[Guest]

I'll be leaving the country for 10 days in June and I'm wondering what I should do with the Volt while I'm gone. None of my family members drive it, so should I just let it sit in the driveway the whole time? Keep it plugged into the EVSE the whole time? I would hate to come back and find the 12V battery dead. I have no garage to keep it in. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[srmarti]

I'll be leaving the country for 10 days in June and I'm wondering what I should do with the Volt while I'm gone. None of my family members drive it, so should I just let it sit in the driveway the whole time? Keep it plugged into the EVSE the whole time? I would hate to come back and find the 12V battery dead. I have no garage to keep it in. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Have you looked in the manual? Leaving it plugged in is just fine.

 

[scottf200]

We just leave ours plugged in.

 

[Tacoma]

I would charge it up, and leave it unplugged. If it was to be 30 days, then I would Do the same, but put it in transport mode.

 

[Sly Bob]

The manual says that the car should be plugged in all the time for the health of the battery when possible.

 

[llninja]

Loan it out to me to drive....

 

[obermd]

I had to leave mine at the airport for a week last year. I used Mountain Mode on the way to the airport to ensure I had some charge in the car when I parked. Came back and had no issues. You want to leave some charge in the main battery so the car can use that power to maintain the battery temperatures but other than that there's no problems leaving it unplugged. It's better if you can keep it plugged in however.

 

[BAZINGA]

I have left my Volt's for as long as 7 days, and in EVERY instance I parked them in my garage plugged in. A Plugged in Volt, is a Happy Volt.

 

[jcanoe]

10 days is not too long a period to leave the Volt plugged in or fully charged and unplugged. If you were going to be away for longer than 4 weeks/1 month then there are specific recommendations in the Volt Owner's Manual. These include storing the Volt with a 30% SOC and not leaving the Volt plugged in over a prolonged period. The other consideration is to connect a 12V battery tender to the Volt's 12V AGM battery so that it does not run down, leave you unable to start the Volt when you return. I would be concerned about leaving the Volt plugged in in case there was an electrical storm. If there is someone at home who could unplug the Volt in case of thunderstorms then I would have no issue with leaving the Volt plugged in for 10 days.

 

[viking79]

I left mine for 2 weeks at long term airport parking, unplugged with no charge. Started right up when I got back.

Thermal management is more important when battery is charged. Leaving unplugged too long could let the high voltage battery go too low, but honestly there should be close to zero drain on it. The Clarity and i3 have specific warnings not to leave the dead battery car unplugged too long to avoid damage, but I think are fine up to a few weeks (my guess is for a typical business trip it is fine).

 

[TSquare]

The only reason to unplug while at home is the threat of thunderstorms. On the other hand, I leave my Volt unplugged with about a half charge for 8 to 12 days every summer in a Florida parking lot while on vacation. I have never had an issue.

 

[llninja]

I had to leave mine at the airport for a week last year. I used Mountain Mode on the way to the airport to ensure I had some charge in the car when I parked. Came back and had no issues. You want to leave some charge in the main battery so the car can use that power to maintain the battery temperatures but other than that there's no problems leaving it unplugged. It's better if you can keep it plugged in however.

I don't think the volt will use the battery to perform temp management without being plugged in. I might be wrong here, but I've never heard whirring when unplugged.

 

[jcanoe]

I don't think the volt will use the battery to perform temp management without being plugged in. I might be wrong here, but I've never heard whirring when unplugged.

I believe that the Gen 2 Volt can turn on the fan and AC to cool the battery if the battery pack temperature rises above a set point (90-95F?) even if the Volt is not plugged in as long as there is some battery charge remaining.

 

[hellsop]

I don't think the volt will use the battery to perform temp management without being plugged in. I might be wrong here, but I've never heard whirring when unplugged.

It won't. But even plugged in, it'll go to sleep after three days and stop doing the thermal management then anyway. Plugged in is better but only marginally for a 10-day trip and not worth losing sleep over. I've come back after three-week trips with no more incident than the weatherstipping complaining about being moved.

 

[hellsop]

I believe that the Gen 2 Volt can turn on the fan and AC to cool the battery if the battery pack temperature rises above a set point (90-95F?) even if the Volt is not plugged in as long as there is some battery charge remaining.

*looking at the subforum this is posted in* I'm inclined to think that's only of academic interest.

 

[Guest]

I leave mine unplugged all the time, often for 10 days or more without being driven. But . . . . I would never leave it sit out in the weather for that long

Don

 

[jcanoe]

*looking at the subforum this is posted in* I'm inclined to think that's only of academic interest.

That raises a good question, exactly which Volt systems shut down after several days of the Volt not being driven?

4G LTE Onstar modem - I believe the answer is yes, the LTE modem stops pinging the cell network.

Remote entry and theft alarm - (I hope it stays active)

Thermal management system - Unknown

 

[llninja]

That raises a good question, exactly which Volt systems shut down after several days of the Volt not being driven?

4G LTE Onstar modem - I believe the answer is yes, the LTE modem stops pinging the cell network.

Remote entry and theft alarm - (I hope it stays active)

Thermal management system - Unknown

Fuel pressure system? I hear mine whirring from time to time.

 

[telveer]

Just leave it plugged in. If you are expecting major thunderstorms and you do not want to take the risk of the remote chance that something could get fried in case of a lightning hit, fully charge it and leave it unplugged.

 

[linkim]

I have left my Volt fully charged, unplugged and garaged for 10 days and did not notice any adverse effects. For short trips around town we drive the LEAF so it is frequently being charged, consequently I don’t bother to plug in the Volt after full charge. We only have one EVSE at home.