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Most modern EVs lose only a small bit of range per day, unless extreme conditions or power-hungry features are running. Planning ahead can help avoid coming back to a low battery. The most important thing is making sure there are no background apps that will prevent your car from going into "sleep" or "hibernation" mode.
Battery loss when your EV is parked and unplugged is called 'vampire drain.' Unlike gasoline cars, this slow loss is mostly because the car's systems maystay partially awake to manage the battery and security. Data from RecurrentAuto.com suggests that most modern EVs lose under 1-2% of battery per day if left unplugged, depending on the vehicle’s make, climate, and whether features like sentry mode or pre-conditioning are enabled.
Sentry Mode
The largest battery loss numbers come from Teslas when safety features like Sentry Mode or cabin cooling are enabled, since these require energy to run. With such features enabled, you can see 3–8% SoC loss per day. Over a week, that can add up to a low battery when you return.
On the other hand, without Sentry Mode or energy intensive apps, Teslas generally go into a sleep mode, which preserves batteries well:
- 0.1%–0.3% per day
- 1–3% per week
- 3–7% over two weeks
- 5–10% over a month
For trips where you need range on return, such as to drive home from the airport, it’s best to park with the battery at 70-80% and turn off unnecessary features.
Here are some anecdotes from non-Tesla EV drivers:
Kia EV6
28 days with temps from ~12°F to mid-50s
- Loss: ~2% over ~4 weeks (basically negligible)
Hyundai Ioniq 5
Six weeks at 80% SoC, app signed out
- Loss: ~3% over six weeks
Several winter months
- Only “a few percent” SoC loss
VW ID.4
- No noticeable SoC change over a week in a home garage
- A YouTube owner test: 9 days parked at home, reporting zero battery drain
Rivian
- Truck outside in cold temps for 8 days, lost 14 miles (5% total, 0.6% per day).
- 5-day vacation, kept in garage in Arizona (90°F), lost 10 miles of range
- Some owners estimate 1% SoC per day under “normal” sleep conditions
- If Rivians don't go into sleep mode, it can be as high as 4-5%/day
Lucid
- When Lucids are properly asleep and parked for days, drain can be very low (1%/week), but if the car fails to fully sleep (due to app wake-ups or software bugs), drain can escalate to several percent per day.
Read More:
https://recurrentauto.com/research/how-to-store-your-electric-car
https://recurrentauto.com/research/tesla-vampire-drain
