Tips for occasional/irregular usage

[SpikySimonW]

Bought a Cyberster GT on a bit of a whim.

Meaning it’s now sitting on the driveway and will have irregular and, at least for the immediate future, an infrequent use pattern.

It could become my near-daily driver, especially in the summer, but for now I simply have more suitable vehicles available for the journeys/tasks at hand.

Any tips please to assist making sure “infrequent” doesn’t become inadvertent “neglect”? I’m all too familiar with the knowledge “low mileage” isn’t always a good thing - cars are meant to be driven!

The battery side of things I think I’m ok with (keep it sitting with the SoC somewhere around mid-point). And I’ll purposely take it out for a spin at least once a week/fortnight, weather and availability allowing. But… anything obvious to be aware of? Noting this is both my first EV and first soft-top. Also, sadly not garaged.

TIA

 

[Bam Bam]

Bought a Cyberster GT on a bit of a whim.

Meaning it’s now sitting on the driveway and will have irregular and, at least for the immediate future, an infrequent use pattern.

It could become my near-daily driver, especially in the summer, but for now I simply have more suitable vehicles available for the journeys/tasks at hand.

Any tips please to assist making sure “infrequent” doesn’t become inadvertent “neglect”? I’m all too familiar with the knowledge “low mileage” isn’t always a good thing - cars are meant to be driven!

The battery side of things I think I’m ok with (keep it sitting with the SoC somewhere around mid-point). And I’ll purposely take it out for a spin at least once a week/fortnight, weather and availability allowing. But… anything obvious to be aware of? Noting this is both my first EV and first soft-top. Also, sadly not garaged.

TIA

Sounds like you're already aware of the main one (HV battery state of charge when left).

12v battery?
Perhaps a worry will be about the 12v battery so maybe plug that in to a battery charger thing every now and again. We used to do that with our old car that had an electrical issue and chewed through 12v batteries.

Cover?
I wonder if it would be worth getting a tarpaulin cover to protect it from the elements.

Not sure if it is worth it and I've never done it myself, but some people seem to cover up their sports cars.

 

[Vader]

Ours is a daily, but we still put a cover on it. From memory, the 12V battery is monitored and charged from the traction battery if it gets too low. I had a friend with a Kona who went through 3 12V batteries because it wasn't topped up by the car. You'd think the first time would be enough . As for infrequent use, it depends on how infrequent. Daily in summer, up on bricks for the other 9 (?) months would probably require battery maintenance. The main thing is don't charge the battery to 100% and leave it. That is the worst thing you can do to a battery. Worse than overheating. Leave it somewhere between 50-80. Start at 80, and recharge when it hits 50. The app is your friend, although I don't think it has a 12V battery status.

 

[SpikySimonW]

Ours is a daily, but we still put a cover on it.

Any specific cover recommended, or just a generic one? Thanks.

 

[Vader]

I just used a simple cover from the Oz equivalent of Halfords. It was their "premium" cover, but I wouldn't call it that. There are a few online ones that claim to be water/wind/snow/cyclone (ok, not the last one) proof, but were 10x the price of my simple cover. Just match the length of the cover. The Cyberster is over 4.5m long, so get a cover for a large / family car. Better to be too big than too small.