How many months of inactivity until i3 battery depletes?

[WaffleHouse]

My i3 REX (US) has been unplugged and unused for two months now as I spend six months a year at a time abroad. Question: how long does the battery take to deplete? will it last six months? Since I have the REX version and the tank is full, is the question irrelevant as the car will start up from the gas tank, even if battery is depleted? even if that's the case, is depleting the battery detrimental to the car?

I could easily ask a friend to plug the car in for me; the problem is that I took both keys with me, so once the charge is full, I won't be able to unlock the car for him (app does not allow 'unlock'), which means he won't be able to unplug it, leaving the car plugged in for another four months straight.

Any help is appreciated...

 

[i3atl]

Is the car locked now? If so, how will your friend open the charging door?

 

[WaffleHouse]

oooops, I forgot that opening the charging door requires the car to be unlocked! thank you.

In any case, I'm still curious about all my other questions in case I decide to leave my car unlocked on my next trip (car is safe in private parking).

 

[i3atl]

The manual has some guidelines around this - look for long term vehicle storage under the vehicle care section.

In the version I'm looking at, it only provides recommendations for periods up to 3 months, but it does caution against allowing the high voltage battery to become discharged.

 

[AviatorMan]

My i3 REX (US) has been unplugged and unused for two months now as I spend six months a year at a time abroad. Question: how long does the battery take to deplete? will it last six months? Since I have the REX version and the tank is full, is the question irrelevant as the car will start up from the gas tank, even if battery is depleted? even if that's the case, is depleting the battery detrimental to the car?

I could easily ask a friend to plug the car in for me; the problem is that I took both keys with me, so once the charge is full, I won't be able to unlock the car for him (app does not allow 'unlock'), which means he won't be able to unplug it, leaving the car plugged in for another four months straight.

Any help is appreciated...

We just left our car in a garage for 30 days and the charge fell from 74 to 71%. Also we got an email from the car (well, from BMW) as it detected that the car had not been on a charger for three weeks and wanted to remind us to check the charge level. Weird.

 

[jadnashuanh]

More circuits in the car turn off when it is locked verses unlocked, but that also turns on the alarm. If the FOB is nearby, that could trigger 'get ready' things in the car to activate.

The electronics run off of the 12vdc battery, not the main traction batteries, and that does not get recharged except while running or when you have it charging. Without the 12vdc battery, you cannot start the car, even if the main batteries are still fairly well charged (the electronics are run off the 12vdc battery). If you have an EVSE in that private parking area, just leave it attached. The car will activate it periodically once the main batteries drop a bit. The main batteries will hold a charge much longer than the 12vdc gell cell AGM battery.

I don't know if the REx will activate while the car is off. That could be a problem with CO in an enclosed space, so it may not be allowed.

 

[TomMoloughney]

My i3 REX (US) has been unplugged and unused for two months now as I spend six months a year at a time abroad. Question: how long does the battery take to deplete? will it last six months? Since I have the REX version and the tank is full, is the question irrelevant as the car will start up from the gas tank, even if battery is depleted? even if that's the case, is depleting the battery detrimental to the car?

I could easily ask a friend to plug the car in for me; the problem is that I took both keys with me, so once the charge is full, I won't be able to unlock the car for him (app does not allow 'unlock'), which means he won't be able to unplug it, leaving the car plugged in for another four months straight.

Any help is appreciated...

Unfortunately it's particularly bad to leave it fully charged and unused like this. I don't want to alarm you but honestly, leaving a fully charged EV sit for six months is very bad for the battery and will most likely cause unnecessary cell degradation. You'll almost certainly have a shorter range when you return than you did when you left. In the future, if you need to leave the vehicle for such a long period, leave it at about 50% charged and have someone check the SOC once a month and of necessary have them plug it in for a short period of the to give it a little boost and keep it around 50% charged.