Does running multiple apps have an effect on battery?

[Lee Davis]

I'm looking to evaluate Tessie, Teslafi and Tezzlab. If I run all three from the outset when I get my car, does it have a heavier drain on the battery? Only reason for running all 3 in parallel is so I don't miss any data for the app I finally select.

 

[GtiMart]

Calling Tesla apis in itself doesn't cause battery drain. The thing to look for is to make sure that none of them prevent your car from sleeping. This is where the loss occurs as a car that's awake consumes 200-250w instead of say 20-25w when it sleeps. It's the same as using sentry mode which also prevents the car from sleeping.

The difficulty is that many api functions do wake the car up. Those apps need to decide to stop calling them to give the car a chance to sleep. I only use TeslaFi but I know it has configuration for that purpose. It eventually stops calling most of the functions and just calls the one to tell if the car sleeps or not, for a 15 minute window (configurable). If the car has not gone to sleep it will poll again for a while and try another 15 minute window later... It needs to do this so it doesn't miss a drive, a charge etc... It's a fine balance.

Having multiple apps doing something similar but not at the exact same time might mean that there is never a window where the car is left alone to sleep. I suggest not having multiple apps because of that. If you do, you'll need to dig deep into each applications' way of letting the car alone for a while, understand it all, and make it work for your case.

 

[jjrandorin]

Calling Tesla apis in itself doesn't cause battery drain. The thing to look for is to make sure that none of them prevent your car from sleeping. This is where the loss occurs as a car that's awake consumes 200-250w instead of say 20-25w when it sleeps. It's the same as using sentry mode which also prevents the car from sleeping.

The difficulty is that many api functions do wake the car up. Those apps need to decide to stop calling them to give the car a chance to sleep. I only use TeslaFi but I know it has configuration for that purpose. It eventually stops calling most of the functions and just calls the one to tell if the car sleeps or not, for a 15 minute window (configurable). If the car has not gone to sleep it will poll again for a while and try another 15 minute window later... It needs to do this so it doesn't miss a drive, a charge etc... It's a fine balance.

Having multiple apps doing something similar but not at the exact same time might mean that there is never a window where the car is left alone to sleep. I suggest not having multiple apps because of that. If you do, you'll need to dig deep into each applications' way of letting the car alone for a while, understand it all, and make it work for your case.

Running 3 apps like that is almost a guarantee the car wont sleep, so it would "affect the battery" in that the car would likely never sleep. So, OP, be aware that if you install three different apps like that, you are pretty much ensuring your car will never sleep, and will end up being another person coming here and talking about "vampire drain" or "phantom drain".

 

[Lee Davis]

Thanks both

 

[jjrandorin]

Thanks both

Np,

With saying the above, it wont "hurt" the car, just wont let it sleep. If you want to install all 3 of those for a couple of days and see which one you like better, it wont hurt the car, it will just prevent it from sleeping.

The issue I see with that is, even if you make a decision to only do this for a couple of days (till you pick one) which would be the normal course of action one might take, even when you uninstall the other 2 you dont use, they dont necessarily stop trying to poll your car, etc.

If i was set on doing what you are doing (which I personally wouldnt do myself, but I dont use any third party apps myself ), I would either:

1. Research them, pick one to try, and try it. See if it meets my needs. If not, uninstall it, change my tesla password to invalidate the token, then try the next one, or:

2. install all three with the understanding I was only going to do that for a day or two, after that day or two, pick which one I wanted to use. Uninstall the other 2, change my tesla password to invalidate the token, then re login to the one I was going to use with my new token (password).

In both cases, I would change my tesla password to invalidate the token for the ones I was not using, otherwise you run the risk of it still polling your car until the token is no longer valid, even after you uninstall it (and keeping it awake, thus leading to "my car is using 5% a night of range and I dont have sentry mode on" posts.

 

[GtiMart]

Good suggestions. Instead of changing the Tesla password you could poke around those apps to see how you can force them to "logout" from Tesla, it should be possible. Just don't abandon them without some cleanup as they won't know you're gone.

 

[growltyger]

I'm looking to evaluate Tessie, Teslafi and Tezzlab. If I run all three from the outset when I get my car, does it have a heavier drain on the battery? Only reason for running all 3 in parallel is so I don't miss any data for the app I finally select.

I have installed Tezlab and TeslaFi concurrently and my vehicle can and does sustain long periods of sleep, sometimes for many hours (e.g., 36 hours). Tezlab supports a sleep mode if you have need to access the app whilst my vehicle sleeps.

 

[zoomer0056]

Ive been using Tessie for a couple of weeks now. I have only used this one and the official Tesla app. One thing I really like is being able to monitor my S without waking it up. I will be parking it for a month without plugging it in. Tessie will show me its sleep cycle and battery level while I'm away.