3 months unplugged & unused - minimal battery loss!

[Alistairuk]

Being in a slightly unique situation where I regularly have to go away for a few months at a time (at least now covid has passed) I was concerned about leaving the car for so long unplugged but I’m happy to report that in 3 months unplugged the car only lost 18 percent charge and other than slightly low tyre pressure seems fine.

Worth noting that I turned Sentry Mode off before leaving it, I don’t have any of the monitoring apps and I only checked the Tesla app once a month (except when it sent me a software update notification that I accidentally clicked) just to keep an eye and so I could get someone to go charge it if it was getting low.
27th Feb: Parked it with 94% charge

29th March: App said 87%

20th April: App said 83%

1st May: App said 81%

27th May: When I got into the car 76% charge

Only posting this for peoples info if you’re in similar situation where you need to leave it unplugged for a long time - I was expecting much greater loss but seems as long as sentry is off your fine!

2020 SR+

 

[Undecided_2]

Thanks for sharing. I travel for work so it’s good to know that I could leave it at the airport and not worry for a week or two.

I’ve noticed that our MY 2022 battery loss is minimal over a few days especially, when parked in the garage where it’s slightly warmer.

 

[Neilman]

I did a similar long-term no-touch experiment when my windscreen broke in mid January when there was a worldwide shortage of glass until May.
The screen was too crazed to drive safely so it was just sitting in my driveway "twiddling it's electronic thumbs".
Golden rules are start with a good charge state, turn off sentry and don't use the Tesla App more than once a day or not at all if possible.

I used TeslaFi to "keep an eye" on the car (TeslaMate et al work as well) and it showed a pattern of typically 10 minute wakes every 24 hours and every few days would be awake for an hour. Then I think late February we had an update which extended the sleep to a week and longer before waking briefly.
The "dormant" consumption is definitely getting better.

 

[ATPMSD]

Vampire loss varies by car model. I have a MS and over a one-week test I found it looses 500 watts per day, which for me would be 45 kWh over 90-days. Best to run a test and not assume your loss with be as low as the OP’s.

 

[VinayRaju21]

Wow, your car only lost 18% in 3 months?? I assumed the drainage would be much higher....

I am now facing this situation, as I am going back home to LA for 3 months and my car is in ATL. Weather should be temperate, so feel like the car won't need to turn on to cool/warm the battery. Will turn off sentry and AC overheat protection. All that being said, I was still nervous the drainage over 3 months might be dangerous... but this is encouraging

 

[M1tch]

I had something similar earlier this year. IIRC 7% in 6-7 weeks. Expected much more but was pleasantly surprised

 

[ATPMSD]

Wow, your car only lost 18% in 3 months?? I assumed the drainage would be much higher....

I am now facing this situation, as I am going back home to LA for 3 months and my car is in ATL. Weather should be temperate, so feel like the car won't need to turn on to cool/warm the battery. Will turn off sentry and AC overheat protection. All that being said, I was still nervous the drainage over 3 months might be dangerous... but this is encouraging

As I stated previously, it really varies by model. My MS loses 500 watts / day while some models lose just 1 kWh / week.Run a test for several days to see what your car does.

 

[Adopado]

As I stated previously, it really varies by model. My MS loses 500 watts / day while some models lose just 1 kWh / week.Run a test for several days to see what your car does.

Bear in mind that the losses over a day or two may not be representative of the losses over an extended period. It doesn't appear to be linear. (Watch out for the Watts versus Watt/Hour issue when describing losses )

 

[ATPMSD]

Bear in mind that the losses over a day or two may not be representative of the losses over an extended period. It doesn't appear to be linear. (Watch out for the Watts versus Watt/Hour issue when describing losses )

Agree, the longer you can test the better. I did mine over a 10-day period when I left the car at home, plugged in with the SOC at 80% and the desired charge level set to 50% (just to be case.)

 

[VinayRaju21]

Agree, the longer you can test the better. I did mine over a 10-day period when I left the car at home, plugged in with the SOC at 80% and the desired charge level set to 50% (just to be case.)

Going to try it out this weekend... Taking my friends car on a trip, so going to turn off Sentry and AC overheat protection, see what the drainage is going to be over a ~3 day period

 

[Alistairuk]

I am currently in process of doing it again;

4th of August: 84%
12th of September: 78% and an update waiting to install

Same as before - parked in driveway in sunny Scotland, unplugged, locked and sentry disabled (presumably it’s picking up the wifi from house if it’s downloaded an update)

I have another month and half till I’m home so will check on it again towards end of October

 

[M1tch]

“Sunny Scotland”

 

[init6]

“Sunny Scotland”

Dr Foster?

 

[init6]

I am currently in process of doing it again;


I have another month and half till I’m home so will check on it again towards end of October

One thing to bear in mind, there have been recent updates to the app that have in some cases caused the car to waken more often. So it might be worthwhile to either stop automatic updates on the app or just not open the app at all while you're away. I appreciate that this is a rare occurrence, but if you really need to have some battery left, then its probably worth taking every precaution.

 

[Neilman]

I find TeslaFi ideal for passively keeping an eye on the car especially when not using it for a while.
If there have been no wake-up events recorded then the car stays asleep for several weeks easily.
If TeslaFi reports "software downloading" or "software ready to install" you can use the Tesla App to deal with it.
There will be the exact time something happened shown on the status screen along with battery level changes.
And it works "away from home" just fine.
The Tesla App wakes the car every time it starts and usually costs 10-15 minutes of "woke" time each time it's opened.

 

[VinayRaju21]

I am currently in process of doing it again;

4th of August: 84%
12th of September: 78% and an update waiting to install

Same as before - parked in driveway in sunny Scotland, unplugged, locked and sentry disabled (presumably it’s picking up the wifi from house if it’s downloaded an update)

I have another month and half till I’m home so will check on it again towards end of October

Keep us updated! Curious what it looks like in mid October, that will be the length of my stay as well. Except I am in Atlanta, temperature might be a little more moderate than up there lol

 

[Alistairuk]

I am currently in process of doing it again;

4th of August: 84%
12th of September: 78% and an update waiting to install

Same as before - parked in driveway in sunny Scotland, unplugged, locked and sentry disabled (presumably it’s picking up the wifi from house if it’s downloaded an update)

I have another month and half till I’m home so will check on it again towards end of October

So I have finally made it home after an unexpected extra month and as of 8am this very cold morning I’m at 55% battery (down from 84 on day 1) after 3 months and 24 days.

Other than being in need of a pressure wash to remove all the green the car seems happy enough

 

[Adopado]

So I have finally made it home after an unexpected extra month and as of 8am this very cold morning I’m at 55% battery (down from 84 on day 1) after 3 months and 24 days.

Other than being in need of a pressure wash to remove all the green the car seems happy enough

Pretty good! I would also guess that you had a few percent not showing due to a thoroughly cold-soaked battery pack so the "real" percentage once warmed through would be even higher.

 

[Drew57]

See my post earlier today:

Battery Drain

Nearly 6 weeks at Heathrow long stay & only 3% loss.

 

[nurusz]

Being in a slightly unique situation where I regularly have to go away for a few months at a time (at least now covid has passed) I was concerned about leaving the car for so long unplugged but I’m happy to report that in 3 months unplugged the car only lost 18 percent charge and other than slightly low tyre pressure seems fine.

Worth noting that I turned Sentry Mode off before leaving it, I don’t have any of the monitoring apps and I only checked the Tesla app once a month (except when it sent me a software update notification that I accidentally clicked) just to keep an eye and so I could get someone to go charge it if it was getting low.
27th Feb: Parked it with 94% charge

29th March: App said 87%

20th April: App said 83%

1st May: App said 81%

27th May: When I got into the car 76% charge

Only posting this for peoples info if you’re in similar situation where you need to leave it unplugged for a long time - I was expecting much greater loss but seems as long as sentry is off your fine!

2020 SR+

On the net there are so many debates and discussions and recommendations on this topic and what you say disproves all the skeptics. Thanks for sharing