alt Hacker NewsWhat surprised me in the video is that Alec was telling how his engine can charge his battery while in the car wash. I had a 2016 Auris which I had to put it in neutral in the car wash, and in neutral the engine couldn't charge the battery. That was never a problem, I never had an empty battery in the car wash or even came close to it, but it does seem different from Alec's experience (unless I misunderstood).
Replies
I checked my Toyota's manual and it does explicitly warn about neutral for long periods of time for this reason. However, when not in neutral, the car will not allow the traction battery to be below 40% or so, so it is difficult to enter a car wash with an empty battery.
However, the car may have a very small, old, or weak battery; there may be significant drain on the battery (air conditioning?) while in neutral; and you may be in a very long car wash.
The car wash in this video is a box with a solid floor and doors that close at the ends before the wash cycle starts. There's no reason for the car to be put in neutral for this car wash; it's not doing anything to move the car around. You park your car in this kind of car wash.