Losing 5% Parked Daily, Connection Issue?

[Koofteh]

I've had my AWD for a little over a month now.

I lose 5% battery pretty much every day. It doesn't sound like a lot but I don't drive a lot either, at this rate I'll be losing almost as much in phantom drain as I drive daily.

Been looking closely at it for a fee weeks now. I don't have anything enabled, I've even tried turning some stuff off but nothing helps.

I park underground overnight. Usually there's no cell signal there. Sometimes but rarely I have a connection and I can access the car via the Tesla app. I have noticed that on the rare occasions where the car is connected overnight, I seem to not lose much if any power..

It sounds odd but it seems to me they are related as over about two weeks of monitoring it, the three nights I didn't lose considerable battery were the same three nights the car had a connection. I tried turning off mobile access but it still drained the same 5% Battery.

Is the car staying awake trying to connect to the internet? I know this sounds odd but it's the only lead I've found.

If you park in a cellular dead spot at night, do you lose battery?

 

[TimothyHW3]

No, at least not 5% daily. I parked at an underground garage with edge connection and was loosing 250Watts daily which is 1/3 of 1%.

Things that drain the battery:
Sentry mode(obviously...)
USB Stick plugged in and enabled, red camera
Car alarm and tilt protection enabled (around 1-3% alone for these too)
Cabin overheat protection ( turn off car alarm and tilt protection and turn cabin overheat on and then off, there was a Bug in some Model 3 software versions that when car alarm was on you had to turn on and off cabin overheat to really shut it down. Otherwise it said off, but was enabled)
WiFi searching - if you have "easy entry" enabled it turns itself back on before you leave the car. Remember to turn WiFi off before you leave - press on LTE icon and disable wifi(off) each time you leave the car.

Also, when you enable sentry mode and disable it, the car alarm doesn't remember the off position and stays on( it is always on when sentry is enabled). So you have to remember to turn car alarm and tilt protection off each time you disable sentry mode.

Set your display to mileage and observe - if you follow my suggestion and disable all of the above you will see abound 1 mile per day, sometimes even less if the battery temperature in the garage is good. I have gone days with almost zero mileage drain.

If your car is safe in the garage and you are going away for a longer period, disable lte/mobile access and it will drain 25Watt, which is about 1 mile every 20 days. It is a pain in the ass to login again, so this is why I don't turn off mobile access and live with the 1 mile drain per day. That is about 75kWh a year or about 20€ where I live, probably less where you live...

 

[KenC]

What software version are you running? According to Stats, the mode average phantom drain is 0.25miles/hr. You're closer to 0.65miles/hr. Some cars do show that high of a drain rate, but I doubt that's the case with everything shut down. I'd test it some more checking Timothy's suggestions, and if nothing helps, take it to the SC.

 

[TimothyHW3]

0.25 miles/he seems too much. That is 6 miles a day or almost 6-8 times more than I have with my suggestions turned off. Also, checking the app and waking up the car drains something too. I just checked the car and have 2 KMs lost in about 32 hours.
I am on 2019.20.4.2


I think most people leave wifi, sentry and car alarm + tilt protection and cabin overheat on and this is what is causing the most drainage.

 

[Koofteh]

Thanks for the replies.

For starters, my car doesn't have a setting for tilt protection. It looks like that's not installed on Model 3s here.

I have pretty much tried turning everything off and it hasn't helped. I'm on the latest software version, 9.32.2.1 but it was doing it before as well.

I'll try all the settings mentioned here but honestly I'm not hopeful as I've tried them already.

Booked an appointment at the SC a week ago but haven't heard anything. Good to know my loss is way above average though, hopefully Tesla is receptive.

 

[TimothyHW3]

I work in customer support and know that when people say I "turned off" everything or "I did everything", 99% of the time they haven't

You don't need to turn off "everything", just the 3-4 settings I posted. The tilt protection is a EU thing, but it turns off with the car alarm so it doesn't really matter if you have it or not.

Also, do a hard reset by holding both sticks and the break pedal for 45-70 seconds until the T appears and do the settings after that.

 

[user212_nr]

It is a possibility, as you say, that weak cell service could drain the battery. 5% seems a bit much, but 1-2% could be due to rounding and 1-2% normal loss. Lets say you charged to 90.0, then when you leave the car it is at 89.9 (89%), and then ends up at 85.95 (just saying), ie. 85. I'm not sure if they round normally or down, but thats still 2% unknown between any two measurements.

With a regular cell phone, I have known this to be the case that weak or no service drains the battery. The reason is that the transmitter goes to MAX power in order to search for the farthest possible station. In theory, this could be fixed by software, but there are pros/cons of checking frequently, and as a programmer is just easier not to handle every edge case.

From your unscientific analysis, it seems like you are on to something, but it would make sense to get more specific data. ie. park deliberately in cell/no cell spaces and mark the time and the percent in/out (and over more days). At least that will rule out or narrow down the issue.

 

[640k]

can you just hit the "power off" on the screen to accomplish all of these things? will you be able to get back in the car if you do?

 

[Koofteh]

I work in customer support and know that when people say I "turned off" everything or "I did everything", 99% of the time they haven't

You don't need to turn off "everything", just the 3-4 settings I posted. The tilt protection is a EU thing, but it turns off with the car alarm so it doesn't really matter if you have it or not.

Also, do a hard reset by holding both sticks and the break pedal for 45-70 seconds until the T appears and do the settings after that.

Heh, I get where you're coming from. I'm a nerd so I'd like to think I tried all the common possible solutions before making a thread, but I will go through the steps you kindly provided tonight and cross my fingers for a fix.

It is a possibility, as you say, that weak cell service could drain the battery. 5% seems a bit much, but 1-2% could be due to rounding and 1-2% normal loss. Lets say you charged to 90.0, then when you leave the car it is at 89.9 (89%), and then ends up at 85.95 (just saying), ie. 85. I'm not sure if they round normally or down, but thats still 2% unknown between any two measurements.

With a regular cell phone, I have known this to be the case that weak or no service drains the battery. The reason is that the transmitter goes to MAX power in order to search for the farthest possible station. In theory, this could be fixed by software, but there are pros/cons of checking frequently, and as a programmer is just easier not to handle every edge case.

From your unscientific analysis, it seems like you are on to something, but it would make sense to get more specific data. ie. park deliberately in cell/no cell spaces and mark the time and the percent in/out (and over more days). At least that will rule out or narrow down the issue.

I'm not an expert, it's just what someone suggested on Reddit. Either what you describe or the car simply staying awake trying to find a signal seem like possible causes to a layman like me.

I'll continue to monitor things as my service appointment isn't for a while anyway. Hoping they have a solid answer.

can you just hit the "power off" on the screen to accomplish all of these things? will you be able to get back in the car if you do?

LOL, that's what I was hoping too. But it appears that button doesn't do very much in terms of powering things off. It just puts the car in idle, same thing that happens when you leave the car.

 

[TimothyHW3]

Since you say you are a "nerd", is there a chance you granted access to 3rd party apps or services apart from the official Tesla App? If you have, this might be the curlprit. I have seen these losses with TeslaFi or other logging apps. Not sure how you can revoke their access as I deliberately never installed one, but maybe you can change the account password.

If the car is not going to sleep, in addition to the other suggestions, it will keep draining. A good test is to leave the car parked and locked for about 8 hours. If after 8 hours locked you run the app and it doesn't say "waking up", then something is wrong.

And also you have checked that climate control is off and not enabled when you leave the car?

 

[user212_nr]

I'm not an expert, it's just what someone suggested on Reddit. Either what you describe or the car simply staying awake trying to find a signal seem like possible causes to a layman like me.
I'll continue to monitor things as my service appointment isn't for a while anyway. Hoping they have a solid answer.

It doesn't really matter what is the reason if you can reproduce the issue by "parking with/without cell service" only. If it only seemed to be the case, then you can look for more common things or defects.

 

[ewoodrick]

Sounds as if you may have some third party apps installed that aren't letting your car go to sleep. And make sure that Sentry mode is off.

 

[TimothyHW3]

Did you manage to test it? Something I noticed is, you said you are from Canada. What is the temperature around there? I have seen a sudden drop of about 5 miles overnight when the car is cold below 10°C. So this could be another factor. I believe once the car gets warm the capacity comes back a little. So this could also be a reason, maybe you see what the temperature in the garage and outside is.

 

[Koofteh]

I have TeslaFi but I only got it when I noticed the drain so I could look into it. Considering my car usually doesn't have a connection I don't see how it would be caused by that. The car sleeps fine and doesn't lose any range when I park elsewhere.

I live on the west coast of Canada, doesn't get that cold here at least not this time of year. Plus I lose exactly the same amount of battery every time I experience this.

I'm also certain it has to do with the car not having a signal. Also seen a thread on the Tesla forums about a Model X owner who went camping in the woods and also had this issue.

But what do I do now? Just live with it and hope Tesla adds an off button for LTE someday?Sometimes I don't even drive everyday so I'll come back to 10% or more gone. To be honest it's bugging me more than it should but I know so much power is just being wasted for nothing.

 

[TimothyHW3]

I have TeslaFi but I only got it when I noticed the drain so I could look into it. Considering my car usually doesn't have a connection I don't see how it would be caused by that. The car sleeps fine and doesn't lose any range when I park elsewhere.
.

But what do I do now? Just live with it and hope Tesla adds an off button for LTE someday?Sometimes I don't even drive everyday so I'll come back to 10% or more gone. To be honest it's bugging me more than it should but I know so much power is just being wasted for nothing.

TeslaFi will only prolong the problem, not solve it. You should revoke access which I think you can only do when you change the password.

As for LTE turn off -"Tesla" has it already, it is called mobile access disabling under security. When you disable it the LTE will be off and the drain goes to almost 0. You have to login again though which is a pain so this is why I personally never do it and live with the 1 mile drain a day.

 

[vickh]

No, at least not 5% daily. I parked at an underground garage with edge connection and was loosing 250Watts daily which is 1/3 of 1%.

Things that drain the battery:
Sentry mode(obviously...)
USB Stick plugged in and enabled, red camera
Car alarm and tilt protection enabled (around 1-3% alone for these too)
Cabin overheat protection ( turn off car alarm and tilt protection and turn cabin overheat on and then off, there was a Bug in some Model 3 software versions that when car alarm was on you had to turn on and off cabin overheat to really shut it down. Otherwise it said off, but was enabled)
WiFi searching - if you have "easy entry" enabled it turns itself back on before you leave the car. Remember to turn WiFi off before you leave - press on LTE icon and disable wifi(off) each time you leave the car.

Also, when you enable sentry mode and disable it, the car alarm doesn't remember the off position and stays on( it is always on when sentry is enabled). So you have to remember to turn car alarm and tilt protection off each time you disable sentry mode.

Set your display to mileage and observe - if you follow my suggestion and disable all of the above you will see abound 1 mile per day, sometimes even less if the battery temperature in the garage is good. I have gone days with almost zero mileage drain.

If your car is safe in the garage and you are going away for a longer period, disable lte/mobile access and it will drain 25Watt, which is about 1 mile every 20 days. It is a pain in the ass to login again, so this is why I don't turn off mobile access and live with the 1 mile drain per day. That is about 75kWh a year or about 20€ where I live, probably less where you live...

Tried disabling cabin overheat, but car heats up to 150 F in sunlight. Will try no AC option in winter.

I'm in a weak LTE area is it better to forget wifi or allow wifi searching from a drain perspective in garage?

 

[Koofteh]

TeslaFi will only prolong the problem, not solve it. You should revoke access which I think you can only do when you change the password.

As for LTE turn off -"Tesla" has it already, it is called mobile access disabling under security. When you disable it the LTE will be off and the drain goes to almost 0. You have to login again though which is a pain so this is why I personally never do it and live with the 1 mile drain a day.

I guess I'll disable it and change my password because it's not doing me any good at this point. Like I said I don't lose any battery when I'm parked with a connection, even with TeslaFi enabled..

Disabling mobile access was my last hope, as you say it's a real pain to enable it. But it didn't disable the LTE radio, the icon still showed full bars (tried it outside so it had a signal). I left mobile access disabled overnight but it still drained the exact same amount of 2.6kW over 20 hours.

 

[darth_vad3r]

1-2% could be due to rounding and 1-2% normal loss. Lets say you charged to 90.0, then when you leave the car it is at 89.9 (89%), and then ends up at 85.95 (just saying), ie. 85. I'm not sure if they round normally or down, but thats still 2% unknown between any two measurements.

The car rounds 'normally', and that's only 1% error, not 2% (0.5% each) -- each 'measurement' you observe with the no-decimal-place percentage has an error of +/- 0.5% so subtracting two of them to get a delta has an error of +/- 1.0%.

So a rounded 90% +/- 0.5% minus 90% +/- 0.5% = 0% +/- 1%
e.g. 90.49999 - 89.5 = 1%
90.0 - 90.0 = 0
Both are "90 - 90" but off by 1%

For the best resolution from the dashboard to measure loss, one should use km setting.

Then the error is +/- 1km which is 0.26% of an SR+ and only 0.20% of an LR.

 

[TimothyHW3]

I just gained 2 KMs overnight while parked outside. Like I said, the battery temperature plays a huge role

 

[Koofteh]

I just gained 2 KMs overnight while parked outside. Like I said, the battery temperature plays a huge role

What about the percentage though? The percentage shouldn't go up by itself since it's not algorithm based, no?

Someone else commented on a thread I made on the official Tesla forums saying that they have owned the car for a year and only noticed this drain happening with a recent update. I thought I noticed this as well but wasn't sure since my car is newer and I figured I could have just not noticed earlier. So hopefully it's true and it will be reverted soon.


Tesla got back to me saying it was normal to lose power overnight and sent me a list of possible factors which I've already ruled out.

Do they look at car logs when you file a service request? It felt like a generic reply which they sent me.