Model 3 crazy vampire drain

[RayK]

TeslaFi is a third party app that you have to sign up for.

I don't have that one but have an account with teslogs.com. My drain is about 1MPH.

 

[ord3r]

I wonder if not having a start button makes the drain worse in Tesla's compared to other cars.

I doubt it, or else keyless entry ICE cars would only survive for a few minutes turned off

 

[diamond.g]

I doubt it, or else keyless entry ICE cars would only survive for a few minutes turned off

Those cars still have On/Off (what I meant by start) buttons. As far as I can tell those other vehicles won't turn on and charge the battery without actually hitting the on/off button as well. Though I seem to recall seeing an article state that the Bolt does in fact charge the 12V even when the car if off, @Jeff N do you have the link?

 

[ord3r]

Those cars still have On/Off (what I meant by start) buttons. As far as I can tell those other vehicles won't turn on and charge the battery without actually hitting the on/off button as well. Though I seem to recall seeing an article state that the Bolt does in fact charge the 12V even when the car if off, @Jeff N do you have the link?

Ahh gotcha. Seems like Model 3 could just use pressing the brake, or opening the door, or hitting the stalk as the 'button'.

 

[TEG]

I wonder when the Nvidia supercomputer is powered up and sucking amps?
Does the car need to keep watching the cameras and processing a lot of data even when parked?

 

[Ampre Sand]

Wow. I leave my LEAF for 5 months at a time in the cool Seattle area as I snowbird to Arizona. Every time I come back, it is usually at the same SOC I left it at, or perhaps 1% less. I do keep the 12V on a battery maintainer while gone, which may prevent the normal 12V charging behavior that would otherwise occur every 24 hours.

I guess for the 3 I’d have to leave it plugged in so it can manage its own charge level for months at a time?

 

[TexasEV]

Wow. I leave my LEAF for 5 months at a time in the cool Seattle area as I snowbird to Arizona. Every time I come back, it is usually at the same SOC I left it at, or perhaps 1% less. I do keep the 12V on a battery maintainer while gone, which may prevent the normal 12V charging behavior that would otherwise occur every 24 hours.

I guess for the 3 I’d have to leave it plugged in so it can manage its own charge level for months at a time?

If you RTFM, yes, you will see that Tesla recommends keeping the car plugged in. I would especially encourage you to read the battery section of the owners manual, if nothing else.

 

[Jeff N]

Those cars still have On/Off (what I meant by start) buttons. As far as I can tell those other vehicles won't turn on and charge the battery without actually hitting the on/off button as well. Though I seem to recall seeing an article state that the Bolt does in fact charge the 12V even when the car if off, @Jeff N do you have the link?

You may be thinking of this:

Revealed: secrets of the Bolt EV service manual

Many drivers are familiar with having a “dead” 12V battery either due to accidentally leaving a light on after turning off a car or having the lead acid battery self-discharge after sitting unused for several weeks. In order to reduce the need for jump starts, the Bolt EV has a 12V battery charging maintenance strategy.

If the car is plugged in but not charging, it will wake up and check the status of the 12V battery every 6 hours. If the 12V battery is low the car will begin charging it for up to 2 to 3 hours.

If the car is not plugged but has been turned on within the last 30 days, it will wake up every 3 days to check the 12V battery and if the main battery is at least 40 percent full it will begin charging the 12V battery for 45 to 90 minutes.

The Bolt’s OnStar telematics module also is listening for incoming Internet messages generated by the owner’s use of the smartphone app to check battery range or start cabin temperature conditioning etc. GM also uses OnStar to automatically check vehicle conditions and diagnose battery pack health etc. The Bolt also listens for owner Bluetooth devices nearby to do things like (optionally) turn on cabin lighting as the driver approaches the car or to allow “KeyPass” low-latency direct communications between the smartphone app and the car without going through the usual OnStar Internet messaging.

This background waking up and monitoring uses very little energy because it happens for only brief periods of time and only for a limited number of days. I vaguely recall that listening for smartphone app communications only happens for ~3 days since the last vehicle startup. The 12V battery tending when unplugged only lasts for a month.

 

[ord3r]

If you RTFM, yes, you will see that Tesla recommends keeping the car plugged in. I would especially encourage you to read the battery section of the owners manual, if nothing else.

It's cool they have it documented in the manual, but really they should work on making it not happen at all.

I think it is similar to how poorly optimized GUIs have become on PC: the abundance of CPU power and RAM allows you to make really crappy applications and have them still run decently.

Likewise, Teslas have such a large battery, they can afford to have a really crappy standby mode with high drain without major impact. Having a crappy standby mode on the baby battery EVs would make them untenable.

 

[diamond.g]

It's cool they have it documented in the manual, but really they should work on making it not happen at all.

I think it is similar to how poorly optimized GUIs have become on PC: the abundance of CPU power and RAM allows you to make really crappy applications and have them still run decently.

Likewise, Teslas have such a large battery, they can afford to have a really crappy standby mode with high drain without major impact. Having a crappy standby mode on the baby battery EVs would make them untenable.

Coming from a Chevy Volt with OnStar, I would rather give up some battery versus having to wait minutes for the car to respond to commands, if it does at all.
That appears to be the trade off on having a vehicle that doesn't have extra buttons to do things like unlock the doors or "start" the car.

Anecdotally, my Golf that I had before getting the Volt flattened the 12V battery after sitting for 2 months over the winter, I didn't put it in transport mode and the KESSY door sensors basically ran the 12V flat waiting for someone to actually open the doors, lol.

Maybe Tesla could add a "Legacy" mode that would shut the car down until the (non-existant) fob button press woke it up.

 

[ezevphl]

So what do people see as a generally 'normal' amount of drain when the car sits outside in roughly 90deg day and 70deg night. Assuming No driving and not checking the app more than once or twice in a day.

 

[RayK]

And with cabin overheat protection off? From reading posts around here I think a couple of miles for a 24 hour period. I'm beginning to think that my beta test from teslogs is contributing 90% of my 1MPH drain. My car sits at work during the day in a covered parking garage and overnight in my driveway. Day temps in the last 2 weeks have been around the low 80s, with a few days reaching 90. Interior temps have been in the mid to upper 70s. Overnight lows have been in the low 60s. Checking temps with the Tesla app every two hours or so during the day and twice in the night. Still seeing 1MPH during both times.

 

[SageBrush]

I'm beginning to think that my beta test from teslogs is contributing 90% of my 1MPH drain.

That would be my first candidate to rule out.

 

[Dana1]

Haha, Lucy uses more energy sleeping in the garage than she does driving.

 

[Phrixotrichus]

Haha, Lucy uses more energy sleeping in the garage than she does driving.

I would be absolutely furious and probably scream at the nearest tesla rep if I got stats like that from my car......

The vampire drain some people are reporting in here is absolutely unacceptable.

Isn`t there a way to simply turn the car completely off? Every other EV I´ve ever tested never lost any charge when parked over several days.

 

[diamond.g]

I would be absolutely furious and probably scream at the nearest tesla rep if I got stats like that from my car......

The vampire drain some people are reporting in here is absolutely unacceptable.

Isn`t there a way to simply turn the car completely off? Every other EV I´ve ever tested never lost any charge when parked over several days.

There is an Power off option. But I think if you connect via phone or third party app it wakes the car back up. Alternatively unplugging the 12v would work. Not sure what settings if any are lost when that is done though.

 

[ord3r]

You can simply remove the high voltage battery if you need to ensure it stays charged

 

[dhrivnak]

And with cabin overheat protection off? From reading posts around here I think a couple of miles for a 24 hour period. I'm beginning to think that my beta test from teslogs is contributing 90% of my 1MPH drain. My car sits at work during the day in a covered parking garage and overnight in my driveway. Day temps in the last 2 weeks have been around the low 80s, with a few days reaching 90. Interior temps have been in the mid to upper 70s. Overnight lows have been in the low 60s. Checking temps with the Tesla app every two hours or so during the day and twice in the night. Still seeing 1MPH during both times.

I am not monitoring and I am seeing 1-3 miles a day. Usually closer to 1. Never have I seen anything approaching double digits.

 

[TexasEV]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t understand people who have third party crap connect with their car and then complain about vampire drain.

 

[israndy]

I am not monitoring and I am seeing 1-3 miles a day. Usually closer to 1. Never have I seen anything approaching double digits.

How can you quantify your loss w/o monitoring? You mean you are not using a 3P app? So you get out of your car after parking it in the garage and note the miles remaining on the battery? Then when you get back in the next day you notice that you have only lost about 1 mile in the day or so you have had it parked?

That would be sweet. Even when I had the car parked in my garage and it was 70 degrees as a high during the day I was still seeing more than a mile a day. I however WAS using the iPhone app every 12 hours to log how much loss I was seeing, but it was typically 3 miles overnight and 7 during the day. I too had NO third party apps connected during this test. Still, I was below double digits many days. two OS's have come and gone since then so perhaps it's less now.

-Randy