This is my third 500e (I leased two) and nothing like this has ever happened before.
I haven't been driving much at all during Covid. Like, once every two weeks.
I've monitored battery levels. The last time I checked, no more than a week ago, the level read at 45%. I thought that wasn't great but I'd charge it when I got around to it.
Tonight I opened the door to check. Because the dealer sold the car with only one key and I haven't picked up my duplicate yet (covid again), I lock and unlock the car manually. I unlocked and opened the door, and the first thing I noticed was that the dashboard display was dead. Stupidly, I put the key in the ignition and turned it, thinking that I might get some kind of read-out that way. I didn't, but the key is now stuck in the ignition.
I had a feeling that this might be a problem with the 12-v battery, so I did pop the hood.
I double-checked that the doors weren't in the manual "lock" position before I got out. Sure enough, the doors locked behind me and now I'm locked out of the car.
I've seen some other posts about people in similar fixes, and since I ought to be able to get the hood open (it's released from the locked position but not opened up), I can probably get the battery out and take it to be tested. Assuming they recharge the battery, then what?
Do I have to be careful of anything in reconnecting it? Like, could I short something out?
Should I expect the car doors to remain locked?
I've been told that if you jimmy one of these cars open, some anti-theft mechanism causes expensive damage to the car. But on the other hand, my key is in the ignition, so the anti-theft device ought to see it. On yet another hand, I am not absolutely sure this key is OK. I might have gotten it wet with a garden hose. I think it's fine. But at the moment, I'm freaking out.
Let's say I get the battery out, get it charged, replace it, and then can't get into the car. What to do next? To make matters even worse, I 'm parked at a 90-degree angle to a very steep, very narrow driveway. Towing this car could be a nightmare.
Any suggestions appreciated.
Back to root causes for a second: Like I said, this is my third 500e. I've left the other cars sitting for two weeks at a time before. I made sure they were fully charged before I left, and they were pretty much fully charged when I got back. So it seems very strange that the battery would drain like that. I am hoping to God that this doesn't turn out to be rat damage. In another post, I reported that I'd spotted a rat jumping from under the hood last winter, and on this forum's advice I got an electric rat repeller. It's still working, and I didn't see any droppings. But again, nothing like this has ever happened before. OK, 45% isn't a full charge, but it shouldn't have dropped so far, so fast.
So that's a lot, but I'm in kind of a fix.
Thoughts?
I haven't been driving much at all during Covid. Like, once every two weeks.
I've monitored battery levels. The last time I checked, no more than a week ago, the level read at 45%. I thought that wasn't great but I'd charge it when I got around to it.
Tonight I opened the door to check. Because the dealer sold the car with only one key and I haven't picked up my duplicate yet (covid again), I lock and unlock the car manually. I unlocked and opened the door, and the first thing I noticed was that the dashboard display was dead. Stupidly, I put the key in the ignition and turned it, thinking that I might get some kind of read-out that way. I didn't, but the key is now stuck in the ignition.
I had a feeling that this might be a problem with the 12-v battery, so I did pop the hood.
I double-checked that the doors weren't in the manual "lock" position before I got out. Sure enough, the doors locked behind me and now I'm locked out of the car.
I've seen some other posts about people in similar fixes, and since I ought to be able to get the hood open (it's released from the locked position but not opened up), I can probably get the battery out and take it to be tested. Assuming they recharge the battery, then what?
Do I have to be careful of anything in reconnecting it? Like, could I short something out?
Should I expect the car doors to remain locked?
I've been told that if you jimmy one of these cars open, some anti-theft mechanism causes expensive damage to the car. But on the other hand, my key is in the ignition, so the anti-theft device ought to see it. On yet another hand, I am not absolutely sure this key is OK. I might have gotten it wet with a garden hose. I think it's fine. But at the moment, I'm freaking out.
Let's say I get the battery out, get it charged, replace it, and then can't get into the car. What to do next? To make matters even worse, I 'm parked at a 90-degree angle to a very steep, very narrow driveway. Towing this car could be a nightmare.
Any suggestions appreciated.
Back to root causes for a second: Like I said, this is my third 500e. I've left the other cars sitting for two weeks at a time before. I made sure they were fully charged before I left, and they were pretty much fully charged when I got back. So it seems very strange that the battery would drain like that. I am hoping to God that this doesn't turn out to be rat damage. In another post, I reported that I'd spotted a rat jumping from under the hood last winter, and on this forum's advice I got an electric rat repeller. It's still working, and I didn't see any droppings. But again, nothing like this has ever happened before. OK, 45% isn't a full charge, but it shouldn't have dropped so far, so fast.
So that's a lot, but I'm in kind of a fix.
Thoughts?
