Nice Ride

with out trickle charge to avoid dead battery. Beautiful day today and I put 100 miles on the 2015 Z51 A8 3LT Crystal Red so the battery should be fully charged. Have been using the charger when the car is in the garage with no issues but I 'm thinking battery protection should not be necessary when the Corvette will be driven again in a couple days. Had some battery issues with C6 and had to keep it on the charger. I am hoping with C7 improvements potential battery drain/issues are also improved. Any thoughts?

Glen e

4 weeks or so. The car is substantially improved in this category over any other generation. It doesn't have any more of a problem than any other Highline cars these days.

CaryBob

I've had two C7s and leave them garaged for up to ten days or so in bad weather or while traveling with no problem. When I'm away more than that they go on a trickle charger. Same with my C6s. Never had an issue with that regimen.

bob guzzy

I leave let mine sit for up to a week without problems usually if it sits longer I put my charger on it.

I bought a black and decker charger on ebay for 25 bucks, it came with 3 changeable charging cables, one fits the rear power port.

Steve_R

This. Mine has sat for several weeks at a time with no issues. I don't even own a trickle charger or battery maintainer. If the battery goes dead in a few weeks you have a problem that needs fixed instead of masking the symptom with a charger.

Gvnski

Nice Ride

Thanks guys, glad to hear of GM improvements in this category. They were needed. Spoke to a young woman last week who was driving a 2014 Shark Grey C7 about Corvette stuff and battery protection. She said she did not have a trickle charger and had no battery issue. Her car was a DD. Mine is not but I was still surprised based on my past experience. Chevy puts battery protection on these cars for a reason but it sounds good not needing to hook the car up to a battery charger as often as I have been doing it. Another reason to love this car.

owc6

Mine sat in the garage for about 3 months with no trickle charger, last winter, due to health reasons. Once I was able to drive it, it fired up just fine, and never skipped a beat.

eta: it was driven a couple times during this period.

Vetteman Jack

Certainly should have no worries letting the car sit for a couple of days. And good to hear they can go a month or so without worrying about a dead battery.

dbdave

Only time I use the maintainer is over winter for 6 months. Rest of the time it's not needed no matter how long it sits, 3 weeks to a month at times. Car is way different than the C6 in this department.

rmorin1249

I have always heard that allowing any wet cell battery charge to be depleted and then recharged repeatedly will severely limit battery life. Personally I wouldn't let any car sit for more than 3 weeks without being on a battery maintainer like a CTEK or Battery Tender.

OnPoint

OP - if you let it sit for more than 4 weeks we come confiscate and take turns doing smoky burnouts. . . .


Sounds like with your usage, it'll be fine. I do put a tender on mine when they hibernate over winter.

Rguy271

I wonder if the C7, like a porsche, goes into a hibernation mode, where it suspends the electrics like the security system and such to save battery?

C7Joy

I only get to drive my car on weekends and have not used a charger since coming out of winter storage. My rule of thumb is 10 or more days of expected down time, hook up the tender.

6318

I've had every generation corvette since C3...my rule of thumb is 1-2 weeks, variables include previous charge, temperature, battery condition, etc. In general my vettes have been more prone to battery drain than my other vehicles. Can't stop diving my 2016 Z06 long enough to give accurate assessment on this model yet

alienranch

Glen e

The c7 is not like any other generations, it's not "battery weak" due to the moving of all settings that used to need power to hold them, to a computer chip style that does not need power to hold them. I don't own a maintainer, have no power at my car location. I had my car down for 7 weeks this summer, it started perfectly after 4 weeks down, and then the last 3 weeks I disconnected the neg batt cable, and all was fine when I reconnected, VERY few settings were changed (window index and hud specifically...)

TEXHAWK0

Any car should be able to go at least a week without the battery going dead... Think about people that actually drive their cars, but have to park at the airport for a weeks vacation or business trip...
Surely they are not coming back to a dead battery everytime they go..

Steve_R

They're not super-OCD Vette owners.

JerryU

Below is data from the 2014 Service manual. 35 days with a fully charged battery should be no problem. Left mine without a charger for 2 1/2 weeks and I have a low voltage battery, have had since new! It started fine.




Fully charged battery should be able to start the car after sitting for ~35 days,