Randy Spencer
Active Member
Too true. It would be great if there were a reading for how much power is being used for heating/cooling, stereo, and 12v appliances above the power being used to move the car, aka Phantom Drain. If would be fine if it was just in the app, or even in a place where other apps could read it. Doesn't NEED to be on the display. They recently added this to your Supercharger acct., where it will itemize how much power it took to fill the battery and how much was pumped into the car in total, catching the amount used for heating/cooling and the charger inefficiencies.
One thing that no one is talking about on this thread is the heat generated by the batteries and the motors while driving and braking. This will warm the coolant in the system so if you turn on the heat in the car after you have been driving for some time the resistive heat many not even be required to keep the cabin at a comfortable temp. I know people say "Don't worry about it, enjoy the heat" but I have the LR RWD TM3, the most efficient Tesla ever made, the car that replaced my 2000 Honda Insight, the previous most efficient car ever made. Hypermiling is in my blood.
I usually get in the car with the climate controls off and my body warm. If the sun isn't heating the car enough my body will cool and eventually I will turn on the heat. I just wish there was a button you could press to turn off the resistive heat the way you can turn off the AC. I don't need the car hot NOW, and if I do I'll flip that button. If it could just use the heat the car has already generated to help heat the cabin I'd be happy. There isn't a way to do that now, you can set the temp to LO to turn off the heater and also eliminate any heating of the cabin other than sunlight and body heat, which works great in the spring and fall, but SUCKS this time of year. Brrrrrr...
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