Parking car at airport

BoltPals:

I am driving to the airport soon. 70 miles. Plan to leave the car for a week. Perhaps 50 degrees or so. Should be plenty of range to return without charging, but what about the active battery management system? Will it draw down the charge? Not an issue with my past Leaf, since it had no battery management cooling/heating etc.

I wouldn't worry about it. I used to leave my Spark EV parked at LAX for 10 days at a time, all different weather. The battery was either not full, or it was plugged in to a charger in long term parking. Never an issue. Sometimes the energy usage screen would report that some power had been used for battery conditioning, but it was only a few percent at best. I think it'll keep itself happy, plus, (and unlike the LEAF) the battery is liquid cooled, so even more reason to not worry.

Even those few cars which activate the battery thermal management system even when not plugged in disable this feature when the battery is low. This is done not only to avoid running down the battery, but also because at lower states of charge the battery isn't much bothered by high temperatures.

And 50 F is a very happy temperature for battery storage. No need to heat it.

The BMS is *not* active when the car is not plugged in. This is why the instruction manual says to plug the car in when parking for an extended period in below freezing temperatures, or above 90 degree temperatures; the thermal management system needs to run to keep the battery at a healthy temperature but it will only do so when plugged in.

For parking in the 50s, there is no concern; just park it and leave it alone. For best results the battery should be roughly half charged; you don't want to park the car with a full battery.

CGameProgrammer said:

The BMS is *not* active when the car is not plugged in. This is why the instruction manual says to plug the car in when parking for an extended period in below freezing temperatures, or above 90 degree temperatures; the thermal management system needs to run to keep the battery at a healthy temperature but it will only do so when plugged in.

For parking in the 50s, there is no concern; just park it and leave it alone. For best results the battery should be roughly half charged; you don't want to park the car with a full battery.

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OK, sounds good. Thanks for the info.

CGameProgrammer said:

The BMS is *not* active when the car is not plugged in.

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Are we sure about this? It would seem the car should be able to regulate its battery temperature when it is parked at work in 100+ degree heat. This might be for 8-10 hours per day, so about half the life of the car?

This is far less necessary when the battery is at a low state of charge.

Furthermore, the battery has a large thermal capacity and is generally well insulated. So if you park for a week at the airport, it won't heat up to 100 F during the day, will maintain an average temperature based on day and night. Of course, a shaded area is preferred.

I say this based on my experience my with Focus...the battery did not heat up quickly during the day. I have no reason to believe Bolt will be different. Most of the heating happened during charging. When not plugged in, far fewer temperature issues.

michael said:

This is far less necessary when the battery is at a low state of charge.

Furthermore, the battery has a large thermal capacity and is generally well insulated. So if you park for a week at the airport, it won't heat up to 100 F during the day, will maintain an average temperature based on day and night. Of course, a shaded area is preferred.

I say this based on my experience my with Focus...the battery did not heat up quickly during the day. I have no reason to believe Bolt will be different. Most of the heating happened during charging. When not plugged in, far fewer temperature issues.

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I see, thank you. So, just to understand, was the leaf's battery temp issue related to the hi temps during charging only?

You guys are misusing the term "BMS" which is the "Battery Management System controlling charging and power delivery, and confusing it with a "TMS" or Thermal Management System, which keeps the pack from getting too hot or cold. The Leaf's problem was, initially, that the battery chemistry wasn't heat-resistant enough to tolerate even normally hot temps regularly. That was somewhat addressed beginning in April or 2013, with more heat and age-resistant cells, and again in 2015 with the introduction of the "Lizard' Pack." Leaf batteries will still degrade when pack temps go (and, especially, stay) above 90F or so, though, even with the so-called "Lizard Pack."

flamaest said:

CGameProgrammer said:

The BMS is *not* active when the car is not plugged in.

Click to expand...

Are we sure about this? It would seem the car should be able to regulate its battery temperature when it is parked at work in 100+ degree heat. This might be for 8-10 hours per day, so about half the life of the car?

Click to expand...

I am sure because that's what the owner's manual states. You have to plug the car in to have the battery temperature regulated, when the car is off.

So, follow up on the trip. Drove to the airport, and from Sebastopol to SFO, I used only about 1/4 of the battery capacity. Amazing. Parked the car at long term parking in a standard spot. Interestingly, on level 4 where I parked, the 4 EV spots next to the EVSE's were all occupied by plug in hybrids, none of which were actually plugged in. This used to happen to me with my Leaf when I went to the airport. It is amazing how selfish some folks are who will park in an EV spot to be next to the elevator in a car that does not need to be charged, blocking out somebody who really needs the charging to get home. Sad. Too bad the airport does not enforce a better policy.

In any event, no need to park next to an EVSE in the Bolt. Left for 5 days, came back, and the car was in the exact state of charge as before. Drove home and got home with 1/2 state of charge left after 130 miles of driving. Wow. Really makes the Bolt a winner for medium range driving.

Same here, have left my bolt for about 2 weeks and no difference in the state of charge. Love this thing.

CGameProgrammer said:

flamaest said:

CGameProgrammer said:

The BMS is *not* active when the car is not plugged in.

Click to expand...

Are we sure about this? It would seem the car should be able to regulate its battery temperature when it is parked at work in 100+ degree heat. This might be for 8-10 hours per day, so about half the life of the car?

Click to expand...

I am sure because that's what the owner's manual states. You have to plug the car in to have the battery temperature regulated, when the car is off.

Click to expand...

I'm actually not so sure, at least not on the Spark EV. Despite what the manual may or may not say, when I'd leave the car parked at work on horrible hot days and not plugged in, I would get back in the car, and the battery usage pie chart would show a small percentage of battery "conditioning" used. I know the Spark EV is not the Bolt, but active cooling makes sense no matter what the plug-in state if preserving the battery life is the goal.

I have a 2013 leaf. I leave my car in an unheated garage for 2-3 weeks 3 times a year. I leave it unplugged, and it is always fine, except once with an old 12 volt battery that failed in cold weather.
Remember early Leafs were shipped by ship from Japan, and driven off the boat.

On another board, Leaf owners say that the car runs a charging/reconditioning cycle when plugged in. And would run down the battery over time.