Leaving car unused for over a week - no longer contactable.

[luis]

I’ve left my car with 67% battery for over a week and was checking the status from day to day to check the internal temperature making sure it didn’t get too high.

I ran the air con remotely once, and the 12v battery level went up a bit in the process.

I checked the 12v level the next day and the day after that and it had gone up a bit, so I assumed the BMS is working as expected and topping up the 12v battery as required.

However, after exactly week, I can no longer connect to the car… (last voltage reading on 12v battery was 12.8v I think.

I’ll find out in a few days for sure, but I’m thinking that either the 12v battery is too low and so the coms / android infotainment have been stopped,

Or perhaps the coms / android infotainment go offline after a week of not using the car?

Either way, I really hope the car starts up when I get back to it in a few days…

Has anyone experienced anything similar?

 

[luis]

Another possibility that just dawned on me: the last contact was on the 31st of July. I wonder if the coms / infotainment hibernate unless the car is switched on in a given month?

I’m really just hoping the 12v battery hasn’t gone so low that the car won’t start when I get back to it. Trying to find plausible reasons for the app to stop working.

 

[Bubs]

Happened me and I just had to close the app fully and reboot it. Connected then.

 

[Liandada]

I'm having the same issue. I left the car on 23rd July and my last successful contact was on 30th July. So I will be following this thread.

 

[drmcw]

Happy to be wrong but I'd guess the 12v battery is too low. Heard similar tales about Nissan Leaf 12v running flat due to constant coms. Best to just leave the car asleep instead of constantly pinging it.

 

[luis]

The 12v did go up from one day to the other, so I assumed it was being topped up from the big battery (as you’d expect).

Also, when I ran the air con (as suggested on this forum somewhere) it did also boost the 12v battery.

My daily check was specifically to make sure the 12v didn’t get too low - and to boost it with the air con if necessary.

I work in tech so had tried all the usual tricks (force quit, restart, different connection type, vpn) I’ll let you know the outcome. Today the app actually logged me out. So now I’m logged back in but have no data at all (until it connects)

 

[Gomev]

How on earth did we manage to leave our cars before apps?

 

[luis]

Well, they weren’t just a bunch of computers back then…

 

[Kithmo]

How on earth did we manage to leave our cars before apps?

My Morris Minor sits on the drive for months with the 12v negative lead disconnected, no problem and it always starts first turn of the key with full choke and after waiting for the fuel pump to prime for a couple of seconds, when I reconnect the battery. It has a modern (4 year old) battery on it charged up by the dynamo. I do recondition the battery once or twice a year with the CTek charger.

 

[Gomev]

Well, they weren’t just a bunch of computers back then…

Do you check in with your laptop or PC you left at home while you are away, just to make sure it's OK ?

Computers are OK being left.

 

[luis]

Sure - computers are fine, But when a car manufacturer doesn’t do things right and allows a small battery to get critically low when it’s so close to a huge battery that could top it up, it’s worth keeping an eye on things. It certainly shouldn’t behave the way it is now.

If the car starts up, I’ll forgive the bad programming and learn to live with it.

If the car doesn’t start up I shall be extremely annoyed and stranded in the middle of the night when I reach the car. Then I’ll have to wait for the AA to come and rescue me…

That last scenario is exactly why I was keeping an eye on the levels.

So far I don’t fully trust any system on this car - with good reason.

 

[Kithmo]

I'm a great believer in the power of thought, negative thoughts bring negative things and positive bring positive.
Call me optimistic, but I think my car is great and so far my positive attitude towards it has rewarded me by it not letting me down.

 

[N2STY]

If I leave my car at the airport for years now I always keep a fully charged mini booster pack
I have found the Gooloo ones very good from amazon there big ones ie 3000 and 4000 way over the top but amazon have £50 off vouchers right now

 

[Nutnut]

Sure - computers are fine, But when a car manufacturer doesn’t do things right and allows a small battery to get critically low when it’s so close to a huge battery that could top it up, it’s worth keeping an eye on things. It certainly shouldn’t behave the way it is now.

If the car starts up, I’ll forgive the bad programming and learn to live with it.

If the car doesn’t start up I shall be extremely annoyed and stranded in the middle of the night when I reach the car. Then I’ll have to wait for the AA to come and rescue me…

That last scenario is exactly why I was keeping an eye on the levels.

So far I don’t fully trust any system on this car - with good reason.

Is this action drawing on the 12v each time? If so, the more you repeatedly initialise communication mightn't you cause or contribute to the scenario you're trying to avoid?

Maybe someone can confirm; when parked, is the HV meant to keep the 12v to a minimum level automatically, or that only happens if you remotely switch on the AC? I thought running the HVAC via the app would 'turn on' the HV and in turn be a way to ensure no flat battery if leaving for a long period, but I probably got the wrong end of the stick .

Also why not keep a battery booster for peace of mind if you're that worried? I've seen this mentioned a good few times, as well as keeping a 10mm spanner just in case.

Edit: Just seen @N2STY's post above - thanks for the tip.

 

[Gadget Geek]

I’ve left my car with 67% battery for over a week and was checking the status from day to day to check the internal temperature making sure it didn’t get too high.

I ran the air con remotely once, and the 12v battery level went up a bit in the process.

I checked the 12v level the next day and the day after that and it had gone up a bit, so I assumed the BMS is working as expected and topping up the 12v battery as required.

However, after exactly week, I can no longer connect to the car… (last voltage reading on 12v battery was 12.8v I think.

I’ll find out in a few days for sure, but I’m thinking that either the 12v battery is too low and so the coms / android infotainment have been stopped,

Or perhaps the coms / android infotainment go offline after a week of not using the car?

Either way, I really hope the car starts up when I get back to it in a few days…

Has anyone experienced anything similar?

Have you tried to remote start the HVAC? This should wake up the car, power up the traction battery and top up the 12v battery at the same time.

As nutnut mentioned, may be it's like continually checking tyre pressure; every time you check, you lose a little pressure.

 

[luis]

I was checking daily and ready to run the air con to boost the 12v battery.

Once the 12v battery did go up by itself from one day to the next.

However, without running the air con, the 12v battery level did go up across 2 days, so it looked like it was topping itself up.

Currently I can’t communicate with the car at all - and also can’t send commands to it.

 

[AK OK]

I was checking daily and ready to run the air con to boost the 12v battery.

I am it once and the 12v battery did go up.

However, without running the air con, the 12v battery level did go up across 2 days, so it looked like it was topping itself up.

Currently I can’t communicate with the car at all - and also can’t send commands to it.

Someone's nicked it for the steering column

 

[luis]

Lol - luckily the stand alone battery powered tracker confirmed the car is still there. Though the steering column may indeed have gone.

 

[AK OK]

Lol - luckily the stand alone battery powered tracker confirmed the car is still there. Though the steering column may indeed have gone.

Maybe they left the stand alone tracker standing alone nah it'll be right

 

[drmcw]

This video covers the issues. This is for the Thai version of the Mk1 so unsure how different it would be, but you have to ask how much charge will 10 minutes add to a 12 V battery with the pre-conditioning method used?