Lifestyle
A Guide to Tesla Model S Long Term Parking
One of the many joys that new Tesla owners may come across are situations where they’ll need to leave the vehicle parked for a prolonged period of time and at a location that doesn’t have a charger. The natural thought is, what will this do to the battery? I inevitably came across this same situation recently and wanted to take this opportunity to share my experiences around it.
“Tesla approved” Spot
My first mission in any parking lot is to find a “Tesla approved” parking spot. That’s a spot large enough to fit the Model S but also minimize the chance that neighboring cars will leave me with unwanted door dings. This is especially the case when driving through a busy city like Boston where space comes at a premium.
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If I can find a parking space that’s adjoined to a curb on one side, it’s a bonus — I get close enough to the curb (without scraping it!) to maximize the distance to the next space and minimize ding chances.
If I’m making my way to an airport, I know to avoid the busy short term parking garages where the hustle and bustle of pick-up and drop-off traffic is just enough for me to not want to be there. Instead I head towards the long term economy lot where my chances of any unwanted run-ins with other cars is at a minimum. There I look for my “Tesla approved” spot between two already parked cars. There’s a good chance that I’ll come and go before the other cars in the long term lot. Some parking lots also rotate parking locations for new entrants which further reduces the risk of having a new incoming car park next to me.
Minimize Vampire Drain
While Tesla has made some really great firmware improvements to address the dreaded vampire drain, there is still some battery loss when the car is not in use. Even when the car is off and stowed away for long term parking the Model S battery will still discharge albeit at a slower rate as it continues to provide power to the onboard electronics.
You can help minimize battery discharge by enabling “Energy Saving” under the “Power Management” settings on your Model S. I was able to quantify some of this loss which I’ll describe later in the post.
Battery Discharge Notes via Tesla Motors
From the user manual, Tesla says this:
Even when Model S is not being driven, its Battery discharges very slowly to power the onboard electronics. On average, the Battery discharges at a rate of 1% per day. Situations can arise in which you must leave Model S unplugged for an extended period of time (for example, at an airport when traveling). In these situations, keep the 1% in mind to ensure that you leave the Battery with a sufficient charge level. For example, over a two week period (14 days), the Battery discharges by approximately 14%.
However based on my experiences “Tesla math” when it comes to range is often optimistic and not necessarily what you’ll see in the real world.
Real World Experience
I took a short business trip to Las Vegas recently which required me to leave my Model S in long term parking for a couple of days.
It was 11 degrees fahrenheit out when I parked and I had 186 miles of rated range left (71%). When I returned my Model S reported 172 miles of rated range left (65%).
I lost 14 rated miles over the 2.6 days at an average temperature of 16 degrees fahrenheit. So I lost an average of 2.3% rated range per day which is quite a bit higher than the manual indicates. This wasn’t long enough to qualify as long term parking but it’s still important to take note that the rate in battery discharge can be more than double of what you’re expecting. Plan accordingly.
While the loss was higher than I expected, I still had plenty of range to get back home and give my Model S a much needed bath.
Summary
Be smart and plan out your Model S long term parking strategy, especially if there isn’t going to be a charger on site or nearby. Be sure to have enough battery range upon return so that you can get to your destination or to the nearest charging location.
Tesla suggests a 1% battery discharge loss per day but you may want to consider a more conservative 3% number to ensure you have plenty of range left upon returning.
There are reports of Tesla owners having parked at the airport with a low state of charge only to find car the the battery was drained upon returning. Bjørn Nyland of YouTube notoriety had an experience with long term parking (27 days at an airport with no charger) which resulted in less than a 1% loss per day – obviously a much better result than I had. The video showed a temperature of 8 degrees celsius, or about 46 degrees fahrenheit which is much warmer than it was for my test which may account for the difference in battery drain.
That said, the Tesla Model S can be safely left in long term parking without a charge and still have plenty of range left to get you home. Just be sure to take into account the number of days the car will be left unattended multiplied by a 1-2% battery discharge per day and you’ll be greeted with a happy Tesla upon returning.
Elon Musk
Tesla ditches India after years of broken promises
Tesla has ditched its plans to build a factory in India after years of failed negotiations.
Tesla’s long-running effort to establish a manufacturing presence in India is officially over. India’s Minister of Heavy Industries H.D. Kumaraswamy confirmed on May 19, 2026 that Tesla has informed authorities it will not proceed with a manufacturing facility in the country.
Tesla first signaled serious interest in India around 2021, when it began hiring local staff and lobbying the Indian government for lower import tariffs. The ask was straightforward: reduce duties enough for Tesla to test the market with imported vehicles before committing capital to a local factory. India’s position was equally firm, with an ask of Tesla to commit to manufacturing first, then receive tariff relief. Neither side moved, and the talks quietly collapsed.
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India had offered a policy that would reduce import duties from 110% down to 15% on EVs priced above $35,000, provided companies committed at least $500 million toward local manufacturing investment within three years. Tesla declined to participate. The tariff standoff was only part of the problem. Analysts pointed to significant gaps in India’s local supply chain, inadequate industrial infrastructure, and a mismatch between Tesla’s premium pricing and the purchasing power of India’s automotive market as additional factors that made the investment difficult to justify.
First signs of an unraveling relationship came in April 2024, when Musk abruptly cancelled a planned trip to India where he was set to meet Prime Minister Modi and announce Tesla’s market entry. By July 2024, Fortune reported that Tesla executives had stopped contacting Indian government officials entirely. The government at that point understood Tesla had capital constraints and no plans to invest.
The more fundamental issue is that Tesla’s existing factories are currently operating at approximately 60% capacity, making a commitment to building new manufacturing capacity in a new market difficult to defend to investors. Tesla will continue selling imported Model Y vehicles through its existing showrooms in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru, but local production is no longer part of the plan.
Elon Musk
Trump’s invite for Elon just reshuffled Tesla’s big Signature Delivery Event
Tesla rescheduled its final Model S farewell to May 20 after Musk joined Trump in China.
Tesla has rescheduled its Model S and Model X Signature Edition delivery event to Wednesday, May 20, 2026, after abruptly calling off the original May 12 celebration. The event will take place at Tesla’s factory at 45500 Fremont Boulevard in Fremont, California, the same location where the Model S first rolled off the line in 2012. Invitees received a follow-up email asking them to reconfirm attendance and download a new QR code ticket, with Tesla noting that all travel and accommodation expenses remain the buyer’s responsibility.
The reason behind the original cancellation came into focus the same day it was announced. President Trump invited Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, and executives from Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Citigroup, and Meta to join his trip to China this week for a summit with President Xi Jinping. The agenda covers trade, artificial intelligence, export controls, Taiwan, and the Iran war, following weeks of escalating friction between Washington and Beijing over AI technology, sanctions, and rare earth exports. Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I am very much looking forward to my trip to China, an amazing Country, with a Leader, President Xi, respected by all.”
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The vehicles at the center of all this are the last Model S and Model X units Tesla will ever build. Priced at $159,420 each, the 250 Model S and 100 Model X Signature Edition units come finished in Garnet Red with a one-year no-resale agreement, giving Tesla right of first refusal if the owner decides to sell. As Teslarati reported, the Model S defined Tesla’s early identity as a serious luxury automaker, and the Fremont factory line that built it is now being converted to manufacture Optimus humanoid robots.
Musk’s inclusion in the China delegation drew attention given his very public relationship with Trump, and the invitation signals the two have moved past and past grievances. Trump originally brought Musk on to lead the Department of Government Efficiency following his inauguration, and despite a sharp public dispute in mid-2025, the two have appeared together repeatedly in recent months. A seat on the China trip, the most diplomatically consequential visit of Trump’s current term, puts Musk back at the table on U.S. economic policy at a moment when Tesla’s China revenue remains one of the company’s most important financial pillars.
Lifestyle
Tesla Semi hauls fresh Cybercab batch as Robotaxi era takes hold
A Tesla Semi was filmed hauling Cybercab units out of Giga Texas for the first time.
A Tesla Semi loaded with Cybercab units was recently filmed leaving Gigafactory Texas, marking what appears to be the first documented delivery run of Tesla’s autonomous two-seater. The footage shows multiple Cybercabs secured on a flatbed trailer being hauled by a production Tesla Semi, a truck rated for a gross combination weight of 82,000 lbs. The location is consistent with Giga Texas in Austin, where Cybercab production has been ramping since February 2026.
The sighting follows a wave of Cybercab activity at the Austin facility. In late April, drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer spotted approximately 60 Cybercabs parked in two organized groups in the factory’s outbound lot, the largest concentration observed to date. Units being staged in an outbound lot is a standard pre-delivery step, and the Semi footage is the logical next frame in that sequence.
En route with @tesla_semi pic.twitter.com/ZfuOjaeLH1
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) May 7, 2026
This is not the first time Tesla has used its own Semi to move Tesla products. When the Semi was unveiled in 2017, Musk noted it would be used for Tesla’s own operations, and over the years Semi prototypes were spotted carrying cargo ranging from concrete weights to Tesla vehicles being delivered to consumers. In 2023, a Semi was photographed transporting a Cybertruck on a trailer ahead of that vehicle’s delivery launch.
The Cybercab itself was first revealed publicly at Tesla’s “We, Robot” event on October 10, 2024, at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, where 20 pre-production units gave attendees rides around the studio lot. Musk stated at the event that Tesla intends to produce the Cybercab before 2027. The first production unit rolled off the Giga Texas line on February 17, 2026, with Musk posting on X: “Congratulations to the Tesla team on making the first production Cybercab.”
Tesla’s annual production goal is 2 million Cybercabs per year once multiple factories reach full design capacity, with the company targeting a price under $30,000 per unit. Tesla has confirmed plans to expand its robotaxi service to seven cities in the first half of 2026, including Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and Las Vegas, building on the unsupervised service already running in Austin. Musk has said he expects robotaxis to cover between a quarter and half of the United States by end of year.
Tesla ditches India after years of broken promises
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