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How slowly does the battery run down when the car is parked?
I will shortly be leaving my EQS (SUV) parked - without charging - for about 2 months. The manual advises: "If leaving the vehicle idle for lengthy periods, park up the vehicle with a high-voltage battery state of charge between 30% and 50%". If I leave the car parked with the battery 50% charged, will it be OK two months later? Or should I start with the battery charged more than 50% in my case?
I was just in Europe for 3 weeks and left my car unplugged with 80% charge. When I returned I was surprised to see I still had 80% charge. That's quite a bit different from my Teslas that would see 10-15% vampire drain in the same time frame.
Self discharge rates depend greatly on temperature. The warmer it is the greater the discharge rate.
I've read articles stating self discharge rates are from 1% per month to 1% per year.
In other words the rate is just about as accurate as EPA mileage figures.
OP, the bigger concern for a 2 months period is actually the 12V battery, which is not being charged automatically while the car is parked. This has been a common issue with EVs, not just the EQS. Not sure if MB already did an update to keep the 12V battery from draining while parked, but other manufacturers such as VW have finally realized that the 12V should be maintained while the car is parked and have pushed out software updates to fix this.
For reference, my C63 has a standby mode that turns off all the 12V consumers, specifically the online services, alarm and telematics for an extended idle time. I usually fully charge the battery and then enable the standby mode before going on an extended leave. It also conveniently displays how long the car can be left parked before the battery needs to be charged. Before my 1 month trip to Europe last June it said I have 21 weeks after charging the battery. Before charging the battery it was at 7 weeks, so that would be too short for a 2 months leave.
Last edited by superswiss; Oct 21, 2022 at 04:44 PM.
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