What is result of leaving car "ready to drive" overnight?

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BuckMkII

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2017
Messages
258
Location
Seattle
Several times, I've got out of the car and noticed only at the last second that I had not hit the power button after the Park button. Last night I went out for a quick last-minute trip to the grocery store and found the car was still "on." It had been sitting in the driveway for about three hours, I think. Climate control was only fan on a lowish setting, no heat or AC.

If you leave the car on overnight, how big a drain is it? Does the car EVER shut off automatically if you forget to hit the power button and walk away?

I happened to charge to almost 95% at work yesterday, so we had range to burn. Not really sure how much, if any, the GOM had counted down during those three hours.

Frankly, I'd rather have a mechanical key than a wireless key. I guess I'm old and crotchety!
 
why should it shut off automatically? No other car does this. Headlights are one thing but they ONLY shut off if the car is not in run mode.

As far as your question; a little drain on the battery which your EVSE will easily overcome and a very very low average speed.
 
RonDawg said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
why should it shut off automatically? No other car does this.

My eGolf does this. A bit annoying actually.

does it work at long traffic lights? Bridge crossings? That would be a reason for me to never buy that car (as if I needed a reason)
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
RonDawg said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
why should it shut off automatically? No other car does this.

My eGolf does this. A bit annoying actually.

does it work at long traffic lights? Bridge crossings? That would be a reason for me to never buy that car (as if I needed a reason)

I run into this when I stop at my townhouse development's mailbox cluster to retrieve my mail. Since I've opened the door and it stops sensing the key inside (since my mailbox key is attached to the fob) it knows the driver is no longer inside and shuts the car off. Sometimes, if I re-enter the car quickly enough, and fasten the seatbelt, it will resume again, but that's not consistent.

As far as cars shutting off at traffic lights, don't rent a car in Europe, because automatic start/stop is becoming more common over there. It might even be mandated for newer cars now.
 
mwalsh said:
Get into the habit of locking your doors when you leave the car, then it will tell you that you've left it running.

One feature of the Leaf that I miss on the eGolf is the automatic "Park" feature when you turn off the car when it's already stationary. I got so used to it that when I'd rent an ICEV with pushbutton ignition I would forget to put the shifter in Park before turning off the car, and it would take me a few minutes to figure out why the car wouldn't turn off (though the engine would).

Perhaps the OP can do that to prevent him/her from inadvertently leaving the car powered on.
 
RonDawg said:
mwalsh said:
Get into the habit of locking your doors when you leave the car, then it will tell you that you've left it running.

One feature of the Leaf that I miss on the eGolf is the automatic "Park" feature when you turn off the car when it's already stationary. I got so used to it that when I'd rent an ICEV with pushbutton ignition I would forget to put the shifter in Park before turning off the car, and it would take me a few minutes to figure out why the car wouldn't turn off (though the engine would).

Perhaps the OP can do that to prevent him/her from inadvertently leaving the car powered on.

You don't have to do that either. Your car beeps when you open the door in run mode.
 
RonDawg said:
mwalsh said:
Get into the habit of locking your doors when you leave the car, then it will tell you that you've left it running.

One feature of the Leaf that I miss on the eGolf is the automatic "Park" feature when you turn off the car when it's already stationary. I got so used to it that when I'd rent an ICEV with pushbutton ignition I would forget to put the shifter in Park before turning off the car, and it would take me a few minutes to figure out why the car wouldn't turn off (though the engine would).

Perhaps the OP can do that to prevent him/her from inadvertently leaving the car powered on.
I NEVER put my Leaf into park. Like our Prius I simply push the power button to turn the car OFF and put it park.
The only way to lock the Leaf with the car running is to push the outside button or remote. Pushing the inside lock button after the door is opened will result in it unlocking itself as soon as you close the door. Guess they are trying to prevent locking the FOB in the car.
 
@OP The drain on the battery should be relatively low. I seem to remember someone saying the drain was around 400-450W at idle. That's very little compared to the 22-33kWh contained in the traction battery. Three hours of idle would have likely dropped the battery a percent or two.

Many times I eat lunch in my car and I just leave it "running" so I can easily put my windows up. I rarely notice any drop in percentage for a 30 minute lunch.
 
aarond12 said:
@OP The drain on the battery should be relatively low. I seem to remember someone saying the drain was around 400-450W at idle. That's very little compared to the 22-33kWh contained in the traction battery. Three hours of idle would have likely dropped the battery a percent or two.

Many times I eat lunch in my car and I just leave it "running" so I can easily put my windows up. I rarely notice any drop in percentage for a 30 minute lunch.

its only that high if in drive. In park, its much lower
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
RonDawg said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
why should it shut off automatically? No other car does this.

My eGolf does this. A bit annoying actually.

does it work at long traffic lights? Bridge crossings? That would be a reason for me to never buy that car (as if I needed a reason)

This is something that could be implemented in the Settings software: Auto Shutdown On/Off toggle and a user-adjustable time until shutdown.

If you're planning to, say, leave your dog in the car all afternoon and need the fan and A/C to run, fine, program the car accordingly. OTOH, if I've been away from the car for more than five minutes, I've almost certainly forgotten all about it and should just program it to shut down.
 
jjeff said:
I NEVER put my Leaf into park. Like our Prius I simply push the power button to turn the car OFF and put it park.

My wife was in this bad habit and when she began to drive our Prius C with its manual drive select the car began to roll away as she was getting out. Fortunately she changed her habits after a few times and before anything bad happened.

The fact the car beeps at me when I get out with the key and close the door is enough for me to know I left it on. I would not want it to shut off on a timer.
 
Darryl said:
jjeff said:
I NEVER put my Leaf into park. Like our Prius I simply push the power button to turn the car OFF and put it park.

My wife was in this bad habit and when she began to drive our Prius C with its manual drive select the car began to roll away as she was getting out. Fortunately she changed her habits after a few times and before anything bad happened......
Are you saying they've changed the way the Prius power button works :?
Ours definatly goes into park as it shuts down, if it didn't I'd take the extra second to actually push the park button but since pushing the power button puts mine in park, I just save the extra step.
 
jjeff said:
Darryl said:
jjeff said:
I NEVER put my Leaf into park. Like our Prius I simply push the power button to turn the car OFF and put it park.

My wife was in this bad habit and when she began to drive our Prius C with its manual drive select the car began to roll away as she was getting out. Fortunately she changed her habits after a few times and before anything bad happened......
Are you saying they've changed the way the Prius power button works :?
Ours definatly goes into park as it shuts down, if it didn't I'd take the extra second to actually push the park button but since pushing the power button puts mine in park, I just save the extra step.

Again, ours is a Prius C. It has a shifter like this
priusshift-460x345.jpg

It can not change positions without your help.
 
Darryl said:
jjeff said:
Darryl said:
My wife was in this bad habit and when she began to drive our Prius C with its manual drive select the car began to roll away as she was getting out. Fortunately she changed her habits after a few times and before anything bad happened......
Are you saying they've changed the way the Prius power button works :?
Ours definatly goes into park as it shuts down, if it didn't I'd take the extra second to actually push the park button but since pushing the power button puts mine in park, I just save the extra step.

Again, ours is a Prius C. It has a shifter like this
priusshift-460x345.jpg

It can not change positions without your help.

All my Priuses had electronic shifting just like the LEAF
 
But Darryl's not talking about a (regular) Prius. He's talking about a Prius *C*, otherwise known as the "Aqua" in Japan, and my own Google search seems to show the same style of shifter as a regular car, except with a "B" mode instead of a lower gear.

It's not the first time Toyota has applied a well-known name to multiple and significantly different car models of the same model year. They did the same with the Corolla through much of the 1980's. Oldsmobile also did the same with the Cutlass. Nissan's doing it now with the Versa.
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
Darryl said:
jjeff said:
Are you saying they've changed the way the Prius power button works :?
Ours definatly goes into park as it shuts down, if it didn't I'd take the extra second to actually push the park button but since pushing the power button puts mine in park, I just save the extra step.

Again, ours is a Prius C. It has a shifter like this
priusshift-460x345.jpg

It can not change positions without your help.

All my Priuses had electronic shifting just like the LEAF
I didn't realize the "C" had a totally different shifter. Yes, no way that type of shifter will automatically shift into park like my more electric regular Prius. To tell the truth I don't believe I've ever sat in a Prius "C" as I'd never want anything smaller than our regular Prius. I've sat in and driven the larger Prius "V" a couple times but due to it's significantly(IMO) lower gas mileage, I was never that interested. Personally I think Prius(not the C) got it right with the shifter placement, even better than the Leaf. I despise vehicles like the Volt where the shifter takes up a good portion of my knee space and sticks up like a monolith, stick it on the dash like a regular Prius, make it small and get it out of my way :) after all were not talking about a manual stick shift car where one needs to fiddle with it frequently. It's an auto, one button to go forward, one backward and one at stop or to turn off.
 
Darryl said:
My wife was in this bad habit and when she began to drive our Prius C with its manual drive select the car began to roll away as she was getting out. Fortunately she changed her habits after a few times and before anything bad happened.
I'll give you an even more unusual foible of the Prius. We have a Prius V which my wife normally drives. The other day I dropped her off at an art event. I then drove a few blocks to park the car. When I got out I realized she had taken the fob with her in her purse. There I was with a shutdown Prius with no way to restart it. Good thing I hadn't driven it home. :shock:
 
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