How long is too long to leave it running?

welcome!
just treat it like any other car. there's no point to leaving it running when you're not using it. and if you do need it, there's no cut off, just don't run out of gas. some people sleep in it overnight, with the havoc going.
all the best!

 

If you know you are stopping briefly, you might want to leave it running to keep the climate control on.
I did that a couple of times on the weekend when we parked and had a dog in the car. I kept the AC on and car in READY mode. Once I stayed in the car and once I left the key in the car whil I was outside, near by.

 

A word to the wise, always consider the security of your vehicle while you are away from it.

 

Yeah. Both The time I was outside, the only people around were me, my wife, and one other person we were talking with.

 

I've only left it maybe 10 minutes, key locked, on a couple of very hot days, but it's been in a fairly secure area.

Check whether your Daytime Running Lights are off, which could be a hint to the unscrupulous that it's running still. If I pull up after driving and lock up, they remain on. I have to POWER OFF, then, with the brake on, POWER ON and they stay off. (Depends on which country you are in - I don't think that happens in USA for instance.)

 

... and the liability incurred if something were to happen as a result.

 

It only takes a fraction of a second to restart it, but given the Florida heat I sometimes run into my house to grab something and leave it on in my driveway for just a minute.

 

No havoc when I keep my AC on 72 when car camping. It's all sweet dreams! No sweat!

 

You aren't going to take much of a hit turning it off because the engine temp isn't going to cool down past the final stage warmup temp where it is in warmup mode (145 F) in just a few minutes (normal operating temp is 195 F, when the engine is on). It seems like it will still wait about one minute before it will go into EV if you are going more than stopped but that's it. Once it finishes that little check it will operate as normal. I'd prefer that to letting the traction battery run down idling.

Now if you want the a/c or heat on that's a different issue.

 

I almost don't understand the question. I guess, I completely don't understand the question, lol.

I'm gonna vote zero time left running.

 

Maybe next time it's over 40C degrees, you might be tempted to.

 

In the UK it's also illegal to leave your vehicle running unattended, unless it's on your driveway. Insurance won't pay out if stolen whilst left running, although they would have trouble proving it was running if you have the keys in your pocket.

 

.... But not the fob sitting in the cupholder.

 

I leave it on sometimes if my wife is in the car, or if I will be gone for less than 40 seconds and nobody is around(I will leave it on if I forgot something inside the house)

But other than that I turn it off and then back on. It stays warm for a while and it will not go through the warmup cycle again unless the engine is below a certain temperature.

Gen 4 is even more aggressive about this, I find it does less warm up cycles. If it is 95 degrees outside for the first run of the day it will completely skip the warm up cycle the engine won't turn on until I go above the eco line. If I come back from the grocery store and turn the car back on I can st there for 20 minutes before the engine turns on, and that is for charging not for warm up.


My gen 3 would still do the warm up cycle in both those situations.

 

I was re-reading my 2016 owner's manual (online version) and falling asleep... but somewhere around page185 or so, I don't recall the exact page number, it said the power will be shut off after 1 hour, when parked.

 

This is usually 12V power after the car is off, like if you leave the radio of a light on it will cut power after an hour to protect the 12V battery. Our Honda Odyssey does this also, it always makes drive in movies fun. I don't think this applies if the car is running though.

 

Yeah I suspect the car will run till it runs out of gas. I don't get this, and it's techinically illegal in a lot of areas. I kinda go into a slow burn, when I see folks sitting in their bubbles, catching up on Twitter, while their engines and fans whir away, pumping heat and fumes into the outside air.

 

In my case it was for a short while both times and I do not think the engine even ran during those times since the AC is electric.

 

Yeah, but there's no free lunch: ultimately the engine ran more, to recoup the dropped battery charge.

I AM a luddite, I know it. For me a car is about getting places, without bugs in my teeth, but that's about it.