My power is out and I'm in the middle of a snowstorm in the Willamette Valley in Oregon right now. I am powering my laptop and internet router off of my Model 3 through a power inverter connected to the 12v cigarette lighter port in the center console. Is there a way to keep the car from going to sleep every 30 mins? I'm getting tired of going out and opening the car door every 25 minutes to keep the power on. Any help would be much appreciated!
Can Model 3 keep 12v on without going to sleep?
- Thread starter RobTreeman
- Start date
Tam
Well-Known Member
If you have "Sentry Mode", your 12V socket should be on.
If not, you can do the old fashion way:
1) shift your gear to "N"eutral.
2) To prevent your car from rolling away, use the brake button from your screen display.
In the future you'd be better served with a portable battery or "solar generator" much better than relying on your car for power. I have a 348 Wh, 110V 500Watt one that cost USD$225-300 but shop around, we actually have several, great for emergencies.
@ewoodrick
As I understand it the 12v battery is kept charged by the main battery. The power inverter I'm using has a max draw of 160w. My laptop charger draws 60w. I fully charged the laptop battery last night. I've been using the model 3 to power my laptop, woodstove blower fan, internet router, and VoIP phone since yesterday morning. Starting charge was 270mi. 28 hours later I still have 240mi remaining.
As I understand it the 12v battery is kept charged by the main battery. The power inverter I'm using has a max draw of 160w. My laptop charger draws 60w. I fully charged the laptop battery last night. I've been using the model 3 to power my laptop, woodstove blower fan, internet router, and VoIP phone since yesterday morning. Starting charge was 270mi. 28 hours later I still have 240mi remaining.
What if you leave your phone in the car (or you KeyCard on Console) and/or put some weight on the drivers seat?
Yeah, be careful about running that 12V battery down. Who knows when it decides to top it off from main battery. It's not always logical.
Yeah, be careful about running that 12V battery down. Who knows when it decides to top it off from main battery. It's not always logical.
I don't know the rating of the cig lighter but I would be careful running an inverter that large from there. I would also insure the main contactor is closed not a smaller dc/dc running or you will trash your 12V battery quickly.
Good point.
I would not go over 10A continuous which is only 120 watts. My MacBook alone can pull more than 120 watts (when cpu is humming and charging)
The cigarette lighter I think can handle a peak of 12A but who knows how long that "peak" is for.
He could alternate by charging laptop for a while, leave router off. Then run router with laptop on battery.
Routers are typically not over 20 watts.
Last edited:
Knightshade
Well-Known Member
The 12v plug is rated for 12a continuous and 16a peak FWIW
It's now day 3 of this snowstorm and still no power from the utility company. I have been continuously using the model 3 battery to power my woodstove blower fan, charge my laptop when needed, and power my internet router for the last 48 hours. Everything seems good, it has been using an average of 1.33333 miles of range per hour. My starting range was 270mi, after 48 hours I still have 204mi of range remaining. My laptop charger is rated at 60w, I have no idea how many watts my woodstove blower uses and my router is <20watts. I seem to be using the perfect amount of power. I'll keep you all posted on if there are any negative side effects, but so far it has been working incredibly well!
Scrutmonkey
Member
That's great info.
Sounds like it's keeping the 12V topped off perfectly.
I assume you are using an 12V to 120V inverter?
You need to start a blog! LOL.
"It is now Day 12.... I am cold and starting to run out of food... if power not restore soon.. I may have to drive out to the SuperCharger!"
BTW, OP you didn't tell us what you did to keep the 12V running? I assume you didn't go open the door every 25 min for the last 3 days!
@Need Lol. Hopefully it doesn't get to that point. I tried to use the suggestion from @Tam above, but it didn't quite work. The car would shift itself into park whenever I got up from the driver's seat. To keep the car in neutral and the 12v power on I had to get in the passenger seat, reach down with my left hand and push on the brake pedal while I shifted into neutral with my right. Then I could exit the car without it shifting itself back in to park. The only annoying thing about this method is that the front parking lights stay on while the car is in neutral. I still haven't found a way to turn them off. Even with those lights on it's still doing pretty well battery wise!
Interesting. I wonder if you could sign up with one of those 3rd party service and schedule them to NOT let your car sleep by pulling data every 20 min or something. Or run some kind of task app on the phone to open Tesla App every 15 min. But like one other person pointed out, if you have the newest software and turn on Sentry Mode... the car does not go to sleep. But it will drain extra 24 miles a day.
muleferg
Active Member
I've found the Chafon 346Wh battery backup with 500W inverter to work well in conjunction with a 60-100W solar panel for such emergencies.
Chafon 346WH Portable Battery Backup Generator Rechargeable Power Invertor 110V | eBay
Richsolar 100 Watt Polycrystalline 100W 12V Solar Panel High Efficiency Poly Module RV Marine Boat Off Grid (1pc) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DNP14JY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_jaZDCbQ64N81N
Rockpals Foldable 60W Solar Panel Charger for Suaoki/Jackery Explorer 240 / Webetop/Goal Zero Yeti/Paxcess Portable Power Station Generator and USB Devices, QC3.0 USB Ports https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079DNGBQN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_3bZDCb8NP3J3P
Though it's nice to know the Tesla is a good tertiary backup.
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