How many kWH will be used in CAMP MODE

[low2500]

If I turn on AC, say lower the outside temp by 10F for six hours, how much will it deplete the battery in CAMP MODE?

 

[Tam]

If I turn on AC, say lower the outside temp by 10F for six hours, how much will it deplete the battery in CAMP MODE?

I don't know about Model 3 but for Model S, it used anywhere from 5 to 15 miles per idling hour depending on how hot it's outside and whether the windows/doors are closed or open.

So, say, if it's 15 miles per hour, it'll take 20 hours for a full tank of 310 miles.

 

[RadRaptor]

I used camping mode in Tahoe this last week. I lost 16% in 8hrs with external temps ~34f and internal temp at 66f. YMMV

 

[hamtonp]

I tested my A/C when the car completed charging on chargepoint. Outside temperature was mid 80 in a covered parking garage. I set the climate in the car to 70F. Chargepoint showed 0.8kW/h consumption. Setting climate to 75F consumed 1.5 kW. 65F consumed 0.8kW. LO consumed 3.5kW. I tried the experiment again on a cooler day and I had to go to 69F so it would consumed 0.8kW. Higher climate setting resulted in 1.5kW consumption. From 63F to 69F it was 0.8kW.

My theory is that the car uses energy to create heat instead of using outside air. So setting the car fairly cool uses less energy.

So to answer your question, I would say the car uses about 1-2% every hour if you set the a/c to 69F or lower and the outside temperature is 70F or higher. In your case, it would around 1% every hour. So about 6kW

 

[boriszima]

I tested my A/C when the car completed charging on chargepoint. Outside temperature was mid 80 in a covered parking garage. I set the climate in the car to 70F. Chargepoint showed 0.8kW/h consumption. Setting climate to 75F consumed 1.5 kW. 65F consumed 0.8kW. LO consumed 3.5kW. I tried the experiment again on a cooler day and I had to go to 69F so it would consumed 0.8kW. Higher climate setting resulted in 1.5kW consumption. From 63F to 69F it was 0.8kW.

My theory is that the car uses energy to create heat instead of using outside air. So setting the car fairly cool uses less energy.

So to answer your question, I would say the car uses about 1-2% every hour if you set the a/c to 69F or lower and the outside temperature is 70F or higher. In your case, it would around 1% every hour. So about 6kW

good info. To me it means using camp mode while actually camping without external power source is risky at running out of battery power.

 

[ewoodrick]

Depends on the temp that you keep the car and the number of people in it. You can also do things like cover the windows to provide extra insulation.
Of course find a campground with power and it doesn't matter.

And you could just try it out tonight and get a baseline.

 

[TimothyHW3]

good info. To me it means using camp mode while actually camping without external power source is risky at running out of battery power.

How do you come to that conclusion? At 1-1.5kW you will need around 50 hours to deplete the battery. Even at 30% you will need around 30-40 hours. An 8 night sleep over will run you about 8-10%, you can go on without charging for a week.
Not "risky" at all...

It really depends how you set up the HVAC depending on the outside temperature. The HVAC can put anywhere from 1 to 8kW. So it is important to set it up right!

The important benefit of camp mode is that you can manually edit the HVAC, whereas with keep climate on you couldn't


I have a video coming up on my channel where I talk about HVAC consumption in the winter based on different setups. This one is from the summer.

 

[Kurtbe]

I have tried Camp mode once so far in my S. The screen stays on throughout (and thus shines an unwanted light in the car). When I woke up I could not do anything. The camp screen was happily showing the campfire, but there was no way I could do anything else. It took a full hard reset for the car to react again...
I have not dare use it since and have gone back to the "old system": In Model S (2017) go to heating, select "keep heat on" and select the desired temperature and fan speed (setting 1 should do). Then go to security on the main screen and select "Shut down the car". This works fine for me. You wake up the car again by applying some pressure on the drivers' seat.
This consumes about 50km a night in my S 75D in cold night (0 to -3° C) warmer nights only consume about 35km. BUT: I have window screens that I apply all over the car (also roof) and they are thermally insulating which might give a different outcome in cars that do not have window screens.
I have yet to try air conditioned nights.

 

[willow_hiller]

Bjorn Nyland actually just tested this at -14 C:

He measured about 2.1 kW draw, but noticed that the heat was not set to internal-circulate by default, so it could have been a lot more efficient.

 

[Kurtbe]

Be careful NOT to employ internal-circulate! The Tesla has little volume inside. IF there is no sufficient natural ventilation in the car you may run out of oxygen. (As far as I know there is only a little vent on the left side in the trunk -in my S-.) Two people could easily consume the oxygen inside the tesla within a few hours and replace it with the CO they breathe out. The lack of oxygen would not wake you up, but send you in a coma. If the situation persists, you would wake up no more, and only hit the headlines as the first Tesla Camper Victimes. So we (and when I am alone to) always have the fresh air ventilation on with the fan @1. It does not make too much noise and as said only uses about 50 km from -3°C and an inside temp. of 18°C.
I think camping in the back of my Tesla is one of the eight wonders of the world. But really not worth risking your life over a few kW's!
PLEASE be careful!

 

[TimothyHW3]

but noticed that the heat was not set to internal-circulate by default, so it could have been a lot more efficient.

I still don't understand how Bjorn Nyland gets this so wrong - he doesn't understand how camp mode works.

Camp mode basically just keeps the car alive and you can set it to whatever you like it - internal circulation or not, AC on an off. Plus you wouldn't want to sleep in a car with internal circulation only.

He also had the keep climate to the feet on for whatever reason - someone said that this causes a little more kW usage and it is useless anyways so it should be off.

It could be due to the cold weather, but it could've been just bad setup on his end.

Be careful NOT to employ internal-circulate!

Exactly my thought. I haven't tested it myself, but wouldn't want to test it either. We also leave a little window open when we camp inside the car.
Also, what Nyland is complaining about is that the car doesn't automatically circulate the air - then stops then turns back off.
As explained above, he doesn't understand how camp mode works - in manual mode, obviously it will keep the setting as it is. In Auto mode, it will work as in normal auto mode - I haven't really seen auto mode change the circulation status, but if it does - then it will do it in camp mode.

But I wouldn't want to experiment with this and will ALWAYS keep the circulate inside the car button off.

 

[Kurtbe]

He also had the keep climate to the feet on for whatever reason

This actually makes a little bit of sense. Warm air rises, so it helps to distribute the heat throughout the car.
(Something my Tesla suffers from: whilst driving I invariably get cold feet and knees, because I cannot get enough hot air to my feet. Might be flaps not working well. Tesla will have a look at it later.)
So, despite the tiny volume, it actually does make a difference to point the warm air towards the bottom of the car.

 

[hugh_jassol]

Be careful NOT to employ internal-circulate! The Tesla has little volume inside. IF there is no sufficient natural ventilation in the car you may run out of oxygen. (As far as I know there is only a little vent on the left side in the trunk -in my S-.) Two people could easily consume the oxygen inside the tesla within a few hours and replace it with the CO they breathe out. The lack of oxygen would not wake you up, but send you in a coma. If the situation persists, you would wake up no more, and only hit the headlines as the first Tesla Camper Victimes. So we (and when I am alone to) always have the fresh air ventilation on with the fan @1. It does not make too much noise and as said only uses about 50 km from -3°C and an inside temp. of 18°C.
I think camping in the back of my Tesla is one of the eight wonders of the world. But really not worth risking your life over a few kW's!
PLEASE be careful!

It's impossible to suffocate in a car. They are not sealed. In fact they are purposely vented (usually hidden under the rear bumper cover) to equalize the pressure and allow the doors to close easily. Also the HVAC is not sealed. In "recirculate mode" it's about 90/10 - in that about 10% of the air is still brought in from the outside. You can test this yourself by turning on recirc mode and following a diesel truck on the freeway (or drive by a dairy farm).

You are no more likely to suffocate in your Model 3 than you are in your house with all of the windows closed.

The reason there are grave warnings about sleeping in your car, is up until recently everyone had an ICE car... and leaving the engine running for long periods of time without moving can have carbon monoxide from the exhaust build up in the cabin precisely because a car isn't sealed enough to keep it from leaking in.

This same "not sealed" issue is why you cannot suffocate in your car - either in an ICE car with engine off, or electric car ever.

Even if you don't believe all of this... think about it from this different point. If it _was_ possible to suffocate from having "recirc" mode on... don't you think people would be dying all over the place?

 

[camalaio]

Folks, you're not going to suffocate on recirculate. Think about this for a minute. If this were true, people would be dying as we type.

If a couple people for a few hours while sleeping would use all the oxygen, what about 4 awake people on a few hour road trip? They should run out of oxygen too, right?

But they don't, because a small amount of fresh air is generally pulled in.

Edit: Some @hugh_jassol beat me to it!

Now, the air could certainly be a bit more stanky on recirculate. That's a different problem and usually survivable.

 

[hugh_jassol]

Edit: Some @hugh_jassol beat me to it!

Bazinga!

 

[Kurtbe]

Hi guys,

Tnx for the info. So much the better!
Guess it is better to be safe than sorry though.
My S takes its natural ventilation behind the left wheel well in the trunk via an (about) 10 cm x 10 cm ventilation opening. This is covered by the carpet. When the bed is made, the quilt tends to block that off even more. That is why I worried.
However, I was not aware that even on recirculate, 10% of air is still fresh. So I gladly take my words back...

 

[TimothyHW3]

Be careful NOT to employ internal-circulate!

If a couple people for a few hours while sleeping would use all the oxygen, what about 4 awake people on a few hour road trip? They should run out of oxygen too, right?

But they don't, because a small amount of fresh air is generally pulled in.

Edit: Some @hugh_jassol beat me to it!

Now, the air could certainly be a bit more stanky on recirculate. That's a different problem and usually survivable.

Well, you will barely run the car with 4 ppl on recirculation, because you will get foggy windows
And the fact this happens is a sure indication that even if not everything is sealed off, the air doesn't really go out/in in chunks.
But yes, most likely you will not suffucate, but I don't want to try it out...

 

[TimothyHW3]

This actually makes a little bit of sense. Warm air rises, so it helps to distribute the heat throughout the car.
(Something my Tesla suffers from: whilst driving I invariably get cold feet and knees, because I cannot get enough hot air to my feet. Might be flaps not working well. Tesla will have a look at it later.)
So, despite the tiny volume, it actually does make a difference to point the warm air towards the bottom of the car.

Well, for the first few minutes the car will blow cold air through those vents, maybe that's why? Especially in colder climate and colder battery.

But anyways, in camp mode you don't need it because the from vents are enough to push the hot water. In my test in the video I had the vents on middle and 1 and the cabin was at 70f/22C in the morning even though it was 0C outside.

 

[Rottenapplr]

I know it’s silly. Have any of you hear a guy suffocating from a car lol wow first time I heard that. Carbon monoxide poising on purpose or accident, I’ve heard that. But not a person sleeping in their car.

 

[TimothyHW3]

There are numerous cases of people suffocating while sleeping... Most in garages, but also outside. Depends on the car.