Does turning on the car's power without starting the engine affect the vehicle?
2 Answers
No impact, it only consumes a small amount of electricity and will not affect the vehicle. However, if performing vehicle maintenance, be sure to disconnect the power to prevent the starter from engaging due to direct wiring, which can reduce the lifespan of wires and batteries and may cause spontaneous combustion. Here are some battery precautions: 1. Avoid storing the battery in a depleted state. A depleted state refers to when the battery is not recharged promptly after use, which can lead to sulfation. Lead sulfate crystals may form on the plates, blocking ion channels and resulting in insufficient charging and reduced battery capacity. 2. Conduct regular inspections. During use, if the electric vehicle's range suddenly drops by more than ten kilometers in a short period, it is likely that at least one battery in the pack has issues such as broken grids, plate softening, or active material shedding, leading to a short circuit.
You know what, I've been driving for twenty years and I've encountered this issue quite often. Just turning on the power without starting the engine is actually quite harmful to the car. The most obvious problem is that the battery power gets drained bit by bit, because as soon as you turn on the power, things like the dashboard and the stereo start consuming electricity. My old car didn’t have a large battery capacity, so if I left the radio or lights on while listening to music in the parking lot, the battery would drop significantly in just half an hour, making the next startup difficult. In severe cases, it wouldn’t start at all, and I’d have to call for roadside assistance. More importantly, modern cars are equipped with electronic control systems, like computer modules, and frequently turning on just the power might cause unstable initialization, leading to weird error codes. I’ve seen a neighbor’s car cut its battery lifespan in half because of this, forcing an early replacement. So, doing this occasionally for a short time is fine, but if you’re waiting for your kid after school or for someone else, it’s best to start the engine to keep the battery charged. Otherwise, the repair costs might not be cheap.
