Car switched on while parked ?

[Barney]

In the bad old days of ICEs and their ignition systems, I was advised not to leave the ignition switched on with the engine off, for fear of damaging the coil. On older cars there wasn't even an Aux position on the ignition switch, so if you wanted to listen to the radio while waiting for your better half, for example, you couldn't do so.

In the brave new world of EVs, however, is there any problem leaving the car switched on while waiting, thus avoiding having the radio switch itself off after a few minutes ? Is it just a question of minimising battery drain, perhaps ?

 

[Alb]

You can leave the car in Ready mode for as long as you like. It does come with the minor downside of leaving the DRLs on but it protects the 12V battery.

 

[kevin ellard]

In the bad old days of ICEs and their ignition systems, I was advised not to leave the ignition switched on with the engine off, for fear of damaging the coil. On older cars there wasn't even an Aux position on the ignition switch, so if you wanted to listen to the radio while waiting for your better half, for example, you couldn't do so.

In the brave new world of EVs, however, is there any problem leaving the car switched on while waiting, thus avoiding having the radio switch itself off after a few minutes ? Is it just a question of minimising battery drain, perhaps ?

It is now much better to leave the car switched on while you are waiting. It saves the 12v battery and keeps you warm/cool depending on the weather.

 

[Steve Kaye]

It is now much better to leave the car switched on while you are waiting. It saves the 12v battery and keeps you warm/cool depending on the weather.

Totally agree, I often wait in the car with it switched on, doesnt use a lot of power from the main battery

 

[dragon2611]

Totally agree, I often wait in the car with it switched on, doesnt use a lot of power from the main battery

Unless you have the heater blasting or something like that, but even then that probably wouldn't be long as it should reduce it's power consumption once the cabins reached the desired temp.