What to do with your Tesla when going on vacation or storing it for longer periods of time

We’ve covered how much to charge your Tesla for everyday use, but when going on vacation or planning to store an electric car we have just a little extra planning to do.

The most crucial part of a Tesla is the battery. One advantage Tesla has over the competition is their excellent battery regulation. Batteries in a Tesla last longer when compared to the competition due to Tesla’s excellent battery monitoring.

There are four major contributors that lead to lithium-ion battery degradation, which we would like to minimize. The first two we don’t have much control over, which are the age of the battery and the number of charge cycles (the number of times the battery has been charged and discharged).

However, the last two, we do have control over. Lithium-ion batteries don’t like to remain in a very high, or very low state of charge. That doesn’t mean we should never charge to 100% or use it down to 5%, but it’d be wise to minimize those occurrences. The last thing is the temperature of the battery. For the most part, Tesla handles this automatically. The batteries are heated and cooled to stay in a healthy temperature range without you ever knowing, even if the car is off. The car will also limit power when driving if necessary.

If you’re going on vacation and leaving your car at home or at the airport here are some things to consider.

If you can leave your car plugged in while at home or the airport

• If you can leave your car charging, then absolutely do this, this will make things much easier and let the car control everything itself without you ever having to worry about it
• Lithium-ion batteries are best stored at around 50% of charge, so set your charge level in the Tesla app or the car to 50%. The car will automatically use some energy when needed to cool or heat the battery, and it’ll get this power directly from the power source instead of Tesla’s batteries.
• Keep the car in a garage or under a cover if possible, this will help keep your car away from extreme elements such as snow, ice and heat. In general, this is just good practice.

If you can not leave your car plugged in at home or the airport

• If you can not leave your car plugged in while going on vacation there are several more things we need to account for to prevent any possible issues longer term.
• If the weather is extreme, whether it’s extremely cold or hot and you can not park in an isolated area and are going away for more than two weeks, then you may want to consider a different mode of transportation. If the car battery is drained completely, it could lead to battery damage since the car can no longer keep the batteries at an ideal temperature and it’ll no longer be able to protect itself from harsh weather.
• If you're going to be gone more than a few days, try to have your car charged to 90% as it will consume some energy as it's parked. If you're only leaving for a day or two, then a 70 - 80% charge should be more than fine.
• Since your car will be unplugged and unable to charge, you can help preserve the battery by turning off Sentry Mode if it won’t be needed as this consumes quite a bit of energy.
• You will also want to turn off Stand By Mode in the Autopilot menu. Standy By Mode keeps your car's computer on so that you have instant access to features such as Summon. However, it does use additional energy.
• To further preserve the car's battery, you can turn off Cabin overheat protection, which is used to keep the cabin from overheating. The car attempts to keep the cabin below 105°F.
• Keep the car away from harsh weather, if it's winter then keeping it in a parking garage and away from wind will help. If it's the dead of summer, then also try to keep it under a covered area in the shade if possible.
• If you’d like to check in on your car, it will need to have a good cellular connection.
• Before leaving, confirm that the car has a good connection so that you can check on the battery level if needed. However, do not open up the Tesla app often, as doing so will wake up the car and keep it awake for about 15 minutes, consuming more energy. Only check on the car if you absolutely need to.

Keep in mind the amount of charge you’ll need in your car when heading back home or reaching your first charging destination. If you’re leaving your car plugged in, then you can expect the car to remain at the same charge percentage if there are no power outages. However, if the car is not plugged in, it may have a significantly less charge when you return.

As you can tell, it will be much easier and safer if you’re able to leave your car plugged in while going on vacation, especially if it’s for an extended period of time.

If you plan to store your Tesla for longer periods of time, you should find a place to keep your Tesla plugged in and follow the “if you can leave your car plugged in” tips above.

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Tesla will now automatically reroute you to less busy Superchargers in 2022.16

Tesla will now reroute you to less busy Superchargers

@cybrtrkguy/Twitter (Edited by NATA)

If you don't have enough range to reach your destination, Tesla’s in-car navigation system will automatically calculate where you should stop in order to charge.

If the Supercharger you’re set to arrive at is suddenly too busy, Tesla's navigation will now reroute you to another Supercharger location that's within range.

This was first noticed in the 2022.16 update by @greentheonly, but owners are now seeing it in action.

According to a recent tweet by @cybrtrkguy, which shows a picture of their trip planner and the message, “Rerouting to a less busy Supercharger” in Sheffield, Ohio.

“Rerouting to a less busy Supercharger”

Never seen that one before. God I love this car pic.twitter.com/JkSDmENvcy

— The Cybertruck Guy (@cybrtrkguy) June 25, 2022

Tesla drivers will now know when a Supercharge station is congested and will have the option to change their route to reduce their total travel time.

Not only does Tesla know exactly how many vehicles are charging at each location. It also knows the charge level of each vehicle and it could estimate the wait time for a Supercharger based on how many Teslas are nearby with a low state of charge.

Based on all of this information Tesla can come up with great suggestions on the best place to charge to reduce your overall trip time.

Tesla’s Supercharger rerouting feature will be useful, especially as Tesla starts opening its Supercharger sites to non-Tesla vehicles.

Tesla recently chose to open up the Supercharger network to other car brands, which could add additional Supercharger congestion.

In fact, Tesla now plans to add CCS (Combined Charging System) plugs to US-based Superchargers in order to make them even more compatible with other EV manufacturers.

With over 30,000 Superchargers (3,500 stations) reported at the end of 2021, Tesla undoubtedly operates the largest and most successful fast-charging networks.

While Tesla plans to solve Supercharger congestion by tripling the size of its network in the next few years, this new navigation feature will certainly help alleviate some Supercharger congestion.

This isn’t the only recent change to how Tesla calculates your route. In the 2022.16.2 software update, Tesla added forecasted crosswind, headwind, humidity and ambient temperature to improve its range calculations even further.

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Tesla Model 3 lands in the Top 10 best sellers globally

Tesla Model 3 is in the Top 10 best selling cars of 2021

Tesla’s Model 3 has landed a spot as the ninth best-selling car in the world for 2021, which is up 40% from 2020, according to Fiat Group World. The Model 3 accounted for 508,000 unit sales in 2021.

According to the data provided by Fiat Group World, the Toyota RAV4/Wildlander came in at number one, which is up from the second spot in 2020. The Ford F-150 pickup truck landed at number seven, down from the number 6 spot in 2020.

Toyota and Honda have four vehicles in the top 11 spots, while Nissan, Ford, and Tesla only have one spot.

Fiat Group World notes that the Tesla Model 3 continues to rise within the list and is expected to rank in the top five by the end of this year.

Additionally, the author adds that the Model Y is expected to outsell the Model 3 by the end of 2022, which means both the Model 3 and Model Y would both sit in the top five spots. The Model Y currently sits at the 19th spot on the list, which means the Model Y accounted for 392,000 sales in 2021. It rose from the 262nd spot, or 412%, from 2020.

It’s worth noting that the Model Y began its deliveries in 2020, which explains the significant jump in 2021. Earlier this year, it won U.S. News’ Best Luxury Electric SUV award.

Of the 110 vehicles included, the Model S and Model X did not make the cut. This is most likely due to their higher price tag.

With this data available and Fiat Group World’s insights, it’s entirely possible for the Model Y to overtake the Model 3 this year. And with Tesla constantly adding new features and bringing back ‘Enhanced Autopilot,’ consumers will likely jump on-board.

Tesla brought back Enhanced Autopilot to the US and Canada last week for $6,000 (USD), half of what Full Self-Driving does.

The Model 3 and Model Y may soon get a rear display for entertainment. A tweet from Tesla enthusiast and software developer @greentheonly discovered that Model 3s and Model Ys with the new AMD processors have the bandwidth for a second display, like the new refreshed Model S and Model Xs have.

Tesla is currently battling global supply chain restraints, and Musk said at Bloomberg’s Qatar Economic Forum that these restraints are a bigger issue than competition from other competitive automakers.

“Our constraints are much. More in raw materials and being able to scale up productions,” Musk says.

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