ATPMSD
Active Member
This does not make sense. If the car is plugged in you should not be seeing a mileage loss.
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High Vampire Drain
- Thread starter Droschke
- Start date
This does not make sense. If the car is plugged in you should not be seeing a mileage loss.
cpa
Active Member
Droschke, my area of expertise is accounting and income taxes, not battery-electric vehicles. My hobby is growing stuff to eat. (Just starting to dig onions!) LOL
From my occasional and empirical knowledge:
Our climate is extremely hot from sometime in May until October. It can be cold (not freezing cold, but California cold) from late November through the vernal equinox. Our garage can stay in the high 80s or more during the hot weather and in the low 40s in the cooler weather. The shoulder periods average between 50-60.
During the more extreme months, I lose a couple percent per day. During the so-called temperate months, the loss is trivial.
I would be curious to see if your environment reflects similar temperature fluctuations, and if the battery responds likewise, before considering where your car falls along some spectrum.
From my occasional and empirical knowledge:
Our climate is extremely hot from sometime in May until October. It can be cold (not freezing cold, but California cold) from late November through the vernal equinox. Our garage can stay in the high 80s or more during the hot weather and in the low 40s in the cooler weather. The shoulder periods average between 50-60.
During the more extreme months, I lose a couple percent per day. During the so-called temperate months, the loss is trivial.
I would be curious to see if your environment reflects similar temperature fluctuations, and if the battery responds likewise, before considering where your car falls along some spectrum.
You always have some vampire drain whether the car is plugged in or not. But since you disagree, here is a thread with an opposite conclusion, which I'm testing it out starting today to see if it helps:
Cutting vampire drain
After some experimentation I managed to cut my drain (2020 LR) from 2.2KwH to 0.7 KwH per day (measured at the power meter). Seems the biggest contributor to the consumption was leaving it plugged in - unplugging the charge lead meant the car went to sleep without charging intermittently...
teslamotorsclub.com
Hi @cpa - In my case, the vampire drain was temperature dependent as you have described. It still is but much higher than before. Please note that my latest numbers are for 24 hours intervals each; and only when the car is parked in the garage, plugged in, and not driven. They are not for overnight durations and that’s why I was asking if they are high, low or normal.
ATPMSD
Active Member
I am not saying you do not have vampire drain as you always do. But with the car plugged in any drain is moot as the car is charged to replace it.You always have some vampire drain whether the car is plugged in or not. But since you disagree, here is a thread with an opposite conclusion, which I'm testing it out starting today to see if it helps:
Cutting vampire drain
After some experimentation I managed to cut my drain (2020 LR) from 2.2KwH to 0.7 KwH per day (measured at the power meter). Seems the biggest contributor to the consumption was leaving it plugged in - unplugging the charge lead meant the car went to sleep without charging intermittently...
But that's not what is being discussed in this thread or many other threads about the vampire drain, when you lose energy (sometimes by large amounts) when the car is not in motion.
Just because you can replenish that loss it does not make it desirable or even acceptable since you are paying for the lost energy. Electricity is not cheap in all places (thinking globally, for instance helps) and the cost can add up. The other negative side effect is the possibility of other problems with the car, such as the worn out 12V battery or even faulty contactors which have been discussed in numerous threads here and elsewhere.
Just because “the car is charged to replace it”, claiming “any drain is moot” seems to be a false proposition.
Disclosure:
First owner, have had the car for over 7 years and very familiar with the concept behind the vampire drain.
ATPMSD
Active Member
Well aware of the point, which is why I found this statement confusing:
While vampire drain still exists, how did you measure it with the car plugged in?
Crude Method:
Every day at 10:00 AM, write down the present Rated Miles and the SOC.
Calculate the difference for the last 24 hours.
Note:
My scheduled-charging is disabled and my highest loss for a 24 hours period in a three-week window wasn't high enough to trigger auto-charging while plugged-in.
As I noted above, using the same method I described above, I've now started to take measurements with the car not plugged-in to see if it makes any difference. The first day shows a noticeable difference:
First 24 hours, while not plugged-in:
- The miles loss = 2 miles
- The percentage loss = 0.83%
For a three-week period while plugged-in:
- The average miles loss = 5.1 miles
- The average percentage loss = 2.13%
- (max/min loss in miles = 8/4)
- (max/min loss in % = 3.33/1.67)
I’ll keep measuring while not plugged-in for a while to get a better sample for plugged vs. unplugged comparison.
Update:
Vampire drain, car not plugged-in vs. plugged-in.
not plugged-in:
- The miles loss = 2 miles
- The percentage loss = 0.83%
- Values unchanged for each 24-hours window
plugged-in:
- The average miles loss = 5.1 miles
- The average percentage loss = 2.13%
- (max/min loss in miles = 8/4)
- (max/min loss in % = 3.33/1.67)
The only downside is when the car is left unplugged, my Tesla app does not connect to the car any longer (the connection is almost immediate when plugged-in). The connectivity is via wifi in both cases.
As it relates to my car at least, my conclusion is that my vampire drain is more than twice higher if I leave my car plugged-in vs. unplugged. Weird, but that's what my tests have been showing over the last 4 weeks.
Impressive findings. I’m gonna be doing some studies of my own as well. I agree with your statements on this thread about excessive vampire drain a hidden cost no Tesla owner wants over time. I’ve noticed more vampire drain than I would lIke recently and I am just now starting to look into it. The final straw was yesterday when I charged to 182 miles at around 1pm. My only interactions w the car since that time were showing someone the roof opened and reclosing it. I was shocked this morning when I saw it at 172 miles 20 hours later. It was not plugged in. For the test environment it will remain in the garage. Energy saving mode is on w always connected off. That was already the case but now for the changes I made today. Smart summon turned off, along w cabin overheat the protection off. I’ll have to report back tomorrow at 4:15pm est with loss findings. Garage temp is about 84 and car is never plugged in unless charging.
I know for a fact the previous owner had it changed but I’d have to bother them to find out the exact date. Unfortunately Tesla isn’t straightforward with previous owner service records.
Silicon Desert
Well-Known Member
Generally yes, but I can think of situations where a mileage drain will be seen even when plugged in.
Silicon Desert
Well-Known Member
Likely because the car is in "sleep" and taking time to wake it up when you open the app.
No, that was not the case. Since the app wasn't connecting through wifi I had to go to the car to check the drain amount and was noticing both screens up as soon as the door was opened. The car was not in "sleep", which itself seemed to be another problem.
ATPMSD
Active Member
I have a 2020 MS LRP and ran a 2-week test. Car was in the garage, plugged in, Sentry Mode off. Charge limit was set to 50% and when I left the car was at 70%.
Over the 14-day period the car lost 8 kWh total, or about 570 watts per day. I prefer to use kWh because using miles varies by car model. But for those who like miles, my range is 402 miles so 402 *8% = 32 miles (2.3 miles / day).
Over the 14-day period the car lost 8 kWh total, or about 570 watts per day. I prefer to use kWh because using miles varies by car model. But for those who like miles, my range is 402 miles so 402 *8% = 32 miles (2.3 miles / day).
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Just to clarify the 182 to 172 drop happened overnight from 1pm to 9am the next morning. Something definitely kept the car awake that night. The car was Not plugged in when the drop occurred. So far it looks like turning summon off along with cabin overheat protection is helping. I also locked the car in garage
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