EVDRVN
Active Member
Yes, I have. When/if the 12V battery gets low enough, the main battery pack comes online and recharges it. You won't come back to a dead 12V battery. The only possible downside to the always-on cam is that you will put more cycles on the 12V battery quicker (but with the dashcam only pulling ~200mA, it's not going to be a huge difference), and possibly shorten it's lifespan. The way I see it, Tesla 12V batteries aren't known for their longevity, anyway.
It will trash your 12V as it cycles it deeper on average. If you use a tender on your 12V it will last many years but the dash cams not only cause higher 12V parasitic loads they cycle the charging system more causing increased pack drain as those traction pack cycles are more wasteful as they are long. By using a battery tender I got my pack loses down from a few percent a day to 1% every few days. Anyone that thinks they need a dash cam on when the car is off may consider a delay timer or a alternative battery source. The dash cams have very poor power management and motion detection. IMO the parking modes are pretty bad and not well developed since motion requires the cam to be on. The cams should have a dual wire feature that allows them to cycle down after a short time but have the hard power for impact detection, this would allow that feature with zero standby drain and ability to wake on impact. The product development on these devices is more reactionary than innovative. This type of feature would allow a valuable feature with no compromise on power draw, essentially you can have ignition on use and sleep timer AND wake on impact. This could also be done another way with software but It makes more sense.
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