Do electric car batteries lose charge if not used for a period of time?
I live in the London suburbs and drive 5000 miles per year (mostly in London with most return journeys no longer than 130 miles) so I am thinking about an electric car when I replace my current car. My question is about whether the car batteries will lose charge over time if I leave my car in an airport car park for two weeks while I am on holiday. Could this potentially leave me with not enough charge to get home?
Asked on 22 October 2019 by Mark Bullock
Answered by
Andrew Brady
Yes - it's known as 'vampire drain' in EV circles. The amount of charge that'll be lost depends on the vehicle but I wouldn't have thought it'd be a considerable amount over two weeks. I wouldn't expect an electric car to lose more than one per cent of battery capacity per day when parked up.
Tags:
electric cars
evs
If you cover no more than 100 miles per day and have easy access to a charging point at home or work, then an EV is ideal for you.
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