Where to store over vacation

[cobracosta]

I did a search but couldnt find any previous posts. I will be gone on vacation and trying to decide if its safe to store my Lightning in the garage unattended. I wont be plugging it in so it will sit for 2 weeks. I would park it outside but a few months ago I had rodent damage on the harness and fear that costly issue will happen again ( even tho I added moth balls to the undercarriage. Any thoughts on safety for leaving in garage in the house unattended?

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[K6CCC]

Just park it in the garage. Ideally, leave the battery at somewhere close to 50%, and if you have a 12 volt battery maintainer, leave that connected. Otherwise, you should be fine for two weeks.

 

[davehu]

Just park it in the garage. Ideally, leave the battery at somewhere close to 50%, and if you have a 12 volt battery maintainer, leave that connected. Otherwise, you should be fine for two weeks.

Exactly

 

[reddog21]

I left mine for 2.5 weeks and it was perfectly fine. The movement of both the main battery and the 12V battery was minimal, and I randomly checked in the app—despite everyone saying not to—but it had almost no impact.
I will say this was during the summer, so I’m not sure if the effect would be worse if you left it during the winter when it’s cold.

 

[cobracosta]

I left mine for 2.5 weeks and it was perfectly fine. The movement of both the main battery and the 12V battery was minimal, and I randomly checked in the app—despite everyone saying not to—but it had almost no impact.
I will say this was during the summer, so I’m not sure if the effect would be worse if you left it during the winter when it’s cold.

Cold in San Diego is 54 degrees

 

[bc1]

Rodents head for warmth in the winter more often. I deal with it out at the farm all the time. Not usually a problem in the warmer months. I've used moth balls around the engine compartments of tractors and vehicles that sit for a while. In the garage I would put the mothballs in packets under and around the vehicle on the floor so you don't get the smell in the pickup itself. Buy a tub of rodent killing packs at the farm store and spread around the garage. When the packs are laying around uneaten then you have got rid of the rodents. They tend to migrate back outside in the warm months anyway.

Also those pack rats can get up into the engine compartment of your daily driver. Just have to keep an eye out for their nests. Black wiring insulation is chewed on and the insulation around hoses ends up in nests along with leaves and pieces of any rag you may leave to check the oil with, etc. Mothballs help around there.

It seems there is a certain type of plastic insulation that they prefer over others. I'm not sure if there is some type of spray that will repel them? I've used a peppermint spray around the barn and outbuildings to keep out the skunks and possums but according to the cameras sometimes I think it's attracts them.

 

[Joe.....Montana]

Last summer I went on vacation for 12 days. Left the Lightning in the garage and plugged into charger. Set charge limit to 50%. I will do the same this summer when we go on vacation.

 

[RickLightning]

Fine to park it. Don't check it with app, that's what anal retentive people do.

 

[Sam_oceans]

I did a search but couldnt find any previous posts. I will be gone on vacation and trying to decide if its safe to store my Lightning in the garage unattended. I wont be plugging it in so it will sit for 2 weeks. I would park it outside but a few months ago I had rodent damage on the harness and fear that costly issue will happen again ( even tho I added moth balls to the undercarriage. Any thoughts on safety for leaving in garage in the house unattended?

I parked my 2023 outside under an overhang in Florida from Jan 1st to March 28th. Not plugged-in. I had the need to open it up a number of times to store stuff. I parked it at 80% and it was 78% when I drove it on March 28th. I think the real key is not to use the app or have the keys anywhere in its vicinity to save the low voltage battery from turning everything on when it is interrogated. There are lots of mention of this matter in previous feeds. Also, turn-off auto updates!

 

[tubby]

I had my 2023 parked in Iowa in our garage for 35 consecutive days starting February 4 at about 55% charge. I did not have any issues. I would think the 12V battery got low, but it does go into a Deep Sleep Mode if that happens. I figured that since I could not access it via the Ford Pass App which Deep Sleep shuts down after around 14 days.

 

[chl]

I did a search but couldnt find any previous posts. I will be gone on vacation and trying to decide if its safe to store my Lightning in the garage unattended. I wont be plugging it in so it will sit for 2 weeks. I would park it outside but a few months ago I had rodent damage on the harness and fear that costly issue will happen again ( even tho I added moth balls to the undercarriage. Any thoughts on safety for leaving in garage in the house unattended?

If you let it sit for 2 weeks I'd advise you to put the 12v battery on a maintainer.

If it were winter and in an unheated garage, I say also have it plugged into an EVSE but turn off any set charge times.

Charge or discharge the HVB to between 40% and 60%.

My 2012 Nissan Leaf is sometimes left like that when I travel for weeks at a time, and no problems have occurred.

When I first got the Lightning, I let it sit in the driveway without being plugged in to anything, and when I came back it was fine, except the 12v battery was too weak to accept an OTA update - since then I keep that on a maintainer. I did get the HVB down to 40% before leaving.

I use Critter Ridder to keep the gnawers away after my old 2001 Ford Ranger had its fuel line and fuel pump chewed into back during COVID when it sat unused for day after day. No trouble since then - have to spray it on periodically.

BTW, rodents can find their way into garages in my experience, so watch out for that.

Good luck

 

[Adventureboy]

I had my 2023 parked in Iowa in our garage for 35 consecutive days starting February 4 at about 55% charge. I did not have any issues. I would think the 12V battery got low, but it does go into a Deep Sleep Mode if that happens. I figured that since I could not access it via the Ford Pass App which Deep Sleep shuts down after around 14 days.

It actually charges the 12v battery from the HVB when it gets low. I will do this several times, then go into deep sleep mode - it even charges the 12v just before it goes into deep sleep.

 

[Adventureboy]

I'll bump the battery maintainer idea. If you don't put a battery maintainer on the 12v battery, it will be fine, however the battery will go through a number of discharge/charge cycles since you aren't driving during that time. This puts unnecessary wear and tear on your 12v that can be eliminated with the battery maintainer.

 

[cobracosta]

Any concerns about a fire?

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