How often to run your ICE vehicle?

[sdingeldein]

I have two electric cars now (Lightning 23 and Volvo XC Recharge Twin 24). How often should I drive my ICE vehicle to keep it in the best shape engine wise and tire wise, etc?

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[EdRudy]

Never. Sell it.

 

[John Becker]

I have two electric cars now (Lightning 23 and Volvo XC Recharge Twin 24). How often should I drive my ICE vehicle to keep it in the best shape engine wise and tire wise, etc?

You'll find a wide range of opinions on this topic. I believe that monthly is adequate. Make sure the engine gets to normal operating temperature. Drive various speeds to exercise all the gears and turbo. A ten mile trip should be plenty.
Additionally, you don't want the fuel to go stale. Use premium. You'll find a wide range of opinions on how long fuel lasts.
If outdoors in the winter, keep a full tank to avoid condensation.

 

[VAF84]

I’d recommend placing the battery on a tender. Also doing something to deter rodents and pests. I had a sports car that I would drive about every two weeks and I had a full car cover just for that reason alone. By full I mean I drove it onto the plastic floor and zipped it completely shut. I was paranoid something would get in and chew up the wires or get into the AC system and get lost and die inside. Very common.

As far as avoiding flat spots on tires and keeping seals and gaskets lubricated so they don’t dry out, I’d assume at least once a month, but that’s anecdotal. As mentioned above make sure you get everything to operating temps and exercise a wide rpm band.

 

[Heliian]

I'd drive it once a week.

Any less and I'd probably get rid of it. Unless of course it's something you want to keep for sentimental reasons.

 

[VTbuckeye]

I have two electric cars now (Lightning 23 and Volvo XC Recharge Twin 24). How often should I drive my ICE vehicle to keep it in the best shape engine wise and tire wise, etc?

Same cars in our house, 22 lightning and 22 XC40 recharge ultimate.my wife has no desire to drive the lightning and I get to drive the Volvo infrequently. Our other car is a 16 XC90T8. It gets driven once every one to two weeks, though the engine turns on very infrequently. I really want to replace it with a 3 row EV, ideally EX90 though I'm afraid that Volvo is not going to do anything to provide any incentives initially to their leases. The EX90 is anticipated to have some initial software issues and it is priced like a bmw/Mercedes, but it probably will not lease as well as them. For other reasons my wife and I are not interested in the Kia EV9. Rivian R1S could be great, but service is over 3 hours away. Id buzz and lucid gravity are still vaporware in the US.

 

[Texas Dan]

Never. Sell it.

Talk is cheap. I’ve got two cars and a Harley that I need to sell now that I have my Lightning. I already sold one car. The problem is I really don’t have a reason to drive the other cars and now I need to spend a bunch of time fixing them up just to sell them.

And of course me fixing up the cars to sell is always very low on my wife’s priority list. Instead of fixing up the cars to sell I always seem to have to work on my wife’s priority list items on my free time. So week after week, month after month I just get to watch my once beautiful cars rot away in the driveway, very frustrating.

 

[F150ROD]

At least once a week.

 

[BlueLightning]

Daily, and few hours on Saturday and Sunday.

Note: must keep an 6.2L ICE for those long trips, towing, hauling. LOL!

 

[TaxmanHog]

and a Harley that I need to sell now that I have my Lightning.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Buddy, you need to strap on the helmet and go for a therapy ride pronto, do not sell the Harley unless health issues are in play.

 

[Maxx]

Got too many ICE toys I don't use. I already had to rebuild the motorcycle carburetor just to let it sit some more. The sport car has been eating dust for most of it's life.

Get rid of anything you don't use. Less insurance, emission test, registration, battery maintenance,.... . Live light and prosper and if you figure out how to do it, let me know too.

 

[Lucky Larry]

I try to drive each of my ice vehicles once a week in the summer to keep the battery charged and tires round. In the winter I will put a battery maintainer on the them once every 2 weeks, and will use a fuel stabilizer. I have thought about selling the ice vehicles but I like my toys and they don't cost much to keep around.

 

[rdr854]

You'll find a wide range of opinions on this topic. I believe that monthly is adequate. Make sure the engine gets to normal operating temperature. Drive various speeds to exercise all the gears and turbo. A ten mile trip should be plenty.
Additionally, you don't want the fuel to go stale. Use premium. You'll find a wide range of opinions on how long fuel lasts.
If outdoors in the winter, keep a full tank to avoid condensation.

I would say once a week to keep the battery charged. Most newer vehicles have modems and sensors that are being pinged by the OEM for a variety of purposes.

 

[marc_hanna]

The key issue is the fuel. I would add fuel stabilizer and fuel system cleaner to every tank and make sure I use up one full tank of gas every six months.
Another poster mentioned using premium gas, but I don’t agree with that. Premium gas on its own is just refined further to allow more compression without preignition, it is not necessarily a “better” fuel. In fact, if ethanol is used to raise the octane, then the fuel could be even less stable.
I also recommend a battery tender and something to repel rodents.

 

[Henry Ford]

Additionally, you don't want the fuel to go stale. Use premium. You'll find a wide range of opinions on how long fuel lasts.
If outdoors in the winter, keep a full tank to avoid condensation.

Condensation in fuel is not an issue for modern cars. The evap system limits the passage of air between the tank and atmosphere so very little moisture can ever get in. Additionally, ethanol in fuel holds water in suspension so it goes right through the engine.

Over time, fuel will degrade. Based on my experience storing boats, motorcycles, and old cars for extended periods of time, I recommend going through at least a tank of gas per year. This has worked for me.

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