2 times a week, each time 30+ minutes, 2500rpm to keep Cali T's battery alive?!

Was talking to dealer today and he said in order to keep Cali T's battery and computer alive, the car needs to be driven at least 2 times, each time at least 30 minutes and over 2500rpm...... As advised by their Cali T's training sessions "officially"

This sounds to be an even harsher requirement comparing to that of the old Cali, 458, and F12...... Especially with the high horse-power and high torque, it's not an easy job to keep the rpm over 2500 lasting 30+ minutes. Maybe one can do this for the first couple months but I doubt if one can keep doing this year after year...... For people who can't keep a charger on, it will be quite a headache.

I actually think the dealer was exaggerating. What are your thoughts?

 

why can u keep a charger on ?

 

I think you need to find a less congested area to allow your car to run freely!! Here in the US, I have difficulty keeping the revs under 2500 rpm.

Just a guess, but I would have thought that it would be enough to keep the battery at full capacity by keeping the battery tender plugged in, and avoiding short trips with multiple engine starts drawing on the battery. I could see there being a problem mostly idling in city traffic with air conditioning, lights and other electrical accessories on.

 

I agree that it's an exaggeration.

 

Sounds like you got that from the dealer's sales guy. I don't have a T yet but can't imagine Ferrari taking a step that far backward. Both of my Cali's lasted a month with no problems. Are you sure you didn't look that 2 times a week up on the internet?

I usually plug my cars in after two to three weeks of non-driving although I daily drive them both, the FF more than the Cali in the winter. And if I happen to drive the Cali after a few weeks I might take it to the office (3 miles) later to lunch and back (1.5 miles each way) then back home (3 miles) and park it possibly for weeks again.

 

I am persuaded that keeping the battery tender on much of the time (my protocol is to attach it after a week) keeps the battery from deep discharge. It is not that the car won't start; it will. Rather it is the fact that lead acid batteries do not like to be repeatedly deep discharged and recharged. So keeping the car on the tender will "level out" the battery charge and prolong life, preventing that surprise one day down the road when the battery expires prematurely.

 

^^^^ This,

S

 

A typical healthy battery discharge level is 10-15 milliAmps. Run that out for a week and the battery has lost 1.7 - 2.5 Amp-hours of charge. That's a couple of percent of a decent auto battery's charge.

Now start the car. You could run about 400 amps for about 5 seconds (a V12 will be more). That's about 0.6 Amp-hours which is less than 1 week's normal drain.

So if you left your car for a week then started it, your battery is down by maybe 2-3 Amp-hour. How long do you have to drive to recharge it. If the alternator recharges the battery at 10 amps (which it certainly will at any decent RPM above idle while driving around), you need to drive roughly 2/10-3/10 hours or 12-18 minutes to recharge the battery.

So, yes, I think the dealer's protocol is a bit exaggerated.

 

Very professional! As I slept through half of my Physics classes back in school, can't say I understand you well. But got your point and feels a bit better about the battery already~

 

Yeah, hope it can last longer without driving. Before talking to the dealer I was hoping it will last for about a month without being driven.

Regarding the possible big step Ferrari takes backward, can't say there is absolutely no such risk as it seems the Cali T can't have a harddisk in its infotainment system anymore which sounds a big step backward to me. Guess Ferrari would sometimes just screw you from an unexpected aspect......

 

A hard disk is an unnecessary expense at this point. An SD card slot might have been a nice compromise, but the smart phone has made dedicated music devices obsolete anyway. What is wrong with connecting your phone via Bluetooth or USB?

 

+1

 

My 2011 Porsche Panamera does not have a hard disc, I just leave an USB stick plugged in all the time, only to take out to add songs, i don't have any problem with that.

 

you missed out.
physics was my favorite science class.
but then again, i was the proverbial nerd!

 

I suddenly recall that dealer mentioned the battery of Cali T would be very small in electricity storage comparing to a 'normal' car. And the reason is that Ferrari was trying to make the car lighter. I immediately replied that neither the Cali 30 or the new T would be considered light in weight. 'It is the hard-top that puts on the extra weight' I was then told.

I would not be surprised if someone tells me the battery in Cali T is only a quarter in storage of a BMW 3-Series......

 

This!

 

I would be surprised... but Ferrari has surprised me before. Ferrari knows that many of the cars are not used every day by owners so reducing the size of the battery on a car like the California T makes no sense at all.

 

I think that dealer may well be completely wrong.

At any rate, the older Calis spec a 95/100 Ah 850CCA starter battery of the physically large H8/L5/49 size, which is definitely bigger than a 'normal' car's battery.

The current F80 M3 uses a Li ion battery rated at 69Ah 770CCA. Li ion batteries are the future and do weigh about half the weight of lead acid ones, last longer but also cost about 6 to 7 times. They would also not be compatible with current battery chargers and you'd have a very hard time finding a Ferrari spec emergency replacement unit in North America unless you were close to a dealer.

I'd be interested to see what battery(ies) the new CaliT uses.

 

Finger-crossed hoping the dealer was completely wrong. I was really hoping that Cali T, being a DD GT car, would have better battery tolerance than mid engine Fcar like the 458.

Folks with their hands on the Cali T please shine us some light on this topic, if possible~

 

I've had several T's come though , none have had to be placed on tenders, and all started and ran just fine.

Only one has been a demo, and that one has also had zero battery concerns over the past month.

I will try and snap a photo of the battery, when it's available.

S

 

led acid batteries have a natural charge decay (self discharge) of around 5%/month.
but you also need to factor in the drain from the car's electronics.
a simple amp meter will tell you how much draw the car is pulling from the battery.
the sum of the natural charge decay plus the vehicle system drain is the number we need!!!

 

I totally agree. Avoid deep discharges and your batteries will last much longer.

 

My 2014 Maserati Quattroporte in China was put idle once for about a week then the battery drained out. I had to have my thin cousin to climb into the car through the trunk to hook it up with the battery tender. Ever since then I have always kept it on the batter tender as it was super troublesome once the battery drains out the doors can't even be opened...... Scared of the Cali T will be like that way too...... Considering the Maserati QP is a big car, it really puzzles me that why the heck can't Maserati put a bigger / better battery into it......

In my apartment building's garage in Hong Kong, I see now there are a lot of Tesla model S and the owners all have a battery box installed right next to their cars. This inspires me an idea of installing a regular electricity socket there too. Guess this will allow me to hook the Cali T up with a batter tender~ That said, Tesla is really doing an amazing job in delivering cars to its buyers so fast as model S only started to be sold in Hong Kong for a couple months. Put aside their technology achievements, I think Tesla's operation management is indeed quite amazing~

 

there is a simple way to open the california's trunk when your battery is dead.
i don't know if this exists on the mas.
in the rear of the cali, underneath the trunk lid, to the right of center, is a key slot.
insert then turn your key and presto: the trunk opens mechanically.

 

Well, I guess I and several other Cali owners would beg to differ on this point.

Trying to manually turn the key in the keyslot in the trunk usually doesn't work. There is so much resistance from the keyhole that you feel you will snap the key off if you try to turn it any harder. It's ridiculous and I don't see this as a sensible option for any owner, much less a person with weaker hands than an adult man.

There is also some indication that you may also have to push down hard on the trunk while taking care not to damage it while you try to turn the key but there's not been any clear verification on this.

They simply haven't thought this out properly. IMO, it's a very poor design.