minutes, I switch the mode back to "Standard." This essentially tops off the battery to the maximum "Standard" charge (239-241 Mi.). I wonder if this is bad for the battery to be doing this - it surely helps to keep a topped off battery; especially a day or so before I return from a business trip.
Does anyone have any thoughts on whether this is a bad practice - I assume it is if no other reason that Tesla apparently has programmed the car NOT to stay in a topped-off condition when continually plugged into to a power source?:cursing:
Lcaudle24
Member
I am losing about 8 mi/day and I am not seeing that loss reduce as the battery wears down - the 8 mi/day loss seems to be straight-line. Others have stated that their chargers "kick back on" once the rated miles reduces down to around 230, but I am not seeing that. Admittedly, I have not conducted any test to see if and when my chargers "kick back on" but I am sure mine has gone below 230 miles after being fully charged (in standard mode). NOTE: I have had my car for only 11 days so not much experience or data to provide. As to your "commute" question: Only 11 miles roundtrip to and from work so there is certainly no need for me to be manually (through the iPhone app) topping off - I suppose I am just overly obsessive about having a max charge. Many times, I return from a business trip on Fridays and my desire to top off the charge is more driven by wanting the car to maximum standard range for a Saturday excursion. Thanks for your quick reply.
Lcaudle24
Member
Heh, you kind of anticipated my reply.
I see 232 greet me in the morning, and I don't mess with anything. My commute is around 20 round-trip, so it's not worth bothering over.
You're probably right!
When my car is parked in the garage it tops off about once every 24 hours, all by itself. The idle power losses appear to be greater with v4.2 (1.19.42) than with my previous v4.0 firmware. Here are the latest data points for my idle power losses, which are measured at the wall.
Looking at your graph it looks like, in my 45-60F garage, my car is pulling about 150W continuously! Damn about as much as my Server. Really hope Tesla can get it down to 50W or so.
That's probably not too far off, considering a charging efficiency of 90%. Of course, the means that the 12V is discharging at over 10 amps, and then being periodically topped off at a much higher amperage. Sounds like that might generate a lot of heat, but I looked at internal resistance values for lead acid batteries, and they are quite low. However, I wonder what all that current going in and out does to the electrolyte level over the long term.
FalconNinetyD
Active Member
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
What makes you think the 12V battery is the carrying all the load? As I know it there are two circuits in the DC/DC converter, one keep the 12V battery charged up and the other runs the 12V accessory loads. Also, the battery is a sealed AGM so should not lose any electrolyte.
mknox
Well-Known Member
I drove my company's Volt for a week a while back and monitored it's energy use at the wall. I found, when fully charged, the car would draw between 3 and 166 watts (at 120 volts). Periodically (when the load was closer to 166 than 3) I could hear pumps and fans running. Just a data point for comparison...
Does the DC/DC converter run 24/7? Just assumed that the 12V would carry the loads while the car was parked and the DC/DC would top it off from time to time. I think even AGM's can vent if charged too rapidly or to excess, resulting in a loss of electrolyte.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
I would assume the DC/DC is always on. It's more efficient to run the car from the main pack and DC/DC than constantly discharging and charging the 12V battery.
One circuit of the DC/DC keeps the 12V up, and the other circuit handles the vampire and operating loads. At least that's my understanding. Sleep mode probably shuts down the main DC/DC circuit and all vampire loads but keeps the12V battery charged to allow booting the system back up.
One circuit of the DC/DC keeps the 12V up, and the other circuit handles the vampire and operating loads. At least that's my understanding. Sleep mode probably shuts down the main DC/DC circuit and all vampire loads but keeps the12V battery charged to allow booting the system back up.
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JRP3
Hyperactive Member
I think the LEAF has a larger 12V battery than the S, and the S has larger idle loads since the LEAF has no active battery management, so the LEAF design makes sense for the LEAF, but not the S.
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