12V Access: Model S 2021 Refresh

[vcor]

Which cables are those?

I sell an assembled dashcam cable for the Model S 2012-2021 (prior to 2021 LR/Plaid): Dashcam Power Cable for Tesla Model S (assembled) | eBay
I also sell an assembled Power Tap cable for the Model S/X 2021 LR/Plaid: 12V Power Tap Assembled for Tesla Model S / Model X LR / Plaid | eBay

A kit of parts (i.e. cheaper) is also available if you want to assemble it yourself. Links are in the eBay listings.

If you want to do it all yourself, I show all the parts and assembly instructions here:

Dashcam Power Cable – TeslaTap

teslatap.com

and

Power Tap – TeslaTap

teslatap.com

 

[everydaychris]

Congrats!
Just to clarify: do you mean that it will still power on, but just not do so automatically?

I think false alarm. Had sentry mode on which is why the radar detector DIDNT turn off and AUTO turned off due to my settings.
Once it auto turns off, it won't auto turn on again until the car goes back to sleep
Tested it again, sentry mode off, car went to sleep, detector went to sleep, opened door and detector turned on

 

[normd]

That is the adapter I ordered and should be here shortly. I need the 12 V for Escort radar.

 

[Darmie]

I think false alarm. Had sentry mode on which is why the radar detector DIDNT turn off and AUTO turned off due to my settings.
Once it auto turns off, it won't auto turn on again until the car goes back to sleep
Tested it again, sentry mode off, car went to sleep, detector went to sleep, opened door and detector turned on

Oh well, I was hoping for a true power off function like on the right kick panel of the 3/Y. BTW, what year model is your Model X?

 

[everydaychris]

Oh well, I was hoping for a true power off function like on the right kick panel of the 3/Y. BTW, what year model is your Model X?

23 Model X. No issues no battery drain. detector turns off when car goes into deep sleep. detector auto turns off with feature when car is parked with sentry mode on

 

[hiroshiy]

Also tried this and tapped the only wire that had power (YELLOW) and it was a constant power line. Power didn't shut off when I turned the car off so won't work for V1 radar
View attachment 724559View attachment 724560

Hi, I will take the delivery of X Plaid in October in Japan (finally). It's LHD and comes from Fremont, so I assume it's mostly the same car as European Plaid. I need two low-voltage power sources.

1. Always on power for my Blackvue and its battery (Power Magic B-112).
2. Switched power for my radar detector and an amateur radio transceiver (13.8V 15A max = 207W).

For 1, I'm considering the wiretap location of @C4sxm5. Are there other people who verified this always-on power source?
Also, can anybody suggest how to get 15A (maximum 1 min continuous while transmitting)?

 

[vcor]

1. Always on power for my Blackvue and its battery (Power Magic B-112).

You don't need nor really even want the Power Magic. It's for ICE cars that will run down the 12v battery. You can wire your dashcam to always-on power and keep it running so it records while parked in case someone damages your car while you're away. With the 100 kW battery, it would run for years if there were no other loads. Dump the Power Magic - it has zero value in an EV.

 

[hiroshiy]

You don't need nor even want the Power Magic. It's for ICE cars that will run down the 12v battery. You can wire your dashcam to always-on power and keep it running so it records while parked in case someone damages your car while you're away. With the 100 kW battery, it would run for years if there were no other loads. Dump the Power Magic - it has zero value in an EV.

I purchased my first Tesla in 2014 and have been using Blackvue with a 12.0V voltage cutoff since then. My car wakes up several times a day, and I believe it is because of an excessive 12V battery drain. With Plaid, IngineerX (YouTube) explained that the car closely monitors the battery current, and I want to reduce the battery drain while the vehicle is parked.
So I believe the Blackvue battery will charge while I'm driving and discharge while parked.

 

[vcor]

How the car works is when the 12v battery gets low, the HV battery is activated and charges the 12v battery. While the Power Magic will work, it actually will consume a tiny bit more power than getting rid of it. The charging and discharging of the Power Magic battery is not 100% efficient. The Tesla will never let the 12v battery will never get too low, whereas, in an ICE car, there is nothing to recharge the main 12v battery when it gets low. There is nothing inherently bad about using Power Magic, but is a waste of money, wiring, space, and power in an EV. It really is not needed. If you want to reduce battery drain, get rid of Power Magic. That said, the amount of power it wastes is in the noise (as is the dashcam power when in an EV).

 

[HP Man]

How the car works is when the 12v battery gets low, the HV battery is activated and charges the 12v battery. While the Power Magic will work, it actually will consume a tiny bit more power than getting rid of it. The charging and discharging of the Power Magic battery is not 100% efficient. The Tesla will never let the 12v battery will never get too low, whereas, in an ICE car, there is nothing to recharge the main 12v battery when it gets low. There is nothing inherently bad about using Power Magic, but is a waste of money, wiring, space, and power in an EV. It really is not needed. If you want to reduce battery drain, get rid of Power Magic. That said, the amount of power it wastes is in the noise (as is the dashcam power when in an EV).

There is no need whatsoever for a power magic. I've had my blackvue wired directly to constant power and never had any issue.

 

[hiroshiy]

@vcor, @HP Man,
I know the Power Magic wastes energy, and it's not 100% efficient. I also had no issues other than battery drain for nine years.
That said, the wasted energy would be BIGGER if I connect the Blackvue directly than via the Power Magic sub-battery.
While the car's HV battery and its DCDC converter can supply continuous power to the dashcam, it also wastes energy with contactors (you need power to pull the contactors closed) and other 12V/16V subsystems. They are in total around 200W range, so if the car is on for one hour to recharge the LV battery, it would consume 100 hours' worth of dashcam power consumption.

 

[n2mb_racing]

@vcor, @HP Man,
I know the Power Magic wastes energy, and it's not 100% efficient. I also had no issues other than battery drain for nine years.
That said, the wasted energy would be BIGGER if I connect the Blackvue directly than via the Power Magic sub-battery.
While the car's HV battery and its DCDC converter can supply continuous power to the dashcam, it also wastes energy with contactors (you need power to pull the contactors closed) and other 12V/16V subsystems. They are in total around 200W range, so if the car is on for one hour to recharge the LV battery, it would consume 100 hours' worth of dashcam power consumption

@vcor, @HP Man,
I know the Power Magic wastes energy, and it's not 100% efficient. I also had no issues other than battery drain for nine years.
That said, the wasted energy would be BIGGER if I connect the Blackvue directly than via the Power Magic sub-battery.
While the car's HV battery and its DCDC converter can supply continuous power to the dashcam, it also wastes energy with contactors (you need power to pull the contactors closed) and other 12V/16V subsystems. They are in total around 200W range, so if the car is on for one hour to recharge the LV battery, it would consume 100 hours' worth of dashcam power consumption.

The contractors don't consume 200W. The entire computers consume 200w

 

[vcor]

Power Magic is more of a drain than without. The car uses some power all the time, maybe 20-30W for the alarm, key entry detection, timers, cellular connection, etc. When sentry mode is on, that bumps up to 200-300W to power the AP computer, cameras, etc. In either case, the amount the dashcam takes, about 3W, is not going to make much difference in the 12v charging cycles that the car will do anyway. Adding Power Magic will increase the frequency of 12v charging slightly since the voltages do not get low enough to trigger it to turn off the dashcam, and it still has to charge the Power Magic internal battery.

Sounds like we can't convince you, but there is no real harm in continuing to use it either. My guess is it consumes an additional 1W of power, although Blackvue doesn't show any specifications for its internal power consumption. If installed, I likely wouldn't bother to remove it, especially if it gives you comfort to use it.

 

[hiroshiy]

 @vcor , I'm still wondering whether I'm wrong about my assumptions. I thought the Power Magic would cycle its battery and not pass through, but it makes more sense for the Power Magic to keep its SOC highest while the 12V source is intact. This means it would keep draining the LV battery after the car is parked and asleep.
What do you think about the bigger battery Power Magic and tapping it into the Tesla accessory socket line? This way, LV will shut off when parked, and the dashcam keep working without LV's help.

 

[4SUPER9]

 @vcor , I'm still wondering whether I'm wrong about my assumptions. I thought the Power Magic would cycle its battery and not pass through, but it makes more sense for the Power Magic to keep its SOC highest while the 12V source is intact. This means it would keep draining the LV battery after the car is parked and asleep.
What do you think about the bigger battery Power Magic and tapping it into the Tesla accessory socket line? This way, LV will shut off when parked, and the dashcam keep working without LV's help.

One of the points the others were making is that the car is never fully asleep. This is especially true if you use Sentry Mode. Sit and listen to the car. It wakes itself up frequently.

 

[hiroshiy]

@4SUPER9 , I know. I don't use Sentry often. I'm only interested in reducing the vampire drain by constant-on LV devices, such as dashcams.

I'm now convinced that a small Power Magic battery on an always-on LV connection would consume more power than without because the Power Magic would pass through, and the dashcam would use Tesla's LV battery while parked because LV is always on. Now, I decided to put a larger B-130X Power Magic battery on the *switched* LV connection so it will not consume LV while the car is asleep.

I will use the accessory socket line to wire my amateur radio transceiver, consuming close to a 15A peak. Do you have other recommended wire-tap locations for switched LV (different e-fuse from the accessory socket)?

 

[n2mb_racing]

@4SUPER9 , I know. I don't use Sentry often. I'm only interested in reducing the vampire drain by constant-on LV devices, such as dashcams.

I'm now convinced that a small Power Magic battery on an always-on LV connection would consume more power than without because the Power Magic would pass through, and the dashcam would use Tesla's LV battery while parked because LV is always on. Now, I decided to put a larger B-130X Power Magic battery on the *switched* LV connection so it will not consume LV while the car is asleep.

I will use the accessory socket line to wire my amateur radio transceiver, consuming close to a 15A peak. Do you have other recommended wire-tap locations for switched LV (different e-fuse from the accessory socket)?

I plan on trying out the audio amp power circuit. I think it should be good for more than the accessory socket. But, I haven't tried it yet.

 

[hiroshiy]

OK, I finally decided what to do with all this equipment.
- Amateur radio transceiver 15A
- Blackvue Dashcam 2ch <1A
- Blackvue backup battery 5A
- Rader detector <1A

I will ask my installer to connect all devices to the front accessory socket in parallel, and install a physical 12V disconnect switch for the Blackvue backup battery (and the dashcam in series).
When I operate the transceiver, I will manually turn off the switch so it can consume all the power from the socket. While driving, the switch will be on. When I get off the car at home or office, I can turn off the switch to reduce the vampire drain, or just keep them running.

 

[n2mb_racing]

OK, I finally decided what to do with all this equipment.
- Amateur radio transceiver 15A
- Blackvue Dashcam 2ch <1A
- Blackvue backup battery 5A
- Rader detector <1A

I will ask my installer to connect all devices to the front accessory socket in parallel, and install a physical 12V disconnect switch for the Blackvue backup battery (and the dashcam in series).
When I operate the transceiver, I will manually turn off the switch so it can consume all the power from the socket. While driving, the switch will be on. When I get off the car at home or office, I can turn off the switch to reduce the vampire drain, or just keep them running.

Just make sure all your stuff is good with 16V and you should be all set.

 

[vcor]

I'm still wondering whether I'm wrong about my assumptions. I thought the Power Magic would cycle its battery and not pass through, but it makes more sense for the Power Magic to keep its SOC highest while the 12V source is intact. This means it would keep draining the LV battery after the car is parked and asleep.
What do you think about the bigger battery Power Magic and tapping it into the Tesla accessory socket line? This way, LV will shut off when parked, and the dashcam keep working without LV's help.

Sorry not to check in for a few days. Seems we can't convince you that Powermagic at any size is more of a drain than without. You really really don't need it. Anyway, seems like an utter waste of money and time to use Power magic, but it's not harmful. Power magic just wastes power and will reduce your range a tiny amount no matter how it's connected (unless it has zero connection to the car). Going to the accessory socket just means it will waste more power over time as it discharges and requires to be recharged later on. Perhaps someone else can explain it better than I can.