Excessive batt drain due to heating

[Fellsteruk]

Hi,

Last couple days my battery is draining at a shocking rate just parked. Sure it’s cold right now but we’re talking a massive drop over night, like 30miles range a night.

Anyway this morning I woke up and went to turn my heating on from the app “was showing as off” however I noticed internal temp was 20c, outside was about -1c I found this strange but thought it’s been on charge so maybe a by product of that and I do have smart pre condition on.

Anyway I get to work today with about 139 miles and I just checked after being parked for two hours and I’ve lost 6miles. I went into the climate in the app and the heating was on.

Now I turned it off when I left the car before parking, so why would the heating turn itself back on , anyone noticed this?

 

[arg]

smart pre condition on.

Some people have reported bizarre "smart" behaviour, turning on and off at unpredictable times.

Your car's just back from service - maybe it learned the daily schedule in the workshop rather than learning your commute?

 

[Fellsteruk]

any way to clear what it's learnt? if i turn it off for a bit then on again will that do the trick? or would i need to do a full reset o the system

 

[arg]

any way to clear what it's learnt? if i turn it off for a bit then on again will that do the trick? or would i need to do a full reset o the system

Not sure. I don't use it myself as I don't commute, and I've not actually spoken to anybody who finds it usefu, but then of course with any aspect of the car it's the people with problems that talk about it, so there may be hundreds of happy users for whom it works perfectly. Equally, there may be hundreds of happy people who haven't noticed their energy going down the drain in the middle of the night!

Turning it off for a bit and having another go later seems like the most sensible thing to do.

 

[DJP31]

I do have smart pre condition on.

Turn it off permanently would be my advice. It is well known to be the most "unsmart" and unreliable feature on the car - and given the Spotify issues that's saying something.

I use TeslaFi scheduling for when I leave the office as I tend to leave at the same time. In the morning where my departure time can vary by +/- 30 mins I just remember to turn the HVAC on from the app about 10 mins before I leave.

 

[Peteski]

As DJP31 says, turn off the "smart" pre-conditioning because it's anything but smart!
I think it's one of those features that doesn't really work how you would expect i.e. actually learning your repetitive daily routine and heating the car accordingly. Instead it just appears to randomly heat your car whenever. Most people with Tesla experience switch off smart pre-conditioning permanently. I've tried it myself out of curiosity and sure enough it was totally useless! It did heat the car for me a couple of times during the day, but more out of luck than any logic. Not once did it heat my car up in the morning, even though I always leave the house at exactly 08:30 every day. If it can't learn something as simple as that, then it's obviously of no practical use.

 

[Fellsteruk]

Thanks guys. I’ll try turning it off. I always check the temp outside and start heating when I get up of a morning so it has a good 30/40mins to warm and I can try the same for going home when I leave work to see if it makes any difference.

 

[Peteski]

Thanks guys. I’ll try turning it off. I always check the temp outside and start heating when I get up of a morning so it has a good 30/40mins to warm and I can try the same for going home when I leave work to see if it makes any difference.

As a tip, it only typically takes a few minutes to warm the cabin (although longer if parked outside in freezing weather). But I try to set the battery to finish charging just before I leave in the morning, rather than charging up earlier during the night and then sitting for several hours off charge. So typically I might set a top up charge to begin at 06:00 for an hour or two before I leave in the morning, then switch on the cabin heating 10 mins before departure. That seems to work pretty well for me with no regeneration limits when I leave and the cabin nice and warm.

 

[DJP31]

As a tip, it only typically takes a few minutes to warm the cabin (although longer if parked outside in freezing weather). But I try to set the battery to finish charging just before I leave in the morning, rather than charging up earlier during the night and then sitting for several hours off charge. So typically I might set a top up charge to begin at 06:00 for an hour or two before I leave in the morning, then switch on the cabin heating 10 mins before departure. That seems to work pretty well for me with no regeneration limits when I leave and the cabin nice and warm.

^^ This, although for me as I’m usually only recharging by 20% ish it’s not enough to eliminate the limited regen

 

[Subevo]

10 mins before you leave is enough time to heat up.
30 mins is overkill and a drain on the battery.

 

[Peteski]

10 mins before you leave is enough time to heat up.
30 mins is overkill and a drain on the battery.

Well more accurately 10 mins is enough time to heat the cabin nicely, but not the battery in cold weather. That's why I try to schedule battery charging to end close to my departure time, which helps a lot in getting the battery up to temp. As DJP31 says, even then the battery is sometimes not quite up to temp after a relatively slow 8kW charge rate.

 

[thegruf]

setting charge complete time remains one of the biggest misssing features from Tesla.

I guess they are too worried by cars not completing the charge by the end time for whatever reason and owners waking up to find their car is effectively unusable, dont see why that couldn't be covered by a disclaimer though.

No worse though than owners guesstimating when charge will be complete and setting a start time.

Benefits of warm battery and even cabin at departure cannot to be underestimated for colder weather.

 

[Peteski]

setting charge complete time remains one of the biggest misssing features from Tesla.

I guess they are too worried by cars not completing the charge by the end time for whatever reason and owners waking up to find their car is effectively unusable, dont see why that couldn't be covered by a disclaimer though.

No worse though than owners guesstimating when charge will be complete and setting a start time.

Benefits of warm battery and even cabin at departure cannot to be underestimated for colder weather.

Yeah, I'm surprised how basic the charging interface is. I would have expected a fully programmable heating and charging setup by this point. So you could set your departure time battery level and cabin heating requirements over a full weekly schedule. The "smart" pre-conditioning idea is quite good as an automated adaptive system, except of course it doesn't actually work!

 

[WannabeOwner]

Sorry, late to the discussion.

Even TeslaFi won't (easily) schedule "Charge the last 10% in time for departure", although I believe some other 3rd party APPs can

I somewhat disagree with "10 mins is enough time to heat the cabin". yes a few minutes will heat the cabin, but not the internal surfaces. I organise my baggage, open the doors and leap in. My wife opens the door and then "does stuff". Any heat in the cabin is then gone ... I heat the car for her for 30 minutes, everything inside is then toasty warm, and somewhat immune to Hal leaving the cargo bay doors open!

On Shore power its less of an issue - no battery drain.

I like to think of myself as an Eco Warrior (Passive House, so consume almost no heating / cooling energy), but after nearly 3 years of Tesla ownership I've stopped even thinking about parasitic drain. The car is scheduled to heat up for work-commute Mon-Fri, but only if parked at Home; but I no longer bother to override the schedule when NOT setting off at the normal time. I'm sure I have a host of similar "could do better" profligate energy uses.

Typing this I'm trying to figure out if I am feeling guilty enough to fit even-more-PV

P.S. I've had cabin heater be on unexpectedly (my fault probably ... but nothing to alert me to that fact). TeslaFi is handy in order to be able to see WHEN adn HOW LONG, retrospective, after that happens; ideally I would get a warning (Parked, Outside < 16C, inside > 20C and < 25C), but dunno about when parked in full sun, in winter. I suppose it wouldn't be hard to figure out "warmed up quickly, and then stayed constant" for a parasitic heating alert .. the TeslaFi author might well add that if someone proposes it

 

[Peteski]

I somewhat disagree with "10 mins is enough time to heat the cabin". yes a few minutes will heat the cabin, but not the internal surfaces.

I have all 7 of the the heated seats and steering wheel on too for the 10 mins, which helps a lot with the heating. Of course if you leave the doors open, the heat quickly escapes, but I don't tend to do that and I find it's one of the benefits of the Model X with its fully powered doors. I power the FWDs open as the kids approach and they instantly close them as they hop in. The doors are fully open for no more than about 10 seconds. For me 30 mins of cabin heating would be overkill, but it's whatever works for you.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I have all 7 of the the heated seats and steering wheel on too for the 10 mins

Good point

Of course if you leave the doors open, the heat quickly escapes

Good point 2. I'll let you tell her!

It goes something like this: Open drivers door, put handbag on seat, go back into the house to fetch something, whilst there send email to kids to remind them about THIS and THAT, check the dogs are happy and not going to miss her ... jump in car, close door, drive off

Sounds like you and I are not afflicted by multi-tasking-itice.

Me: Open door, get in, close door. Remember that I have forgotten something. Change dash to CLIMATE STAY ON, get out, close door, go into house, Wander around for a bit trying to remember what it was I went back into the house for ... GOT IT ... go back to car, get in, close door, drive off.