Battery consumption high initially and then normalise

[TM3OZ]

Hi all,

I dont know if this is the norm but I have noticed that the energy consumption is high on the first few drives after charging. So I normally charge my M3P to 80% or 85% max, the drop from charge limit to 60% is very quick (around 380-400 wh/m) and then it normalises. The drop from 60% to 40% is slow and more realistic (around 300-340 wh/m). these numbers are taken on normal driving conditions, average AC and not flooring the car. I have only had my M3P for less than a month its a 2019 model. wondering is its ok or something wrong with my car/battery.

thanks

 

[Cardo]

It’s not so much the battery SoC, but the start of every trip. Teslas have pretty aggressive battery management so at the start of every trip the car will use energy to get the battery pack to the optimal temperature. You will notice the first 20 minutes or so of every trip will always have higher consumption and then things will settle down. It’s why short trips are disproportionately inefficient.

 

[Jason71]

It’s not so much the battery SoC, but the start of every trip. Teslas have pretty aggressive battery management so at the start of every trip the car will use energy to get the battery pack to the optimal temperature. You will notice the first 20 minutes or so of every trip will always have higher consumption and then things will settle down. It’s why short trips are disproportionately inefficient.

Agree but I think a lot of it comes down to heating or cooling the cabin as much as the battery. At this time of year its more cooling than heating but that can be significant when you get in the car and its 40-50 degrees in there.

but if you do the same journey starting at 80% and again starting at 40% you should not see any difference. If you genuinely feel that is happening then that is odd and not something I have seen anyone complain about before. What is the energy monitor app telling you?

 

[TM3OZ]

I do alot of short trips, I dont drive much so I am noticing the drop in battery SoC quite rapidly on every time I take the car out. I will share an image of the consumption below. I know it says climate is taking alot but I have been careful not to switch on AC too much or keep the cabin temprature too low, I have although noticed noise coming from near the frunk when car was parked like battery was being reconditioned or cooled down or something, and it stays on for sometime, wondering if that is impacting the charge. Generally you can notice car is not keeping up with the expected consumption and everytime I start a journey I see a drop of c 2% battery (Sentry is also off)

 

[Jason71]

I do alot of short trips, I dont drive much so I am noticing the drop in battery SoC quite rapidly on every time I take the car out. I will share an image of the consumption below. I know it says climate is taking alot but I have been careful not to switch on AC too much or keep the cabin temprature too low, I have although noticed noise coming from near the frunk when car was parked like battery was being reconditioned or cooled down or something, and it stays on for sometime, wondering if that is impacting the charge. Generally you can notice car is not keeping up with the expected consumption and everytime I start a journey I see a drop of c 2% battery (Sentry is also off)

View attachment 955240

If you do a lot of short trips and have home charging then don't worry about it, Just enjoy the car set the AC to whatever you want it to be. Pre-heat/cool the car before you even get in and and re-charge when you need to. Ideally using cheap overnight electricity like Octopus Go or Intelligent.
Though if you want to save on climate try leaving the AC on but manually turn the fan down. That tends to make a big difference. The auto often sets it un-necessarily high in my opinion

Electric cars are no different to ICE the first few miles of every journey have terrible fuel consumption whatever sort of propulsion it is while the car gets to the right temperature both in terms of the propulsion system and the cabin. If you are doing short journeys then that is why the climate is using more than expected.

I can also see that you are losing some charge between journeys are you using Sentry mode? Sentry uses something like 200-250 wh per hour or the equivalent of 8% of your battery per day. Its fine to use it but be aware there is a cost.

 

[Adopado]

I do alot of short trips, I dont drive much so I am noticing the drop in battery SoC quite rapidly on every time I take the car out.

Yes, that's a normal pattern when doing short trips and is not representative of the range you will get on longer trips (where you would actually need that extra range). That's just the way it works and isn't anything to worry about.

Edit: The short trip impact at this time of the year is quite small compared to winter ... !

 

[Jason71]

Yes, that's a normal pattern when doing short trips and is not representative of the range you will get on longer trips (where you would actually need that extra range). That's just the way it works and isn't anything to worry about.

Edit: The short trip impact at this time of the year is quite small compared to winter ... !

you are right this is not representative of what you would get on a long journey. Given that its a 2019 M3P long journeys will be much worse

 

[TM3OZ]

ah ok, I still need to experience the winter its good that you guys have pre-warned me. this was just me experimenting with the range/consumption.
I bought the performance model to enjoy the drive not to look at energy graph so its ok

 

[Jason71]

ah ok, I still need to experience the winter its good that you guys have pre-warned me. this was just me experimenting with the range/consumption.
I bought the performance model to enjoy the drive not to look at energy graph so its ok

There is a bit of a re-learning curve to owning an EV. Somethings are the same as ICE some not.

ICE get their best fuel consumption on long drives but are bad on stop start driving around town.
EV's on the other hand with regen are quite efficient around town but highspeed motorway driving uses a lot of energy. The penalty for speed is much greater. ICE are so inefficient that you barely notice the difference between 70mph and 80mph. EV's on the other hand are 90% efficient so energy usage goes up by 30% if you cruise at 80 instead of 70. The rolling resistance of the fat grippy tyres on the M3P don't help
Neither EV or ICE really appreciate short journeys and both will suffer a big penalty due to cold starts so short journeys in winter can be brutal. You could see 500wh/m

 

[bacevedo]

What software version are you on? I was having high energy usage issues on the last few versions (2023.20.4) on my 2020 Y and just got an update to 2023.20.7. It seems to have fixed my issues as my energy usage is back in line with the estimates and what I'm used to.

 

[vanhtu1987]

I use ScanMyTesla and can confirm that on a normal day i.e., not too hot/cold, all of the extra energy comes from cabin conditioning. If I configure the car for no AC/heater then the power usage stays the same whether on the first mile or the 100th.

Short trips tend to include more starts/stops which will skew energy consumption. Energy use to power the rest of the car will also be proportionately higher compared to a long trip, but it'll not result in higher power draw.

 

[init6]

normal driving conditions, average AC and not flooring the car. I have only had my M3P for less than a month


I bought the performance model to enjoy the drive not to look at energy graph so its ok

Normal driving for a new user in an M3P is not necessarily 'normal driving'

I have although noticed noise coming from near the frunk when car was parked like battery was being reconditioned or cooled down or something, and it stays on for sometime, wondering if that is impacting the charge.

There's a handy book that details this - including the noises

 

[Adopado]

I know it says climate is taking alot but I have been careful not to switch on AC too much or keep the cabin temprature too low, I have although noticed noise coming from near the frunk when car was parked like battery was being reconditioned or cooled down or something, and it stays on for sometime, wondering if that is impacting the charge.

The newer heat-pump cars are even noisier by all accounts! The HVAC does keep going for a while after parking sometimes... that's normal behaviour... and it may cost you 5 or 10p .... It can be drying out the cabin filters so that they don't go mouldy and stinky for example. The software takes care of the heating/cooling very well these days. I used to try tweaking the settings because Auto seemed unnecessarily aggressive but I've come to realise that leaving it on Auto and just setting the temperature is the best policy overall (for me). I no longer switch off AC manually. I generally have the fan speed setting as "low" and that is good for all but the most extreme conditions. Obviously if it's hot weather it's worth not leaving the set temperature down at 19C but that's obvious! If I'm dawdling around our country roads at 40mph I'll sometimes switch off HVAC completely and have the window open, just because I like the air moving ... and you do see the difference in the consumption numbers.