Leaving Car At Airport Car Park

Jon Farmer

Jon Farmer

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I am shortly to take delivery of my MG5 which we will be my first EV. Really looking forward to it.

I am also looking to book some airport parking very shortly for our Honeymoon in June. I can’t seem to find any information about leaving an EV in an airport car park for an extended period of time. Is there anything I should be considering?
 
No reason why there should be a problem leaving the car for a couple of weeks though you'll need to think about what state of charge you intend to leave it in. It's best not to leave it unused for a long time in either a high or low state of charge.
 
Alb said:
No reason why there should be a problem leaving the car for a couple of weeks though you'll need to think about what state of charge you intend to leave it in. It's best not to leave it unused for a long time in either a high or low state of charge.
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Would you say around 80% is ok or is that considered high?
 
Jon Farmer said:
I am shortly to take delivery of my MG5 which we will be my first EV. Really looking forward to it.

I am also looking to book some airport parking very shortly for our Honeymoon in June. I can’t seem to find any information about leaving an EV in an airport car park for an extended period of time. Is there anything I should be considering?
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I have asked several dealers about this very issue and they have all said - no problem - the car will retain its charge just as though it was having an overnight park somewhere. It was mentioned about leaving it with a decent amount of charge, about 40-60% maybe.
You might want to consider what long stay car park you use and whether the attendants, if any, would need to move the car around whilst you have gone. I personally would not feel happy about having some chap, not used to electric vehicles, driving my pride and joy around the place. In some places, where you have to leave your keys, cars get moved around from time to time and maybe get driven to your collection point just before collection on your return.
 
bwanamdevu said:
I have asked several dealers about this very issue and they have all said - no problem - the car will retain its charge just as though it was having an overnight park somewhere. It was mentioned about leaving it with a decent amount of charge, about 40-60% maybe.
You might want to consider what long stay car park you use and whether the attendants, if any, would need to move the car around whilst you have gone. I personally would not feel happy about having some chap, not used to electric vehicles, driving my pride and joy around the place. In some places, where you have to leave your keys, cars get moved around from time to time and maybe get driven to your collection point just before collection on your return.
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Thanks for that. The car park I am using you park and take your keys with you. My main concern is not having to immediately worry about your car after arriving back from a lovely holiday. Already some great advice on this thread.
 
Some years back I used to fret a bit over leaving the keys for my previous (15 reg) Ampera with operators, thinking they didn't have experience of electric vehicles. They all coped fine, and of course there are now many more EVs around, and they are familiar with many more cars than any of us are so I'd not worry about that.

I used a long term a few times who would, for a little bit extra, charge your car for your return, but it became a self-park one as a result of the pandemic and they dropped that option.

I left that car for up to 6 weeks a couple of times with no noticeable effect.

I'm pretty sure I read something leaving it longer term in the manual (or maybe here), but certainly the advice from @bwanamdevu broadly aligns with my recollection - 40 - 60%
 
I used the valet parking at Birmingham airport recently. Don't worry they'll use the car enough to stop any damage to the battery!
 
Early summer, I spoke to one salesman who admitted that he had no idea at all about battery degradation or other matters pertaining to leaving your car for 3-4 weeks at the airport! He was honest enough to admit it to it and said that his skimpy training on the EVs they sold never mentioned this topic at all! Since selling them, he has never been asked by any prospective customers either but must now rectify this ignorance - good for him!
 
I drove to Gatwick once for a winter getaway. My plan was to charge up just before I arrived but the Rapid failed on my, actually the App locked up! So I left it there on 19%. This was a Gen1 LEAF with a 100 mile range.

Got back after 2 weeks, back to the rapid and 70 miles home.

No issues.
 
I am flying from Luton, I ask them on twitter about if they have EV chargers. They referred me to this page which provides more questions than answers.

Electric Vehicle Charging Points at London Luton Aiport

London Luton has 6 Tesla Chargers, and 4 type 2 points available to the public. These are free to use but normal car parking charges apply.
www.london-luton.co.uk www.london-luton.co.uk

What capacity are the chargers?
Do they really expect you to pay £17:50 just to access the charger for an hour?

Thinking at the moment to charge at Toddington Services on the M1 instead.
 
Morning, what I'm suggesting is long term parking with charge at a remote location not a charge at the airport. Just check out ant search engine for long-term EV parking for the airport you are using. They then park car securely but give it a charge at the offsite carpark prior to collection. Usually 7kw overnight before you pick up.
 
C6MFC said:
Morning, what I'm suggesting is long term parking with charge at a remote location not a charge at the airport. Just check out ant search engine for long-term EV parking for the airport you are using. They then park car securely but give it a charge at the offsite carpark prior to collection. Usually 7kw overnight before you pick up.
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Hi, I don't want to leave my keys with anyone.
 
That's the service I alluded to above @C6MFC.

I'm a regular at Luton and AFAIK there was only one car park which offered it, and I booked it once. They were ones who you dropped your car and they parked it for you, and charged it before you came back.

It didn't work for me as I forgot to turn off the charge timer in the car so they must have plugged it in during a period when the car wasn't set to charge (my fault!). At least that won't be a problem on the MG5 :)

Anyway, that car park went to self parking near the start of Covid and the charging option wasn't available, and I don't think it us yet back on their menu. Could, of course, be wrong. I think it was Airparks.
 
smokie said:
That's the service I alluded to above @C6MFC.

I'm a regular at Luton and AFAIK there was only one car park which offered it, and I booked it once. They were ones who you dropped your car and they parked it for you, and charged it before you came back.

It didn't work for me as I forgot to turn off the charge timer in the car so they must have plugged it in during a period when the car wasn't set to charge (my fault!). At least that won't be a problem on the MG5 :)

Anyway, that car park went to self parking near the start of Covid and the charging option wasn't available, and I don't think it us yet back on their menu. Could, of course, be wrong. I think it was Airparks.
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Jon Farmer said:
Hi, I don't want to leave my keys with anyone.
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Your choice but I have always used (30 years plus) "meet and greet" as I hate shuttle buses. Never had a problem as long as you use a regulated provider.
 
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