[KXL]

Hi all,

So I might need to take a 3 month trip away from UK, leaving the V40 outside (secure residental parking), from experience (if you had done something like this), if the battery is fully charged ish (will take a long drive just prior) would the battery be dead when I return and be unable to open doors and start the car? Car is a 68 Plate, and yes it's getting cold too, but...based in London, so winters are unlikely to go below 0 degrees.
THanks!

 

[VeeForty Deetoo]

my old heap started after 10 weeks with no issue, since then i often get a battery low charge warning on the dash, so the 10 weeks have probably killed the battery.
Join the AA or similar a few days before you return, if you need them call them, if not cancel membership 😀

 

[RS3100]

The cars are quite power hungry even in sleep mode (i.e. parked) and I find that I have to put mine on a charger at least once a month if not being used.

The stop/start system aims to keep the battery at about 80% charged so if you fully charge the battery with a charger and then drive the car, it will lose 20% of its charge quite rapidly.

In other words best to fully charge the battery with a charger and lock the car, as driving it will leave it with less reserve.

 

[HPsauce]

If it's outside in daylight and in a secure area why not use a solar trickle charger plugged into the OBD port?

 

[Tony1]

Depends on how new your battery is. I worked overseas one winter for a few months, and the car started first time... I did the same thing a few years later, and the battery was dead.

It would also depend on things like if your car is disturbed and the alarm goes off, if that happened a few times it would also deplete the battery

 

[chiptivo]

It will be fine.

They are designed to be ok like this.

 

[65WVD]

My 65 plate is on its original battery and when lockdown hit in March it went unused on my drive for 3 months.
When I did go back to it, it started up on the button first time. It did give me a low battery warning on the dash during that journey, which has not appeared again since.

 

[VeeForty Deetoo]

dont forget people, our dads old gunsons charger we have at the back of the garage is not suitable for the battery on stop/start vehicles...

 

[KXL]

So I'm finally back from leaving the V40 since end October 2020 outside in the cold, until now, it had a few below zero temperatures outside snow and all in London, and guess what? The car started up first time as if I last started it yesterday. Battery did not even state it was low! How great is that?

 

[MagaDS]

Some issues and doubts i would like to add to discussion:
if we get a battery charger and fully charge the batery, the ECU doesn't get confused?
because of the warnings on dashboard, it looks like the EUC measures all the time the voltage or have some sensors on it... someone could confirm that for me.
I'm getting my V40 must of the time stopped because of pandemic lockdown and telework, so it runs less than usual... i'm thinking on buying a charger. it's worth it?

 

[KXL]

So I'm finally back from leaving the V40 since end October 2020 outside in the cold, until now, it had a few below zero temperatures outside snow and all in London, and guess what? The car started up first time as if I last started it yesterday. Battery did not even state it was low! How great is that?

OK so..10 days after it's back to the car, and now it says battery low, oops. Maybe the 2 starts almost two weeks ago has exhausted the battery somewhat but starts no problems at all.
Took it for a 22 mile drive, at speeds of 40-50mph, low traffic, parked up, did my once every 2 week groceries, returned to car, still said battery low...guess it didn't charge enough despite a 35-40min drive at speed. On the return journey doing the same speeds, but kept the Geatronic locked at 5th @ 2000 rpms for a good 10-15 mins at 50mph (read that most car needs at least constant 2k to ge tthe altennator going well) and now the battery low msg has gone away, but still no S/S. Not sure if that did the trick, but the message has gone. Mpg wise in 5th @ 50mph wasn't any different if it was in 6th.