do you store the bike in standby mode or completely off?

[Theo]

In which mode do you store it? Why?

Personally, up to some days ago I have kept it shutdown because:
• I don't want thieves to notice a flashing red light in the darkness: there are some holes in the garage door,
• I think that the flashing red light may accelerate the battery discharge a little, even though probably that is negligible.

I wonder whether the battery management system manages the balance of the cells during the self discharge and whether that works even when the bike is completely off. That's why I want to keep it in standby mode from now on unless I learn something new which will lead me to start keeping it off again.
I also wonder whether Stark's technicians can connect to the bike if it has been shut down; in my garage there is bad 4G reception, though.
I also guess that updates are not downloaded when the Varg is completely off, even though, again, I suspect that in my garage they would not be downloaded anyways because of bad signal.

 

[mike61]

After the last informations about complete shut down. I decided to let it in STANDBY red flashing.
The BMS of my Surron is also always ON and there is no problem.

Today the "Starkfuture" app asked for an update and it did.

 

[Foss]

Stark future best practice is to leave it in standby mode. That is what they officially told me via email. They never explained why but hinted to possibly keeping the battery in a healthy state and increasing the longevity of the battery. They did mention the hard shutdown is only to be used for troubleshooting.

My concern I brought to starks attention was the Bluetooth connectivity and other backend services drawing the battery life in standby. But they were confident standby mode is the proper way to store the bike when not in use. So long you keep the range 30-50% when hibernating.

 

[Kurlon]

A storage mode with the charger connected would be ideal... Let it float in the ideal storage range, topping off as needed.

 

[Theo]

A storage mode with the charger connected would be ideal... Let it float in the ideal storage range, topping off as needed.

I suppose that they could technically make this happening creating such mode in the app.
The only problem that I see is that, as far as I know, it's advisable not to keep electric devices under charge unattended because there is a significant risk of fire. Maybe this piece of advice doesn't hold good anymore in 2024 or maybe it has never been true, but I remember having heard and having read it more than once.
After all, they recommend checking the state of charge every two weeks in the manual, which sounds little time consuming.

 

[Kurlon]

It all depends on the device, I’ve got multiple vehicles and a generator that sit on battery tenders 24/7/365 unless actively in use. My Jeep PHEV, plugged in 24/7/365 unless actively in use or under an annoying no charge no park near anything/indoors recall order… grumble, story for another time… If you’ve got active monitoring going, there’s no reason for it to be risky, the bike can even scream over 4G/WiFi if it detects things going anywhere remotely off the rails.

 

[markchange]

To avoid any battery overheating, I usually turn it off completely.

 

[Chaconne]

I suppose that they could technically make this happening creating such mode in the app.
The only problem that I see is that, as far as I know, it's advisable not to keep electric devices under charge unattended because there is a significant risk of fire. Maybe this piece of advice doesn't hold good anymore in 2024 or maybe it has never been true, but I remember having heard and having read it more than once.
After all, they recommend checking the state of charge every two weeks in the manual, which sounds little time consuming.

I would definitely recommend a hard shutdown in a shared public garage in any shared living situation say like a townhouse/condo or apt complex. The fire risk and potential for problems is just too high to do otherwise.

 

[Theo]

I would definitely recommend a hard shutdown in a shared public garage in any shared living situation say like a townhouse/condo or apt complex. The fire risk and potential for problems is just too high to do otherwise.

I understand that we are responsible for what we do etc. but I don't think that there is a significant risk of fire or overhrating if the bike is in standby mode. Maybe an ongoing charging state like suggested above, which I believe could be done with a current smaller than 1A anyways could start being a small risk, but not standby.

 

[Chaconne]

I understand that we are responsible for what we do etc. but I don't think that there is a significant risk of fire or overhrating if the bike is in standby mode. Maybe an ongoing charging state like suggested above, which I believe could be done with a current smaller than 1A anyways could start being a small risk, but not standby.

Agreed I don't think it is significant if at all. But here in the US the liability for shared spaces is kinda messy (burning your own stuff well that is covered if you burn 3 other's garages with their stuff including their vehicles well that might be a mess) and even the slightest risk typically means lawyers and insurance companies --which are probably the only two things worse than dealing with a vindictive ex-wife. So removing even the slightest possibility that is easy enough is probably prudent.

 

[joer]

This is going to be a bigger question for me in a few months. I put my bike away in heated storage for the winter, (Nov - April usually) but I don't have access to it during that time. I know that leaving it in stand-by uses about 1-2% of battery per day. When I've done a hard shut down, I didn't notice that vampire drain. But I've only got about a week or two at most of testing in that state.

For long term storage, I'm hoping that charging it to 50% and then doing a hard shut down will do the trick. Ideally the battery will make for 6 months and still be above 30%.

I don't suppose anyone has any experience with this yet?

 

[Theo]

I'm afraid nobody has experience with such a long period of unattended storage; I don't either, so the following are just assumptions and considerations. Probably asking Stark would be the best choice.
It seems to me that in standby mode it goes from 50% to 30% in a couple of weeks linearly, I mean a certain same amount per day. This seems to be consistent with what you have observed.
Will the bike be within the range of the bluetooth of the Varg phone so that you or someone else can check the State Of Charge? I don't recall whether you can check it when it's shut down, though...
According to the FAQ in their site, the bike switches to to shutdown mode if the SOC is less than 20%, so this sounds like a confirmation that it's a less energy consuming state more suitable for very low SOCs.
Considering that, as far as I've understood, a SOC of 60% for example would still be decent for the preservation of the battery while 10% would be harmful, If I were in your shoes I would charge it even more than 50% so that there are less chances of ending up with very low charge.

 

[AL_V]

Probably asking Stark would be the best choice.

 

[Philip]

This is going to be a bigger question for me in a few months. I put my bike away in heated storage for the winter, (Nov - April usually) but I don't have access to it during that time. I know that leaving it in stand-by uses about 1-2% of battery per day. When I've done a hard shut down, I didn't notice that vampire drain. But I've only got about a week or two at most of testing in that state.

For long term storage, I'm hoping that charging it to 50% and then doing a hard shut down will do the trick. Ideally the battery will make for 6 months and still be above 30%.

I don't suppose anyone has any experience with this yet?

My bike sat fully shut down for about 40 days and lost just 1%. So you should be okay.

 

[mbrobich]

If, after a couple of hours riding, my battery is just over 50 percent , I'll park it like that and won't charge it till next ride day. I fully turn it off though.