Longetivity When Parked Issue

[DWtsn]

Hello to everyone, I had an issue this week that I was hoping more experienced Tesla owners could help me out with. I am a first-time Tesla owner, recently getting a MSLR and I'm going through the "growing pains" of learning to properly charge/use an EV.

I work approximately week-ON/week-OFF and when Tesla came out with a MSLR that had a 400 mile range on the battery I thought this would be perfect. I drive 125 miles to the airport, park for a week, drive 125 miles home. Taking into account battery drain/usage for the Sentry system and diversions on the interstate going to/from home, I assumed that leaving the house at a 100% charge would get me safely home with about 20-25% left on the battery each week. I had read that the Sentry system "could use up to 10 miles per day" of battery life while parked.

So I left for work last week at just under 100% charge, got to the airport just over 60%, parked in a less traveled location to avoid too many "sentry events" and went to work. Four days later I get a notice on my phone that the Sentry system was turning off because my battery was at 20%. I was shocked to say the least. Because I was only 4-days into an 8-day trip I was concerned that the battery would be at zero by the time I got home.

The solution ended up being that my wife dropped what she was doing and drove 2-1/2 hours to the airport to get the Tesla and leave her truck for me to drive home at the end of the week!! The car ended up going through 10 PERCENT of its' battery per day while I was parked.

So I guess my question to the "OGs" on here that have done this a while is, Does the Sentry system cause THAT much drain that I'll have to turn it off when parked at the airport? Is this plan of mine to use the car to go to/from the airport and park it for 7-8 days at a time even viable or has this (as my wife has said) now become "my wife's car"?

One thing my wife said she said she saw as soon as she hopped in the car was that the screen stated it was "searching for wifi." She didn't get a pic of this so I'm not sure what exactly it showed, or on which screen. But she thought this may've been the cause of the enormous battery drain.

Any thoughts/ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

[Zcd1]

Sentry mode is an energy hog - leave it turned off and the problem won't repeat.

 

[GtiMart]

Are there no chargers between your home and the airport? Either superchargers or CHAdeMO (if you have the adapter), or eventually CCS...

Heck, even a level 2 charger would prevent you from being stranded. It's just a bit slow.

 

[ucmndd]

So I guess my question to the "OGs" on here that have done this a while is, Does the Sentry system cause THAT much drain that I'll have to turn it off when parked at the airport?

Yes.

Sentry keeps all the car computers on 24/7. It’s a terribly inefficient security system. You’ll absolutely need to disable it at the airport.

Disable sentry, summon standby, and cabin overheat protection and your car will use very little energy while parked.

 

[Rocky_H]

I had read that the Sentry system "could use up to 10 miles per day" of battery life while parked.

Oh, well what you read was terribly inaccurate. It's much higher than that.

parked in a less traveled location to avoid too many "sentry events" and went to work.

The number of sentry events doesn't actually affect the energy usage much. It's having the system keep the car fully on all the time monitoring that makes it a huge energy draw.

Does the Sentry system cause THAT much drain

Yes it does.

that I'll have to turn it off when parked at the airport?

Yes you will.

Is this plan of mine to use the car to go to/from the airport and park it for 7-8 days at a time even viable

Of course it's viable, but you sure as hell can't keep sentry on 24/7 for a week.

or has this (as my wife has said) now become "my wife's car"?

Oh FFS, don't be like that! It bothers me when people are misusing something and then blame the car like it's defective. It's fine to park the car for weeks and weeks at a time, but you MUST turn off those giant energy draining things like sentry mode and summon standby. Those are things that are OK to have for hours or a day or two between charging. You can't go for a week or two at a time with those large energy draws turned on and expect it to turn out well.

Here's the thing about Sentry Mode. To do that in an energy efficient way, a system would need to be designed for it, with the parts involved segregated onto low usage processors and systems, so it doesn't need to keep the main high power computer system on and running all the time. Tesla never designed the cars for that from the start. It was an afterthought feature that they enabled later because people were clamoring for it. So can do that function, but is going to be a bad, energy efficient way. For dashcams to be energy efficient, it would have to be what people have been doing on other cars: set up an external dashcam, connected to the 12V system that does its own recording and storage so it doesn't need to keep the car awake all the time.

 

[Electric700]

Hello to everyone, I had an issue this week that I was hoping more experienced Tesla owners could help me out with. I am a first-time Tesla owner, recently getting a MSLR and I'm going through the "growing pains" of learning to properly charge/use an EV.

I work approximately week-ON/week-OFF and when Tesla came out with a MSLR that had a 400 mile range on the battery I thought this would be perfect. I drive 125 miles to the airport, park for a week, drive 125 miles home. Taking into account battery drain/usage for the Sentry system and diversions on the interstate going to/from home, I assumed that leaving the house at a 100% charge would get me safely home with about 20-25% left on the battery each week. I had read that the Sentry system "could use up to 10 miles per day" of battery life while parked.

...

Congrats on your Tesla!

I agree with others on this (turning Sentry Mode off). You can schedule an appointment through the Tesla app for your next service visit and they can submit a request to see about making it more efficient in a future software update.

 

[GtiMart]

OR the plan is totally viable even with sentry on if you accept that you need to stop and charge on your way or back, for only a few minutes. Everyone would have done that in an ICE car, stopping at a gas station at some point. I sometimes wonder why people don't think it's acceptable to stop and charge a little bit when you need it. That electricity is compatible with your car

 

[ucmndd]

OR the plan is totally viable even with sentry on if you accept that you need to stop and charge on your way or back, for only a few minutes. Everyone would have done that in an ICE car, stopping at a gas station at some point. I sometimes wonder why people don't think it's acceptable to stop and charge a little bit when you need it. That electricity is compatible with your car

It’s a fantastical waste of energy, for little to no benefit. Why bother with the inconvenience?

 

[GtiMart]

Of what? The Sentry mode? I'm not saying it needs to be used, I'm all for turning it off. I'm just commenting in general on the fact that people want to leave home, go somewhere and come back without accepting to charge somewhere eventually. With an ICE car, very little people have a pump at home (read none), They either stop as they leave if the tank is big enough for the round trip or they'll stop eventually when they are running low. You can almost do the same with an EV, especially a Tesla.

 

[DWtsn]

Oh FFS, don't be like that! It bothers me when people are misusing something and then blame the car like it's defective. It's fine to park the car for weeks and weeks at a time, but you MUST turn off those giant energy draining things like sentry mode and summon standby.

Well FFS seems to be a rabid over-reaction to a new EV owner who's operating off the best intel given from this group, but hey, to each their own. I'll def take the rest of the information to heart.

 

[DWtsn]

Are there no chargers between your home and the airport? Either superchargers or CHAdeMO (if you have the adapter), or eventually CCS...

Heck, even a level 2 charger would prevent you from being stranded. It's just a bit slow.

There are chargers, there is one near DFW and a super-charger down on the interstate about 45 minutes from the house but not on my direct route home. But my "master plan," because I never know when I'll arrive back at the airport, is that I always fill the tank on my ICE truck the day before I go to work. I also always wash it and always get a haircut. I'm just OCD that way. But having enough gas in the tank or enough charge on the battery ensures that in my "worst case scenario," which is a very late night arrival back into DFW, ensures I don't have to stop anywhere on my 2-1/2 drive home.

 

[DWtsn]

Congrats on your Tesla!

I agree with others on this (turning Sentry Mode off). You can schedule an appointment through the Tesla app for your next service visit and they can submit a request to see about making it more efficient in a future software update.

I'll do that. Didn't realize that. Thank you.

 

[EVFamilyGrins]

You might also try turning off Cabin Overheat Protection.

 

[DWtsn]

OR the plan is totally viable even with sentry on if you accept that you need to stop and charge on your way or back, for only a few minutes. Everyone would have done that in an ICE car, stopping at a gas station at some point. I sometimes wonder why people don't think it's acceptable to stop and charge a little bit when you need it. That electricity is compatible with your car

In this situation, I wouldn't of had enough charge to even get to a charger. Or so I thought. Upon searching through the airport terminals this afternoon I did find EV chargers that I could've used as long as the car didn't complete run out. The other day, when I got the "notice" on my phone 4-days into 8-days being gone, the battery had went from about 65% to 20% and I wasn't sure I'd be able to even get to the supercharger nearby, let alone the 2+ hours to the one nearest my house. I live 2-1/2 miles from the airport and I can get back into Dallas anytime from 9am to midnight and the last thing I ever want to do is stop anywhere if I get in late. I'm usually beat from a week of work, so I always gas-up my ICE truck the day prior to going to work to make sure that if I get in late I can get straight into my truck and drive the 2-1/2 hours home without ever stopping.

 

[DWtsn]

You might also try turning off Cabin Overheat Protection.

Will do. Thank you. I'm taking notes!! lol. I'm actually going to experiment with the car this week while I'm home and see how long the battery lasts while at home, with sentry mode on/off, overheat on/off, summon on/off, etc. Between me and the dogs walking through the garage it'll give sentry mode plenty to "look at", simulating the car being parked at work.

 

[Rocky_H]

Well FFS seems to be a rabid over-reaction to a new EV owner who's operating off the best intel given from this group, but hey, to each their own. I'll def take the rest of the information to heart.

"Rabid"? It wasn't in response to your general questions or seeking information. I very specifically quoted exactly what that "FFS" was in response to:

or has this (as my wife has said) now become "my wife's car"?

It was that particular attitude, of throwing up your hands and positing that the car is deficient, defective, unfit for purpose, unusable, and must be shuffled off somewhere else as a lost cause, because you just can't use it. That earned an exasperated response.

For the rest of it, I and the rest of us were very willing to help with ideas and solutions.

 

[ucmndd]

In this situation, I wouldn't of had enough charge to even get to a charger.

Just FYI, when the car hits 20% battery it automatically shuts off all the power hungry stuff like sentry, cabin overheat, etc. So even if you forget, the car will save your bacon and you’ll always have more than enough power to get to the Grapevine supercharger right outside DFW.

 

[DWtsn]

Just FYI, when the car hits 20% battery it automatically shuts off all the power hungry stuff like sentry, cabin overheat, etc. So even if you forget, the car will save your bacon and you’ll always have more than enough power to get to the Grapevine supercharger right outside DFW.

Nice, good to know. This car has DEFINITELY been a learning curve.

 

[DWtsn]

"Rabid"? It wasn't in response to your general questions or seeking information. I very specifically quoted exactly what that "FFS" was in response to:

It was that particular attitude, of throwing up your hands and positing that the car is deficient, defective, unfit for purpose, unusable, and must be shuffled off somewhere else as a lost cause, because you just can't use it. That earned an exasperated response.

For the rest of it, I and the rest of us were very willing to help with ideas and solutions.

No worries. Honestly the comment about it becoming "my wife's car" was very tongue in cheek. Since it has taken a few months to swap tags amongst our 3 vehicles she has become VERY accustomed to the car and has repeatedly "thanked me" for "buying HER" a new car! lol.

 

[gnuarm]

OR the plan is totally viable even with sentry on if you accept that you need to stop and charge on your way or back, for only a few minutes. Everyone would have done that in an ICE car, stopping at a gas station at some point. I sometimes wonder why people don't think it's acceptable to stop and charge a little bit when you need it. That electricity is compatible with your car

Uh, maybe they like to be able to plan their lives and a half hour to charge is not remotly like a 5 minute stop for gas.