How much 'parasitic drain' is normal?

[Oldrocky]

Hi all,
I have a 2018 MX-100D. It has been parked in a garage for about 1.5 days. I believe that
I properly turned car off. It is not plugged into 'shore power' (as in it is not in my home
garage with the wall charger). This car was purchased used in July from the Tesla Dealer in
Lynnwood, Washington with just 22k miles.
It started - two days ago - with about 89% battery charge. I made certain to turn off A/C,
lights, etc. When I walked away from the car (actually when I closed garage door to inside of
house) the car beeped once to say it was locked.

===> It has already dropped to under 79% charge. Is this normal?

I have checked the car using phone/Win app - only twice - I have not noticed the
"car is asleep - waking up" message. But I don't remember seeing that message
unless the car was plugged in so that may be normal. The rate of battery charge
loss seems 'constant' (steady rate) so I'm only concerned/asking about the amount
of discharge.

So if you are going to be away from your car (not driving it) for several days should
you charge it up or just let it drain while you are away and then plan to charge before
you drive anywhere?

What happens if the car isn't charged for a -long- time? Does it stop draining or
will it go to full zero? If it goes to full zero do you have to charge it where it sits
enough to get to a supercharger? Does such a full discharge harm the battery?

- new to the car ... Jim in the PNW

 

[Les236]

As you will hear from many, parasitic drain is affected by many things. I too have a 2018 MX100D and I have also tried several things. Remember, the car is always sort of on. Occasionally waking up to check for updates, etc. So there will always be some drain. If I get less than 1%/day I'd be happy. Sentry mode does cause a lot of drain, so in your protected garage, you might turn that off. If you 12v battery is getting toward the end of life, this will also cause a lot of drain. I was away from my car for almost 3 months, and toward the last few weeks the drain was exceptional as the car kept energizing to charge the 12v battery. When I returned I had the battery changed and parasitic drain went back to 'normal'. Yes, checking the car on the app will also wake up the car. If you turn off passive entry, it will also help. I am again away from my car for a few couple of months. What I do is charge it to 70 or 80%, then turn the charge limit down to 50%, otherwise you'll find it cycling on and off every night to charge. The firmware version is also important. I have had some with a lot more drain than others. Below is a list of dates and charging. You can see I go about 2 weeks between charges, however I will apply a firmware update when it comes up. Temperature also matters. The colder it is, the more drain.

When you see the % at 80 or 70, it is when it was just charged, then charge limit reset to 50%. So in the list below, on 11/22 the charge was at 70% after charging, and by 11/28, only 6 days, I had lost 24%. I attribute that to temperatures outside around 28 degrees at night. Although it looks like from 11/15 to 11/22 I lost another 28%. I know I have Sentry turned off, but passive entry may be on.

Date % Firmware temperature
11/28 80% 2021.36.5.1 36
11/28 46% 2021.36.5.1 36
11/22 70% 2021.36.5.1 46
11/22 52% 2021.36.5.1 46
11/15 79% 2021.36.5.1 46
11/15 80% 2021.32.31 46
11/15 46% 2021.32.31 46
11/4 63% 2021.32.30 55
11/2 71% 2021.32.30 60
10/30 80% 2021.32.22 54
10/30 50% 2021.32.22 54
10/19 67% 2021.32.22 70
10/15 72% 2021.32.22 65

 

[Les236]

What happens if the car isn't charged for a -long- time? Does it stop draining or
will it go to full zero? If it goes to full zero do you have to charge it where it sits
enough to get to a supercharger? Does such a full discharge harm the battery?

To answer these questions,
yes, it will drain to full zero.
yes, you will have to charge where it is or be towed to a supercharger. Tesla will not cover this under road side assistance.
Yes, full discharge does (slightly) hurt the battery. This is dependent on the outside temperature, how long it sits at 0, and a few other factors. There is a safety factor built in, but it isn't that much.

Rule of thumb, routinely keep above 10% and below 95%. Don't charge above 90% unless you really need the range for the next leg of a trip, and if you cruise into a supercharger on a long trip at 5%, don't worry about it too much. Before I leave on a long trip, if I need the range to get to the first Supercharger, I will charge to 100% right before I leave. Don't leave it at 100% for very long, and keep in mind you won't have regen braking for a few %. On a long trip you will do better entering a supercharger around 10% and leaving around 70%. After 70% the additional time it takes to add more isn't worth the extra time.

 

[kavyboy]

Hi all,
I have a 2018 MX-100D. It has been parked in a garage for about 1.5 days. I believe that
I properly turned car off. It is not plugged into 'shore power' (as in it is not in my home
garage with the wall charger). This car was purchased used in July from the Tesla Dealer in
Lynnwood, Washington with just 22k miles.
It started - two days ago - with about 89% battery charge. I made certain to turn off A/C,
lights, etc. When I walked away from the car (actually when I closed garage door to inside of
house) the car beeped once to say it was locked.

===> It has already dropped to under 79% charge. Is this normal?

I have checked the car using phone/Win app - only twice - I have not noticed the
"car is asleep - waking up" message. But I don't remember seeing that message
unless the car was plugged in so that may be normal. The rate of battery charge
loss seems 'constant' (steady rate) so I'm only concerned/asking about the amount
of discharge.

So if you are going to be away from your car (not driving it) for several days should
you charge it up or just let it drain while you are away and then plan to charge before
you drive anywhere?

What happens if the car isn't charged for a -long- time? Does it stop draining or
will it go to full zero? If it goes to full zero do you have to charge it where it sits
enough to get to a supercharger? Does such a full discharge harm the battery?

- new to the car ... Jim in the PNW

It's commonly referred to as "vampire drain", at least on this forum. Using that term will help you find more info. The two posts above mine look excellent, though. It's been discussed a lot.

 

[ShawnA]

Hi @Oldrocky ,

You don't mention whether you have a MCU1 or MCU2...
MCU2 was installed in cars starting the first week of 2018.

It's not vitally important to know but the profiles, options, and battery drain
are slightly different.

Two other things to check are "summon ready" and "cabin overheat protection."
In the Northwest the cabin overheat is probably not something you have turned on.

The Summon can be an energy hog if it is left "on" in the ready state...

Good luck and happy hunting,

Shawn

 

[ek993]

Switch off Smart Summon if it’s enabled

 

[Oldrocky]

OK - I tried to switch off Summon and it wouldn't do it (over the web using iPhone App). Windoze
app doesn't even show Summon as a control. Yes, car and apps are all at the latest SW levels.
I turned off Sentry mode.
Car is 10 degrees warmer than garage (according to Tesla Control app). Even though climate
control is turned off. I don't understand that - it is even warmer in the car than it is outside
the garage. That 10 degrees has been pretty constant. I think the windows are even cracked.
Makes no sense to me.
The car is not in my garage. And it is not plugged in to anything. Maybe it's just running
warm to attract a charger plug? *G*

I'll see if the drain slows down. Looks like I'm going to be charging car before leaving the
garage. PITA because I'll only have the 110 charger (not my garage). *Sigh* My gas friends
are gonna be asking "tell me again why this Tesla is no problem?" (with respect to charging).
I'm not saying I want to trade in the car for a hybrid - I'm saying it isn't 'fun' (nor energy
efficient) to charge it up and then have the vampire drain bleed off $30 worth of charging
while it is just sitting in the garage. Supercharger rates in California are pretty high compared
to the rest of the nation.
- Jim in PNW

 

[ek993]

You can only disable smart summon from within the car using the touchscreen. It’s not possible to do it remotely.

 

[Gumball]

Also, 3rth party apps can keep the car awake.
Did you turn pre-conditioning off? If the car stays that warm, it could be on.

 

[jboy210]

Make sure your key fobs are away from the car when it is parked. Some people have put them in a drawer or a Faraday fob holder when not using the car.

 

[tengtengvn]

I had issue with vampire drain too. I set it up with TeslaFi but TF ultimately made it worst. After the last update, the Nav also has problem.
I ended up:
- Factory reset the MCU.
- Change my password \ reset the 2FA.
A few things that I've learned:
- TeslaFi sleep setting is very broken. Spent a lot of time tweaking the sleep setting but that darn things kept pinging the car. Turned it off and it helped right away.
- Tezlab is much easy on battery but it's still pinging the car with it sleep mode.
- Software update introduce weird bugs and might contribute to the vampire drain. Reboot help with my Nav issue but it came back a day later.
- Keep the key far away from the car. If you live in a small place and the car is parked near the house, line the inside of a box with tin foil and use that to store the key(s).

 

[Bigriver]

Car is 10 degrees warmer than garage (according to Tesla Control app). Even though climate
control is turned off. I don't understand that

My 2017 MX has always reported about 10 F higher inside than outside, but it isn’t really. I put a thermometer inside.

Do you know the manufacture date of your car and if in first 3 months of 2018, has it been upgraded from MCU1 to MCU2? If you have MCU1, there is an “always connected” radial button within the car’s settings, and this will cause a very large drain. It needs to not be selected.

 

[Mensra]

My 2020 MXLR is usually is reporting about 3% per day parasitic drain. Summon is off, sentry is off and overheat protection is off. Once a day it’s topping up about 10 miles lost range, it is kept plugged in in a protected garage. I have OptiWatt, and TezLab. I have also subscribed to Recurrent auto. Key is kept about 60 feet away. All software is current and I am active with FSD beta 10.5.

 

[DCGOO]

My 2020 MXLR is usually is reporting about 3% per day parasitic drain. Summon is off, sentry is off and overheat protection is off. Once a day it’s topping up about 10 miles lost range, it is kept plugged in in a protected garage. I have OptiWatt, and TezLab. I have also subscribed to Recurrent auto. Key is kept about 60 feet away. All software is current and I am active with FSD beta 10.5.

I had never heard of OptiWatt, TezLab and Recurrent Auto, until you asked your question. Briefly looking at the description of them, it sounds like they keep the car alive and fully aware, recording data continuously, likely adding to your vampire drain. I would recommend removing all of the outboard tools. You are also running beta software, which unlikely to have been power optimized. I have FSD Beta 10.6, and have not really noticed much change with any of them. But I do not pay a lot of attention to overnight consumption. Typically I charge to 75% beginning at 03:00 every day. Most mornings I get in the car and find between 73% to 78%. Some variation is expected. It also just got very cold here, so my consumption is sky high.

I will also say change the battery to display %, instead of miles. Miles is a made up number that really means nothing to anybody. 50% (or whatever value) battery is much more meaningful.

 

[Oldrocky]

OK - I tried to switch off Summon and it wouldn't do it (over the web using iPhone App). Windoze
app doesn't even show Summon as a control. Yes, car and apps are all at the latest SW levels.
I turned off Sentry mode.
Car is 10 degrees warmer than garage (according to Tesla Control app). Even though climate
control is turned off. I don't understand that - it is even warmer in the car than it is outside
the garage. That 10 degrees has been pretty constant. I think the windows are even cracked.
Makes no sense to me.
The car is not in my garage. And it is not plugged in to anything. Maybe it's just running
warm to attract a charger plug? *G*

I'll see if the drain slows down. Looks like I'm going to be charging car before leaving the
garage. PITA because I'll only have the 110 charger (not my garage). *Sigh* My gas friends
are gonna be asking "tell me again why this Tesla is no problem?" (with respect to charging).
I'm not saying I want to trade in the car for a hybrid - I'm saying it isn't 'fun' (nor energy
efficient) to charge it up and then have the vampire drain bleed off $30 worth of charging
while it is just sitting in the garage. Supercharger rates in California are pretty high compared
to the rest of the nation.
- Jim in PNW

 

[Oldrocky]

Vampire/parasitic drain for 2 weeks of sitting in garage cost me almost $15 to recharge to
same level. This was with air conditioning off, security off (after 3 or 4 days), and everything
else I could turn off remotely. Car was even in Valet Mode. Car was NOT plugged in and
trickle charging (not my garage).

I do not consider this acceptable. Can I live with it/pay it ... of course I can. Do I like it? Nope.
Sorry but that level of "fuel expense" - when I can leave my Sonata for the same 2 weeks and
pay nothing except for the relatively small amount of recharging of the 12 volt battery - is far
higher than I expect/"seems right" ... to me. This was, of course, my first time leaving the car
unused for a long time. However, even if it was in my garage and plugged in ... it would have
used up that same amount of 'charge'. Just to run the computer? My Sonata hybrid has a
computer and it doesn't drain off that much power in two weeks and I don't have to go to
the gas station to fuel up before I can drive a long distance.

Miles lost was just under 100 miles (theoretical miles as shown by the display on the center
display.
- Jim

 

[Harvey Danger]

Yup 7 rated miles a day is still a bit high.

Looking at it another way, your result pencils out to almost exactly 100W constant drain.

I expect there is more within your power that can be done to reduce this.

 

[Genie]

I was away for all of November, left my model X plugged in in the garage. It had 70% when I left, I set charging to 50% so it eventually had to charge a little to maintain that level. It probably took a kWh or 3 to keep it at 50% all that time, but I don’t consider that a fuel expense, in my mind it’s a maintenance expense like wax or PPF. Or Sta-Bil for an ice car that is parked for long periods.

 

[Oldrocky]

Genie,
I'd sure like to know what was on and what was off on your car to get that level of power
use.
Here's one thing I -learned- that kind of bugs me. When I leave the car for long periods
of time ... such as going on vacation for a couple of weeks ... I want to have the security
system active ... but the amount of power consumed is high enough that I'm 'encouraged'
to turn it off. Catch-22. In this particular report the car was in a garage, but not mine, and
that particular garage's 'security' is primarily due to the fact that the car is out of sight (it
is not a garage that is particularly hard to break in to). In addition, the car dropped enough
charge that I pretty much wanted to get it charged as soon as I got back to it. That was
almost a $15 charge. My Sonata hybrid certainly does not use up $15 worth of the
battery while sitting in the garage for 2 weeks. You see my point? And, to top it off, the
car was in a friend's garage that does not have a Tesla charger so I'd have had to hook
the car up to 'normal' 110v power. That would have been possible ... but I figured it
would be kind of 'pushy' to ask the friend to not only park her car out in the driveway
but to also add in the power charges.
- Jim in the PNW

 

[Genie]

Hi Jim,
I don’t have a figure for how much power was used, this example was:
I left my car in the garage 28 days plugged in and under a car cover. Sentry mode is off when the car is at home. I happened to be at about 70%soc and wanted it to maintain 50% so I set 50 as my charge level.
I don’t believe it took any significant grid power until it dropped to 50.
When I got home 12/1 I think it was at 52%.
I don’t know what can be gleaned from that info but that’s what happened.