Leaving Hood Unlocked While on Vacation

[gryphon99]

Has anyone tried leaving their hood unlocked for an extended period of time? I need to leave my car sitting for about 6 weeks. I'm expecting my battery to be totally fine. But just in case, I had this bright (or dumb...) idea to leave the hood unlocked so I have access to the battery in case I need to give it some juice.

Is this a crazy idea??? Anyone try this?

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[tigerbalm]

Overthinking it IMO. I spend much of my year in Australia with work – leaving the car at around 45% SOC – for periods well in excess of 6 weeks – and my car has always been fine when I get back.

 

[ElectricV8Biturbo]

The car will still go to sleep even with the hood or trunk unlocked

 

[tigerbalm]

The car will still go to sleep even with the hood or trunk unlocked

I think the idea is having easier access to the 12V battery if it died.

 

[ElectricV8Biturbo]

I think the idea is having easier access to the 12V battery if it died.

Kinda figured that was his plan. I was assuring him all would be well, and the car would still respond as though everything was closed. And in the unlikely event that the battery died, he can still do what he planned to do anyway with charging.

Which reminds me, can we put this car on a battery tender for the 12 volt?

 

[tigerbalm]

Which reminds me, can we put this car on a battery tender for the 12 volt?

Never read into this much. It is my understanding that the HV battery will keep it topped up a number of times or until the HV battery hits below 18%.

You probably can if its one that supports the Taycan's 12V chemistry.

 

[D2G]

Kinda figured that was his plan. I was assuring him all would be well, and the car would still respond as though everything was closed. And in the unlikely event that the battery died, he can still do what he planned to do anyway with charging.

Which reminds me, can we put this car on a battery tender for the 12 volt?

I use this battery tender in the 12V lithium mode, NOCO GENIUS1, when not driving my Taycan. Works great, no issues. While I have not had 12V battery issues, I am also not 100% confident that my Taycan will preserve its 12V battery during long periods of no use, so I take this measure, others will disagree.

 

[ElectricV8Biturbo]

I use this battery tender in the 12V lithium mode, NOCO GENIUS1, when not driving my Taycan. Works great, no issues. While I have not had 12V battery issues, I am also not 100% confident that my Taycan will preserve its 12V battery during long periods of no use, so I take this measure, others will disagree.

Well considering all my Porsche 12volt batteries have been near $3000 to replace, I would put it on a tender if I was leaving it for more than a week IMO

 

[RSouthern]

I've read in other posts on this site that the Taycan requires a lithium battery compatible trickle/maintenance charger.

I also understand that the HV battery doesn't charge the 12v battery unless the car is on. Perhaps this is to avoid running down the HV battery, but I don't have anything other than a vague memory of reading that on this site, so it may not be accurate.

Can anyone here verify these 2 beliefs?

 

[Scandinavian]

Which reminds me, can we put this car on a battery tender for the 12 volt?

Yes you can put the Taycan on a 12 volt battery tender suitable for Lithium batteries. I intend to do that this summer since we will be gone for more than 8 weeks. I have run out of battery after a little over 7 weeks at the airport once. Not fun to arrive at midnight to a dead Taycan.


I use a CTEK, but there are others as well.
https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-chargers-12v-24v/cs-one-uk

The Taycan reportedly cycles 8 times to charge the 12 volt battery according to earlier data. Not sure if Porsche has updated this by now

I have also left the bonnet open on previous trips but the battery was fine at that time

Here is an early advice from Porsche

 

[hrtlik]

I've read in other posts on this site that the Taycan requires a lithium battery compatible trickle/maintenance charger.

I also understand that the HV battery doesn't charge the 12v battery unless the car is on. Perhaps this is to avoid running down the HV battery, but I don't have anything other than a vague memory of reading that on this site, so it may not be accurate.

Can anyone here verify these 2 beliefs?

1) Yes, you need LFP compatible trickle charger. Almost every other charger now offers this.

2) It should charge even when car is off. HV battery does not take any hit, car is good in that respect. The problem is that 12V is not being charged properly as it should and there are still bugs that lead to complete 12V failure. This happened to me few months back, new battery+work costs 2000€ (vat included). So I recommend to connect trickle charger when you expect you are not gonna use your Taycan for few weeks.

 

[iamai]

Yes you can put the Taycan on a 12 volt battery tender suitable for Lithium batteries. I intend to do that this summer since we will be gone for more than 8 weeks. I have run out of battery after a little over 7 weeks at the airport once. Not fun to arrive at midnight to a dead Taycan.


I use a CTEK, but there are others as well.
https://www.ctek.com/uk/battery-chargers-12v-24v/cs-one-uk

The Taycan reportedly cycles 8 times to charge the 12 volt battery according to earlier data. Not sure if Porsche has updated this by now

I have also left the bonnet open on previous trips but the battery was fine at that time

Here is an early advice from Porsche

I read the advice from Porsche that you provided a link to and it states in paragraph 11 not to use the MyPorsche App too frequently as it will drain the 12-volt battery. But i was hoping to use the MyPorsche App to trigger a cabin climate control event that would not only preheat/cool the cabin, but at the same time charge my 12-volt battery if the system detected that it is low.

Why is my assumption wrong that causing cabin preheat/cooling event will also charge my 12-volt battery since Porsche advises against using the App?

 

[d00d]

I have the CTEK 56-926, just got the 25A Victron BlueSmart IP65 Charger so I can check from iPhone.

https://www.victronenergy.com/chargers/blue-smart-ip65-charger

 

[Scandinavian]

I read the advice from Porsche that you provided a link to and it states in paragraph 11 not to use the MyPorsche App too frequently as it will drain the 12-volt battery. But i was hoping to use the MyPorsche App to trigger a cabin climate control event that would not only preheat/cool the cabin, but at the same time charge my 12-volt battery if the system detected that it is low.

Why is my assumption wrong that causing cabin preheat/cooling event will also charge my 12-volt battery since Porsche advises against using the App?

Yes there was a thread about that here. The theory was that it would restart the cycle count for the main battery to charge the 12 volt battery. I have not seen any further evidence about that fact, but it may be possible since the car wakes up completely? But if that counts as a terminal 15 cycle, I do not know. And I have no idea on how long time it will take to trigger the process described below. But I guess that if you frequently use the app to check the car, that will awake some of the systems aboard and use energy. At least the LTE modules etc.

Here is a copy of the explanation from the Audi manual.

 

[iamai]

Yes there was a thread about that here. The theory was that it would restart the cycle count for the main battery to charge the 12 volt battery. I have not seen any further evidence about that fact, but it may be possible since the car wakes up completely? But if that counts as a terminal 15 cycle, I do not know. And I have no idea on how long time it will take to trigger the process described below. But I guess that if you frequently use the app to check the car, that will awake some of the systems aboard and use energy. At least the LTE modules etc.

Here is a copy of the explanation from the Audi manual.

This diagram causes more questions than answers:
1. if this 12-volt low voltage detection is working as described, why are we hearing about dead Taycans that drained their 12-volt battery after few weeks of being in this bus sleep state.
2. if i induce a wake event from my App and not rely on this unexplained detection, will my 12 volt battery's usable charge also go through a check and a recharge if it needs it. I am assuming HV SOC is above 20-25%, the threshold amount needed for the remote cabin control to work.

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