No one is stopping a car owner from doing that, but many will forget. And they will be unpleasantly surprised and might not join such a challenge again. Hence my heads up
All I had replied is that it is possible to maintain a car while participating in the program. So as not to discourage people from trying it if they were interested.
Glad you cleared it up that you’re supportive of the program!
You can just charge drained batteries or jump start cars and they’ll charge on their own!
You also don’t HAVE to use the parking brake if it’s on your own property and if it’s maintained at all, it won’t get stuck anyway. I’ve seen them freeze shut in the winter, but LA isn’t known for -30C winters, particularly this time of the year.
Flat spots from a few weeks of car being parked will go away in a few minutes of driving.
I’ve left cars stored for several months at a time and nothing bad has happened. Disconnected negative battery terminal so there’s no starting issues either
A battery running flat once isn’t such a huge deal. Running flat repeatedly or running so low it can no longer be charged back up is, but it’s still fairly uncommon to happen unless the battery is already dying.
I ran my battery flat like 10 times in a week testing my OBD2 app since I was mostly testing it at night and didn’t want to start the engine and it’s a 2007 Audi so the ignition-on power consumption is ridiculous (must be dozens of amps). Still no issues. My other car has manually switched lights which I forgot to turn off the other day and came back to an extremely dim sidemarker being the only thing still lit up in the morning, this one is a 2001 so it’s not smart enough to turn off consumers, it ran flat and kept on powering that light. Started it with my booster and after a few kilometers driven, it started without the booster again. This one isn’t even a particularly new battery, at least the other one is a 3-4 year old Exide.
Parking your car for so long is not without risk though.
Might need a new car battery as it will slowly drain.
Parking brakes might get stuck.
Tires might develop flat spots.
The struggle is real.
No one’s stopping a car owner from starting the car during those 5 weeks.
No one is stopping a car owner from doing that, but many will forget. And they will be unpleasantly surprised and might not join such a challenge again. Hence my heads up
Sounds more like you’re discouraging people from participating.
No, why? I live in a country where traveling by public transport is the norm.
You can’t see how your comment pointing out only negatives about participating in this program is discouraging?
I’m glad you’re supportive of it. There’s ways to maintain one’s car in this program.
I was pointing out the negatives of leaving a car parked for 5 weeks. Sure you can read it differently, depending on your mindset.
All I had replied is that it is possible to maintain a car while participating in the program. So as not to discourage people from trying it if they were interested.
Glad you cleared it up that you’re supportive of the program!
The battery can be trickle charged with a $15 device if needed. Those other things are not an issue over just five weeks.
Tell me you never went on vacation without telling me you never went on vacation.
I’ve been on plenty of vacations but never one that lasted 5 weeks.
Ah yes, five weeks, the legal minimum in France 😭
You can just charge drained batteries or jump start cars and they’ll charge on their own!
You also don’t HAVE to use the parking brake if it’s on your own property and if it’s maintained at all, it won’t get stuck anyway. I’ve seen them freeze shut in the winter, but LA isn’t known for -30C winters, particularly this time of the year.
Flat spots from a few weeks of car being parked will go away in a few minutes of driving.
I’ve left cars stored for several months at a time and nothing bad has happened. Disconnected negative battery terminal so there’s no starting issues either
My message was meant for people who do not take these things into account. As there are many of them.
Also, you can definitely permanently damage your battery by letting it discharge too far. This is due to a process called hard sulfation.
It’s 5 weeks, it’s not a long time. You need to take these things into account when it’s multiple months.
Depends on your model. Some BMW, Volvo, VW and older Teslas discharge within weeks. Mostly due to their built in telematic systems and luxury systems.
Yes, and then you charge it.
A battery running flat once isn’t such a huge deal. Running flat repeatedly or running so low it can no longer be charged back up is, but it’s still fairly uncommon to happen unless the battery is already dying.
I ran my battery flat like 10 times in a week testing my OBD2 app since I was mostly testing it at night and didn’t want to start the engine and it’s a 2007 Audi so the ignition-on power consumption is ridiculous (must be dozens of amps). Still no issues. My other car has manually switched lights which I forgot to turn off the other day and came back to an extremely dim sidemarker being the only thing still lit up in the morning, this one is a 2001 so it’s not smart enough to turn off consumers, it ran flat and kept on powering that light. Started it with my booster and after a few kilometers driven, it started without the booster again. This one isn’t even a particularly new battery, at least the other one is a 3-4 year old Exide.
In 6 weeks? In a place that is populated specifically for its gentle climate?
My old gas car certainly makes a funny noise when I start it up after a long time. WHAPWAPWAPwapwapwap