Man Goes On Vacation For A Month. He Leaves His Cybertruck Plugged In the Whole Time
Leaving his Tesla plugged in for a long time seemed to have no ill effects, but you shouldn't make it a habit.
For newcomers, owning an electric vehicle requires adjusting habits and expectations compared to driving a gas-powered car. And it's not always clear what the "right" thing to do is. Say you're going to be gone from your EV for a long time—do you leave it unplugged? How much range might you lose then? Or do you keep it plugged in? And what are the potential downsides to doing that?
TikTok user Jeremy Judkins (@jeremyjudkins2) had a recent experience that sheds a lot of light on this aspect of EV ownership. He's a Tesla owner and an EV enthusiast. In a video posted earlier this week, Judkins discusses what he views as a clear advantage EVs have over their gas-powered counterparts. “I have not touched my Cybertruck for about a month now. It’s totally giving loveless marriage,” Judkins says as he approaches his EV.
“But the facts are, I was just out of town,” he says as he unplugs the charging wand from the Cybertruck’s charging port. “What I love about a Tesla: You can just leave it plugged in for any amount of time, and when you come back to it, it’s just gonna work like you would expect.”
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Judkins climbs into the Cybertruck and demonstrates what he means. “With a gas-powered vehicle, it might not even start. It’s gonna struggle,” he says. “The battery might be dead. But with a Cybertruck, it just says, ‘Tap to activate drive.’ Tap. The Cybertruck is in drive. And we are literally moving. It’s like I drove it yesterday.”
“That’s the benefit of electric vehicles,” he concludes. “They don’t care if they sit and sit and sit.”
How Long Can You Keep An EV Plugged In?
Just because you can technically leave your EV plugged in indefinitely doesn’t mean it’s a great idea. Yes, today’s EVs generally feature battery management systems that make sure your EV charges up to the max and stops.
However, making this a regular thing can potentially cause damage to your EV’s battery over time. So while it seems like Judkins is right that going on vacation and leaving your Tesla plugged in isn’t a big deal, it also might not be a great idea to get into the habit.
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How Much EV Range Will You Lose If You Leave It Unplugged?
EVs do better than you may think in this regard. Earlier this year, InsideEVs Editor-in-Chief Patrick George left his Kia EV6 parked in a cold upstate New York garage for several weeks while he was traveling over the holidays. He parked the car at 80% charge and left it unplugged. When he returned home several weeks later, the car only lost 2% of its battery charge—even in the cold weather.
Kia EV6 Cold Garage
Judkins is right that an EV can sit for approximately four months without charging, but it’s important to note that letting an EV sit with the battery at 0% could result in permanent damage. Additionally, EV batteries lose power over time even when they aren’t in use due to a combination of factors. So, again, while you technically can leave your EV sitting indefinitely, it’s probably not the best idea.
Viewers React To The Cybertruck Plug-In Advice
In the comments, viewers expressed skepticism about Judkins’s claim about this supposed advantage of EVs over gas-powered cars.
“You can let a [gas] vehicle sit for more than two weeks and it will start up just fine,” wrote one person.
“I had a car that was sitting for five years, and it started in .8 seconds,” said a second person.
InsideEVs contacted Judkins via TikTok comment and direct message for comment.
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