Overview
The Getaround Connect®, which enables Getaround functionality in your car, is powered by your car’s battery. This means that even when your car is off, a small amount of battery power is used by the Connect® over time. This usually isn’t an issue, but in cases where a car is not driven often, or the car’s battery is less reliable, the power usage from the Connect® can result in a dead battery.
Power Saving Mode is a feature offered by Getaround to help reduce battery consumption on cars with limited usage and/or unreliable batteries. This feature isn’t for everyone, so we recommend reading the information below before making the decision to turn on Power Saving Mode.
How it works
When Power Saving Mode is enabled for a car, the Getaround Connect® behaves in the following way:
- When the car is turned off, the Connect® goes into a “deep sleep”.
- While in deep sleep, the Connect® is offline (not connected to the internet), but is listening for Bluetooth. If you have Bluetooth enabled on your phone and are using the latest version of the Getaround app, you simply need to give the app Bluetooth access and it will automatically leverage Bluetooth to lock and unlock the car.
- Once per hour, the Connect® “wakes up” for 5 minutes, reconnects to the internet and checks to see if Power Saving mode should be turned off.
- If a phone connects via Bluetooth, the Connect® will wake up for 5 minutes.
- Note: If you decide to turn off Power Saving Mode, it will take up to 2 hours for the change to take effect.
Benefits of Power Saving Mode
When Power Saving is enabled, the Connect® uses significantly less power when your car is off, greatly reducing the chance of a dead battery from lack of use.
Limitations of Power Saving Mode
With Power Saving Mode, if your car is asleep, Bluetooth is required to wake the Connect®. If you have Enhanced Security enabled, the Connect® must be awake to enable the starter. If you do not have Enhanced Security enabled, you should be able to use the car normally with your key.
Your vehicle must be temporarily deactivated in order to use Power Saving Mode and will not be available for rentals.
Should I use Power Saving Mode?
You should consider using Power Saving Mode if any of the following are true:
- Your car is not being rented or driven very often. Especially if you’ve blocked off large portions of the car’s calendar.
- You are consistently receiving alerts from Getaround that your battery is low
- You are managing a fleet of cars and you’ve made a portion of your fleet unavailable
- Your car is inaccessible due to reduced staffing/operations at your parking location
Power Saving Mode is not recommended if:
- Your car is active or being used on a regular basis (driven more than 2-3 times a week)
How to enable Power Saving Mode
Currently, Power Saving Mode can only be enabled or disabled by Getaround. If you would like to enable Power Saving Mode, please contact support through your Getaround app or by submitting a support request in our help center.
