Car battery keeps on getting drained on GetAround

[fuzzybabybunny]

So I have both of my cars rented on GetAround in San Francisco. The cars are parked in garages downtown.

The issue that I've been having for years now is that the batteries keep getting drained after just four days of non-use. GetAround installs something called a Car Kit which allows me and any renters to remotely unlock the car from their smartphone app. So the Car Kit at a minimum has a constant 3G connection, a GPS for locating the car, and something that actuates the unlocking of the car.

But the dead battery notices are killing me. Twice a month the batteries go dead. The Honda Fit doesn't have a large battery to begin with, so that frequently goes. My Subaru Crosstrek has a bigger battery but that has gone as well. It's a pain in the ass to get someone to go over there to jump the battery and then drive the car around for 20 minutes.

Can you guys think of any possible solutions to this issue? I thought about installing a solar battery charger but the cars are in a parking garage and while there is some light, I don't believe it would be enough to generate > 12V from solar panels. The only thing I can think of is find some way to install extra electrical capacity to the system so that it could go, say, 6 days instead of 4 before the battery goes dead, giving it a higher chance of being rented out and driven / recharged before the battery dies.

 

[NutBucket]

That weird. I mean, all GM cars have OnStar which has that functionality and it's a non-issue. You'd think the tech is there to make it a low-drain device. Although, you mention garages. Do these happen to be underground garages? Maybe they cause extra drain due to weak cellular signal? Hard to say.

 

[leper84]

That weird. I mean, all GM cars have OnStar which has that functionality and it's a non-issue. You'd think the tech is there to make it a low-drain device. Although, you mention garages. Do these happen to be underground garages? Maybe they cause extra drain due to weak cellular signal? Hard to say.

I'd say constantly hunting for cell/gps signal is the biggest deal. From what it sounds like it has to stay constantly connected to be ready for the next renter.

OnStar is completely integrated into the vehicle and GM has spent probably what, millions or billions developing it? I bet this GetAround stuff isn't quite as refined.

OP I'd consider upgrading to the highest amp battery you can find, or even looking into adding a second battery to each car. Check with a decent (not best buy) car audio shop, plenty of people add batteries for their systems.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

The garages are above ground and the reception is good, otherwise the entire purpose of the Car Kit for remote unlocking wouldn't work. I bet GetAround simply doesn't have power efficient hardware in place. I wouldn't be surprised if they were just glorified Android phones since GetAround is kind of still startup-ish.

Getting a second battery installed is a good idea. Take it to a car audio shop and have them install a second battery in the trunk that will also charge as the car is running?

 

[leper84]

It should charge while running. How much extra battery your alternator has the ability to charge is something they should have experience with; personally I don't know.

 

[jlee]

Driving around for 20 minutes is probably not nearly enough to get the battery fully charged, so you end up repeating the problem over and over (jump a dead battery, drive it til it's slightly less dead, park, it drains a little and goes dead again, repeat). Put the battery on a proper charger until it's fully charged and see if that helps.

 

[LTC8K6]

Driving around for 20 minutes is probably not nearly enough to get the battery fully charged, so you end up repeating the problem over and over (jump a dead battery, drive it til it's slightly less dead, park, it drains a little and goes dead again, repeat). Put the battery on a proper charger until it's fully charged and see if that helps.

Bingo.

This is killing the battery.

Fully charging once in a while would probably help.

Why not put a jump starter in the car? That way, no one would have to be called to jump start it.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/jump-starters/buying-guide.htm

 

[shortylickens]

I have both a professional jump starter and a trickle charger.
Good quality batteries last for many years, you just need to take care of them.

As for renting and using a parking garage, I dont know what to tell you. Maybe carry around those lightweight starters.

 

[JEDIYoda]

I have a hired mechanic who lives in the garage and does needed maintenance and keeps the battery charged!

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I have a hired mechanic who lives in the garage and does needed maintenance and keeps the battery charged!

Not sure if serious?

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

So I have both of my cars rented on GetAround in San Francisco. The cars are parked in garages downtown.

The issue that I've been having for years now is that the batteries keep getting drained after just four days of non-use. GetAround installs something called a Car Kit which allows me and any renters to remotely unlock the car from their smartphone app. So the Car Kit at a minimum has a constant 3G connection, a GPS for locating the car, and something that actuates the unlocking of the car.

But the dead battery notices are killing me. Twice a month the batteries go dead. The Honda Fit doesn't have a large battery to begin with, so that frequently goes. My Subaru Crosstrek has a bigger battery but that has gone as well. It's a pain in the ass to get someone to go over there to jump the battery and then drive the car around for 20 minutes.

Can you guys think of any possible solutions to this issue? I thought about installing a solar battery charger but the cars are in a parking garage and while there is some light, I don't believe it would be enough to generate > 12V from solar panels. The only thing I can think of is find some way to install extra electrical capacity to the system so that it could go, say, 6 days instead of 4 before the battery goes dead, giving it a higher chance of being rented out and driven / recharged before the battery dies.

Their website seems to say that you should be driving your car at least every TWO days. Otherwise it will run down, because of their unit.

That is my interpretation, taking into account the (presumably) small battery, and age (presumed) of the battery/vehicle.

https://help.getaround.com/hc/en-us/articles/217724128-How-does-the-Connect-affect-my-car-s-battery-

With older or smaller batteries, you may find that your car needs to be driven every 2-3 days. As a battery ages, your battery becomes less effective at charging and discharging and needs to be driven more frequently to prevent your car battery from dying.

As regards a possible solutions. Can you have a much higher capacity battery fitted ?
(Be careful that it does NOT overload/strain the alternator).

Do they offer more modern electrical units (their device), which use less power now ?
(Since it seems the excessive electricity consumption of their device is the real problem here).

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

It sounds to me like their unit is very poorly designed, as regards power consumption, while not in use (standby).

Is there any way you could create a second battery, which is used ONLY for their unit ?
Then charge the second battery (maybe even a decent leisure high capacity battery) via your car, but connect it up in such a way that when the engine is off, it leaves the main car battery (electrically) alone. (My understanding is that method is how leisure vehicles work, so you can always start it up, even if someone watching TV or something, falls asleep and runs the leisure battery (ONLY) down).

Then their unit can ONLY run itself down (via the second battery), but the car should be good to go/start for many weeks (or however long a car battery left undriven, lasts for).

 

[herm0016]

It sounds to me like their unit is very poorly designed, as regards power consumption, while not in use (standby).

Is there any way you could create a second battery, which is used ONLY for their unit ?
Then charge the second battery (maybe even a decent leisure high capacity battery) via your car, but connect it up in such a way that when the engine is off, it leaves the main car battery (electrically) alone. (My understanding is that method is how leisure vehicles work, so you can always start it up, even if someone watching TV or something, falls asleep and runs the leisure battery (ONLY) down).

Then their unit can ONLY run itself down (via the second battery), but the car should be good to go/start for many weeks (or however long a car battery left undriven, lasts for).

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/forums/48-Power-Systems-12v-Solar-Gen


there are kits to accomplish this. check the link for lots of guidance.

 

[pamela young]

okay, i think i'm going to ask a question i already know the answer to but here i go, the battery out of the blue just did not start one evening, so we jumped it and all was fine, for a bite, a week or so after it began to each time we started the car the battery was dead, anyway, okay i'm a girl---woman and i do have some brains with mechanics, my husband ? not so much so instead of listening to me about what needed to be done, and that being, first get the crap off the battery terminals,, clean it i said, then if that does not work look into the starter or altenator or even fuses. but he decided to have a friend ????? look at it and instead of cleaning it he just hooked it up to a charger and it's been charging know for 3 days, am i wrong or is this way to much.

 

[EliteRetard]

okay, i think i'm going to ask a question i already know the answer to but here i go, the battery out of the blue just did not start one evening, so we jumped it and all was fine, for a bite, a week or so after it began to each time we started the car the battery was dead, anyway, okay i'm a girl---woman and i do have some brains with mechanics, my husband ? not so much so instead of listening to me about what needed to be done, and that being, first get the crap off the battery terminals,, clean it i said, then if that does not work look into the starter or altenator or even fuses. but he decided to have a friend ????? look at it and instead of cleaning it he just hooked it up to a charger and it's been charging know for 3 days, am i wrong or is this way to much.

Probably could have started your own thread...

But I'll respond to the question anyway. Batteries die, much more likely that's the issue than any of the other electrical. Just cough up the 80-100$ for a high quality battery and be happy for another 10 years.
Pretty much every place that sells batteries can test the one you got (for free) and see if it can hold a decent charge and/or put out enough power. Having it on a charger for 3 days sounds worn out to me.
If you've got a good trustworthy car shop, they may even be willing to test your cars power output (for free) to see if it is indeed an alternator issue.

 

[pamela young]

Probably could have started your own thread...

But I'll respond to the question anyway. Batteries die, much more likely that's the issue than any of the other electrical. Just cough up the 80-100$ for a high quality battery and be happy for another 10 years.
Pretty much every place that sells batteries can test the one you got (for free) and see if it can hold a decent charge and/or put out enough power. Having it on a charger for 3 days sounds worn out to me.
If you've got a good trustworthy car shop, they may even be willing to test your cars power output (for free) to see if it is indeed an alternator issue.

 

[pamela young]

YOUR RIGHT ABOUT STARTING MY OWN THREAD, SORRY ABOUT THAT, I JUST SIGNED UP ON HERE AND WENT IN THE WRONG AREA, BUT ANYWAY SURE YOUR MORE THAN RIGHT ABOUT JUST GETTING A NEW BATTERIE, I MEAN 3 DAYS IF NOTHING ELSE OUR ELECTRIC BILL IS SURE GOING UP, LOL, BELIEVE ME,. IT'S NOT BY MY CHOICE, MY HUSBAND SEEMS TO THINK I HAVE NO CLUE YET I HAVE WORKED ON CARS FOR YEARS BEFORE WE MEET HE'S MORE THE BUSINESS ONE. ASK HIM TO GET YOU A FLAT HEAD AND GOD KNOWS WHAT HE WILL BRING YOU, THOUGH I AM GOING TO SHOW HIM WHAT YOU SAID IN HOPES THAT COMING FROM A MAN HE MAY LISTEN, I DO THANK YOU.

PAMELA JEANNE

 

[EliteRetard]

YOUR RIGHT ABOUT STARTING MY OWN THREAD, SORRY ABOUT THAT, I JUST SIGNED UP ON HERE AND WENT IN THE WRONG AREA, BUT ANYWAY SURE YOUR MORE THAN RIGHT ABOUT JUST GETTING A NEW BATTERIE, I MEAN 3 DAYS IF NOTHING ELSE OUR ELECTRIC BILL IS SURE GOING UP, LOL, BELIEVE ME,. IT'S NOT BY MY CHOICE, MY HUSBAND SEEMS TO THINK I HAVE NO CLUE YET I HAVE WORKED ON CARS FOR YEARS BEFORE WE MEET HE'S MORE THE BUSINESS ONE. ASK HIM TO GET YOU A FLAT HEAD AND GOD KNOWS WHAT HE WILL BRING YOU, THOUGH I AM GOING TO SHOW HIM WHAT YOU SAID IN HOPES THAT COMING FROM A MAN HE MAY LISTEN, I DO THANK YOU.

PAMELA JEANNE

Holy caps bat-woman.

All the car battery chargers I have seen do have a timer, they'll charge at a set rate for up to like 12 hours before they kick down to trickle/off. But if the battery aint taking a charge and they've left it on there in the hopes it will somehow get better...well it wont. Unless it did charge, and they're just to lazy to go stick the thing back in the car. But hey, who doesn't like free stuff? It wont hurt to have a third party do a quick check on the battery. Wont hurt to get the alternator checked too, it's very easy to do a quick voltage check with a multi-meter. Sometimes they'll do it free with a small cheap service like an oil change or something.

 

[nerp]

Fuzzy -- didn't you live out of your car and was doing all sorts of crazy power drain stuff and asking around about alternators and bigger batteries for your car? Maybe all that stuff killed the batteries like we warned you it would all along.

 

[pamela young]

Holy caps bat-woman.

All the car battery chargers I have seen do have a timer, they'll charge at a set rate for up to like 12 hours before they kick down to trickle/off. But if the battery aint taking a charge and they've left it on there in the hopes it will somehow get better...well it wont. Unless it did charge, and they're just to lazy to go stick the thing back in the car. But hey, who doesn't like free stuff? It wont hurt to have a third party do a quick check on the battery. Wont hurt to get the alternator checked too, it's very easy to do a quick voltage check with a multi-meter. Sometimes they'll do it free with a small cheap service like an oil change or something.

 

[pamela young]

OH THAT'S A GOOD ONE, YOUR NOT THE FIRST PERSON TO MENTION MY CAPS PROBLEM LOL, NO IT'S JUST I'M LOOSING MY EYE SIGHT SO FOR ME IT'S JUST EASIER TO LEAVE IT WERE IT BE., BUT I LOVE YOUR CAPTION, HOLY CAPS BAT-WOMAN YOU DIDN'T KNOW JUST HOW TRUE THAT STATEMENT WAS, THAT ONE IS NEW TO ME. I'LL HAVE TO SHAT IT WITH MY FRIENDS AT LEAST I CAN SAY I DON'T NEED THE CHARGER OFF THE CAR BECAUSE DMV WONT LET ME DRIVE WITH MY EYES ANYWAY, BUT SHI? I'LL HAVE TO SOMEHOW DO IT MYSELF WITH A MAGNIFIER AND FLASH LIGHTS. IT HAS BEEN MAKING ALOT OF CLICKING NOISES THOUGH ON THE CHARGER. SO PULL UP MY STRAP'S AND GO FOR IT. THANKS FOR THE CHUCKLE.

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

OH THAT'S A GOOD ONE, YOUR NOT THE FIRST PERSON TO MENTION MY CAPS PROBLEM LOL, NO IT'S JUST I'M LOOSING MY EYE SIGHT SO FOR ME IT'S JUST EASIER TO LEAVE IT WERE IT BE., BUT I LOVE YOUR CAPTION, HOLY CAPS BAT-WOMAN YOU DIDN'T KNOW JUST HOW TRUE THAT STATEMENT WAS, THAT ONE IS NEW TO ME. I'LL HAVE TO SHAT IT WITH MY FRIENDS AT LEAST I CAN SAY I DON'T NEED THE CHARGER OFF THE CAR BECAUSE DMV WONT LET ME DRIVE WITH MY EYES ANYWAY, BUT SHI? I'LL HAVE TO SOMEHOW DO IT MYSELF WITH A MAGNIFIER AND FLASH LIGHTS. IT HAS BEEN MAKING ALOT OF CLICKING NOISES THOUGH ON THE CHARGER. SO PULL UP MY STRAP'S AND GO FOR IT. THANKS FOR THE CHUCKLE.

You can change the text size in most web browsers, which should reduce/solve your problem, WITHOUT needing to make everything CAPITALIZED!
It will be called something like "Zoom", from one of the menus.
Often you can make it as big as you like, within reason.

 

[EliteRetard]

Other options that may work to zoom: Holding down the ctrl button and then pressing plus or minus will zoom in/out...or holding ctrl and using the scroll wheel on the mouse.

Just be careful around that car battery, don't cross/short the two terminals. May only be 12 volts, but it's the huge amp output that kills.