one month winter iMiev non-use in Canada - what to do?

[RogerHalifax]

Hello,
My apologies if this question has been addressed -- I wasn't able to find a responses, so --
My iMiev will not be used in Nova Scotia while we are away for a month. It is outside. How much charge should it have?
Other precautions? MUST it be driven by a neighbour to prevent trouble?
Thank you for you advice!

 

[veimi]

For what it's worth, I had mine sit through a Toronto winter last year.

I did have two issues.

1. The 12 Volt battery went dead and the car wouldn't start. The battery was 5 years old and it became apparent when recharging it that it might benefit by adding water to each cell.

A year later, after adding water, all is well.

2. The gear shift lever indicator wouldn't go into Park even though the shift lever was in Park. As a result I couldn't start the car.

It turned out that the shift lever cable runs to a lever and switch on the left side of the transmission housing at the rear of the car. Lubricating the lever and cable solved the problem. Because these parts are exposed to the environment, it seems to me that this should be a routine maintenance procedure especially in cars exposed to road salt conditions.

 

[joev]

Mitsubishi recommends to leave the traction battery at 3-4 bars on the battery gauge on the dashboard.

I leave mine for months at a time (in a garage) and have never had any issues, that said, I do disconnect the negative cable on the 12v battery at the same time. You will have to reset the radio presets and clock, you also lose the stats on the RR meter. Still have the OME battery going on 7 years. Bought a back up for when it gives out.

 

[jray3]

I'll wager that a big part of the shifter/mode switch getting sticky or immobile would be not only salty roads, but the amount of time spent immobile. Mine spends more time wet than dry, but being in constant use, the friction parts stay polished.
However, this weak point was designed into the car, apparently to reuse the ICE gearshift assembly. If Mitsu had incorporated the mode switch into the gearshift housing and simply run the signal wires back, there'd be no moving parts exposed to weather.

Greasing those shifter contacts before storage rather than after would be a good move.

 

[sandange]

For 1 Canadian winter month.....
I would try and get a neighbour to use it 1 day a week .
Get him to charge it up the night before he drives it and would be nice if the charge in the battery is around 50 % or so when he's done.

 

[PV1]

One extra caution. If the car is exposed to sub-freezing temperatures, either try to heat the battery first or charge the battery at the slowest possible rate when you bring it out of storage. Lithium ion isn't too fond of charging when the cells are too cold. They'll do it, but you run the risk of lithium plating if they can't absorb the charge quickly enough.