During the epidemic, many friends have been at home for more than a month and can't leave the community. Many people are worried that if the electric car is not opened for such a long time, will it break down and need some maintenance?
Although electric vehicles are not as cumbersome as fuel vehicles, maintenance is relatively simple. But electric vehicles and fuel vehicles also have some of the same low-voltage equipment, which also need to prevent power loss. Let's talk about:
If you're a PHEV, treat it like a fuel vehicle
Compared with fuel vehicles, PHEV plug-in hybrid has an additional set of high-voltage batteries and electric drive systems, so the problems encountered by fuel vehicles parked for a long time will be encountered by PHEV.
Generally speaking, the fuel engine will not be broken if it is not started for a long time, but from the perspective of maintenance, it is beneficial to heat up the car regularly. Then the PHEV, like the fuel vehicle, also has a lead-acid battery to prevent long-term power loss.
Pure electric vehicles also have small batteries to prevent power loss
Everyone thinks that pure electric has a large battery, and it should not be like fuel vehicles that often have battery losses. However, it is a pity to tell you that pure electric vehicles also have a small battery, and it is the same lead-acid battery as fuel vehicles.
In fact, pure electric vehicles have two sets of electrical systems, high voltage and low voltage, and the high voltage electrical system is what we often call the lithium battery pack, which is used to drive the vehicle. But usually car lights, interior screens, anti-theft systems, and even when you need to start the vehicle are provided by another 12V low-voltage system.
This 12V low-voltage system and fuel car are exactly the same, so it also needs a small battery to power it.
Including Tesla Model 3, Volkswagen ID system, etc. are ordinary lead-acid batteries, for example, Musk once replaced the lead-acid battery with a lithium battery because of model S Plaid, and also showed off a special one. In fact, BYD has long been replaced by lithium iron phosphate batteries.
Therefore, if the pure electric vehicle does not start for a long time during the epidemic period, there may be a battery loss. And once the small battery loses power, it will not be able to start the vehicle, even if your large battery has electricity, it will become dead.
But many pure tram designs will avoid this situation, and you may have to check your vehicle manual:
For example, the Volkswagen ID series design will check the power of the small battery every 24 hours, and if the power is found to be insufficient, the high-voltage lithium battery pack will be enabled, and the battery will be charged by converting to 12V through the inverter. So don't worry about losing power to small batteries.
However, many electric vehicles are designed to charge small batteries only in the driving state of the vehicle, and if they are parked for a long time, they will lose power.
Many new car designs or upgrades through OTAs can automatically charge the 12V battery when parking. But in any case, if your small battery has been used for more than 3 years, it is still necessary to prevent battery loss during this special period of the epidemic.
The high-voltage battery has more than 50% power and sufficient tire pressure
In order to better ensure the health of the high-voltage lithium battery pack, the manufacturer will recommend that the remaining power of the vehicle be maintained at more than 50%, but it should not be parked for a long time when it is fully charged. Because the activity of the battery is preferably 50%-70%.
Another problem is the tires. Many new cars will make the tire pressure higher when they get off the production line, which is to prevent better protection of the tires during long-term transportation and inventory.
Long-term parked electric vehicles are recommended to have sufficient tire pressure, even higher than the nominal tire pressure. Because the weight of electric vehicles is very high, the force deformation of tires will be more severe. The purpose of this is to prevent a part of the tire from being forced for too long to cause local accelerated aging when parked for a long time.