My Y has been losing 2-5% per day in "standby energy usage"

[black_sky]

I recently noticed my stand by energy usage is much higher than 1%/day when I left the car unplugged at the airport for 7 days. During this time it lost 32.8% from just vehicle standby (4.5%/day). (attached file, very dusty; its mostly the lighting I swear!!)

Sentry mode was off, no 3rd party, did not check the car often (I think twice near the end of our trip), not sure the status of wifi, cabin heat protection was on, but I switched it to off (and that has it's own bucket).

I've contacted service and they did a remote diagnostic and found the battery to be 'normal health' so they close the ticket (I'm still talking about it with them).

I'm trying to figure out; this can't be how the car operates right? This isn't normal? The car seems to be okay if I don't drive for the day, but after I drive it starts draining like crazy. The car recommends to plug in the car to reduce energy loss, I've done this and the % usage still went up by 2% for the rest of the day. The vehicle standby goes up while plugged in!

I have feeling this has actually been going on for a while because this 'Park' tab on the energy app is somewhat new (we've had the car for 1 year- its a '22, new), but I noticed on the battery usage there would be a big dip after going somewhere and leaving again. Is this dip normal? Usually this dip is .5% or maybe 1% (which could be normal usage) but I have a feeling that most of the dip is from standby energy usage (though obviously you'd expect a dip from precondition/cabin protection/etc). For example, I've attached the graph from this morning. I did 2 trips, was gone for less than 2 hours (about 90min) and the standby energy usage is 1.1%. Everything else is 0% (for the 'park' tab). Based on the vertical drops you can tell when I got back in the car. (around the 4mile and 6 mile, though curiously there isn't one at the 2 miles drive point). (this is to the same place btw, so about .5% of battery of driving one way).

So; in conclusion I feel like I'm taking crazy pills and I'm curious if anyone else notices a dip on their battery % graphs when getting back in the car and if the amount of dip is normal. Secondly, I feel like the standby energy usage shouldn't go up while plugged in but I don't really know what that energy bucket is tracking anyway.

 

[jcanoe]

Your Tesla Model Y may be remaining in standby mode for extended periods and using additional energy while attempting to connect to Wi-Fi to download updates. How strong is the Wi-Fi service where you park at home? You might want to start by rebooting the infotainment system and then observe the energy usage while parked.

 

[yblaser]

For your 7 day airport stay, you had cabin overheat protection on. This keeps the car awake which will consume one to two hundred watts 24 hours a day plus any power to actually run the HVAC. The latter is what is tracked as cabin overheat protection whereas the former is just as vehicle standby. This is inline with your 4.5%/day number.

It's hard to extrapolate any data from SOC change during short sleeps as I don't think 1-2% change is statistically significant given all the uncertainties involved.

 

[jcanoe]

For your 7 day airport stay, you had cabin overheat protection on. This keeps the car awake which will consume one to two hundred watts 24 hours a day plus any power to actually run the HVAC. The latter is what is tracked as cabin overheat protection whereas the former is just as vehicle standby. This is inline with your 4.5%/day number.

It's hard to extrapolate any data from SOC change during short sleeps as I don't think 1-2% change is statistically significant given all the uncertainties involved.

Cabin Overheat Protection only remains active for 12 hours after you park the Tesla vehicle.

 

[yblaser]

Cabin Overheat Protection only remains active for 12 hours after you park the Tesla vehicle.

Thanks. You are correct. I don't use it so keep forgetting that fact.

His loss is consistent with the car not going to sleep for those 7 days so something else must be keeping it awake as you stated in your previous posts.

 

[Tha_Ape]

Your Tesla Model Y may be remaining in standby mode for extended periods and using additional energy while attempting to connect to Wi-Fi to download updates. How strong is the Wi-Fi service where you park at home? You might want to start by rebooting the infotainment system and then observe the energy usage while parked.

That's a good point. I'd honestly delete the WiFi password since you can't turn off wifi permanently (it'll come on next time you drive). I did that when I didn't want my car to get updated.

You'll get notifications when it's time to update, then you can connect to wifi. I don't think there are any others reasons to have wifi connectivity other than updates

 

[black_sky]

That's a good point. I'd honestly delete the WiFi password since you can't turn off wifi permanently (it'll come on next time you drive). I did that when I didn't want my car to get updated.

You'll get notifications when it's time to update, then you can connect to wifi. I don't think there are any others reasons to have wifi connectivity other than updates

I tried this. It seems to turn on to search for wifi...all the time? I'm still tinkering with it. I believe I had it off and lost 3.2% in ~3 hours today. I'm trying to double check that it is turned off before I leave and stuff. This is pretty frustrating. Other people must encounter this problem, what is the solution I wonder?

 

[black_sky]

I have some data to support it is NOT wifi searching.

I forgot my wifi and turned it off, left the car in the parking lot for 40 minutes and the vehicle standby went from 0% to 1.3%. In 40 minutes!!

I tried it again at home and it went from 1.3% to 3.9% in 30 minutes (I turned off the wifi again). I don't know what the hell is happening.

Here is the same vertical drop from being parked in the parking lot.

 

[jcanoe]

I have some data to support it is NOT wifi searching.

I forgot my wifi and turned it off, left the car in the parking lot for 40 minutes and the vehicle standby went from 0% to 1.3%. In 40 minutes!!

I tried it again at home and it went from 1.3% to 3.9% in 30 minutes (I turned off the wifi again). I don't know what the hell is happening.

Here is the same vertical drop from being parked in the parking lot.

Do you have Cabin Overheat Protection (COP) enabled? COP with AC could account for the consumption you observed while parked for 40 minutes. I have experienced COP with AC consuming 7.5kWh over about 10 hours (my 2020 LRMY was parked from early A.M. until nightfall, in summer temperatures.) I currently have COP set to No AC (HVAC fan only) The passenger cabin temperature can rise to ~120F without the AC but the consumption is approximately 1/3rd as much as with AC.

 

[black_sky]

Do you have Cabin Overheat Protection (COP) enabled? COP with AC could account for the consumption you observed while parked for 40 minutes. I have experienced COP with AC consuming 7.5kWh over about 10 hours (my 2020 LRMY was parked from early A.M. until nightfall, in summer temperatures.) I currently have COP set to No AC (HVAC fan only) The passenger cabin temperature can rise to ~120F without the AC but the consumption is approximately 1/3rd as much as with AC.

Cabin overheat protection is off. All of the energy usage is in the vehicle standby bucket on the 'Park' tab. I'm not sure if COP is in that, but it is off. (also it wouldn't activate on anyway because it didn't get above 90 degrees in the car).

 

[yellowr6]

Park indoor and sentry off. overnight, I’ll lose about 1%. 50ish degree outside.

one time During a vacation, car was park indoor for 7 days. Lost 8%

 

[jcanoe]

Cabin overheat protection is off. All of the energy usage is in the vehicle standby bucket on the 'Park' tab. I'm not sure if COP is in that, but it is off. (also it wouldn't activate on anyway because it didn't get above 90 degrees in the car).

Next time you have a chance, park with the climate control turned off (will turn on automatically the next time you drive.) If the Tesla Model Y senses that there is someone seated in the vehicle the climate control will remain on for some time. (It could be that there is a faulty passenger sensor in one of the front seats that is causing the Tesla Model Y to remain in standby mode with the climate control running.)

 

[black_sky]

Next time you have a chance, park with the climate control turned off (will turn on automatically the next time you drive.) If the Tesla Model Y senses that there is someone seated in the vehicle the climate control will remain on for some time. (It could be that there is a faulty passenger sensor in one of the front seats that is causing the Tesla Model Y to remain in standby mode with the climate control running.)

We have been turning the climate off manually before parking for a while. I do hear some fans running, but I think that the normal operating (I understand it has a moisture protection equipped or some-such. I can't imagine that uses 5%/day, though... That's like 4KwH!)

 

[DJ Avenger]

Ever since upgrading to version 2023.12.x I have noticed almost daily fluctuations with the battery SOC. I'll start the day with 80% and drive to work. After arrival I will open the Tesla app around 15 min later, after car has gone to sleep, and the SOC will be 3-4% lower than it was when I parked. No cabin overheat, no sentry mode, nothing. Then, after I get home, if I look at my app about 15 min later, again after car goes to sleep, the battery SOC increases back up to 3-4%. This happens almost every time I drive the car for more than 15 min. I opened a service request with Tesla twice and got the whole generic it's normal for the battery to fluctuate message. Temps here in Houston are warm. I have tried to run the battery down to as low as I can get it and then charge to 95% to try and "train" the BMS system. I have done this a few times in a row, but so far it has not made a difference. I am hoping that this is just a software bug that Tesla will eventually work out.

 

[Tonylam2002200]

Schedule an appointment to request a RCM replacement. Don't submit a ticket under "Battery" as it will keep getting ignored.

Here is my invoice number for your reference 3000S0007783490

 

[black_sky]

Schedule an appointment to request a RCM replacement. Don't submit a ticket under "Battery" as it will keep getting ignored.

Here is my invoice number for your reference 3000S0007783490

WELL YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THAT

allegedly some issue with my app and I was supposedly sending my data as 'feedback' which I don't believe is the case. They don't have any of my data. The techs said to keep sending them data and they'd keep looking at it remotely. They can only do 2 weeks back. So I kept calling them and trying to get in touch; 'are you getting my data'??

finally after only having a ticket for another service appointment did someone reply (slowly; I was emailing them and this took like 7 days to set up) and now I didn't have any relevant data because my issue seems to only happen after driving and I didn't drive much that last 2 weeks. I had a few examples where the standby shot up 3% in literally 30 minutes or less.

So I message someone and days and days later they reply and we chat on the phone and he says that 5% standby energy is normal? This can't be right, right? This is way more than 1%/day?? I don't understand? Anyone else?

 

[Tonylam2002200]

WELL YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THAT

allegedly some issue with my app and I was supposedly sending my data as 'feedback' which I don't believe is the case. They don't have any of my data. The techs said to keep sending them data and they'd keep looking at it remotely. They can only do 2 weeks back. So I kept calling them and trying to get in touch; 'are you getting my data'??

finally after only having a ticket for another service appointment did someone reply (slowly; I was emailing them and this took like 7 days to set up) and now I didn't have any relevant data because my issue seems to only happen after driving and I didn't drive much that last 2 weeks. I had a few examples where the standby shot up 3% in literally 30 minutes or less.

So I message someone and days and days later they reply and we chat on the phone and he says that 5% standby energy is normal? This can't be right, right? This is way more than 1%/day?? I don't understand? Anyone else?

They are waving you away, one time I was told up to 10% is normal.

What I did was to keep a log with time stamps. 2-3 days before the appointment, I charged the car and park it until the drive to the appointment to show them the drive consumed only 5% while parking 2 days consumed 18% or so.

 

[clu-tn]

**A little long reading but I’m trying to find answers***


We ordered a model Y-LR a day after Tesla dropped the price in mid-January and received the car delivery two week later on January 29. Only added factory hitch to the car due to the tax credit limit at that time. We were happy with the car's quality with only a few minor adjustments by Tesla service center for door/hatchback alignment (I'm not picky and treating cars more like a typical appliance). We (my two young kids especially) love the car and it has been the default car for all the local driving for the family (replaced the previous duty from a 2016 Subaru H-6 Outback). With a self-installed home garage V3 Tesla wall charger, it is just so nice to avoid going to gas stations.

The car has almost 10,000 (9616 miles to be exact). No issues at all for the 8 months and I loved the Tesla mobile service (tire rotation being done in my garage). I usually take care my cars well (frequently wash) and the car has been mostly parked in my garage (~80% its life). However, an ignorant (unknown since never use Sentry mode) person did a tiny door kiss on one of my car doors a few week ago while in the parking lot of a golf club so I will need to touch it up with just arrived (nicely packaged) Tesla paint touchup kit.

Most of my drives were home-work (interstate & highway combined- 50 mile round trip / 3 trips per week) and city streets. We did a beach trip to Isle of Palms (South Carolina) from Knoxville in east Tennessee and used 4 Superchargers (very nice). Tesla Y is a great car for family long trips. We are really happy with the car and I also placed an order for the Cybertruck.

With almost all (95% so far) being home charging for the car, I never paid attention to the power consumption for the car since the rate is cheap (10c/kwh here). I just plugged it in when the SOC is near 20% and charged up to 90% (about 1-2 times per week). I did charge to 100% 3-4 times right before longer trips (beach and two 230 miles trips). To be honest, I never checked (or recalled even there was one) the Parking power consumption card under Trip tab. We were able to do it safely of the 250 mile trip in mostly 70-80 mph Interstate driving when I started with 100% SOC so it meets our needs. I also learnt the exceptional reliance of aerodynamic design of the Tesla (relative to ICE car) in power consumption. Followed a large 18-wheeler for over 30 miles on Interstate around 65-70 mph produced 220 wh/mile vs my typical driving alone (300-320 wh/mile).

I selected auto software upgrade since day 1. When the latest car software upgrade (2023.26.9) reminded me to change the daily charging limit to 80% a few weeks ago, I read a few posts on the TMC here and crossed a few posts about charging and high standby power consumption when parked. Unless I missed it on the Forum, there seems no confirmed solution yet except for the possible RCM failure to put car to sleep mode. It made me to start to look my car's power consumption data, especially after a day after two short trips/parking and parked in my garage, the parking tab showed almost 4% usage after 6 hours and all of them from the "Vehicle Standby" consumption. The SOC dropped the same % as well.

The phone app has all the charging data for my car since the purchase (see attached photo). It shows 3023 kWh were added to the car. The Trip tab on the car showed 2571 kWh were used for the driving mode of car to a mileage of 9616. The driving efficiency of 267 wh/mile shown by the car is pretty good in my opinion (vs the EPA efficiency of 242 wh/mile - 80 Kwh battery size and 330 mile range). Based on my observation, the power assumption for the trip mode included all power consumptions while car is in “D” mode (moving the car, AC, media, screening, lighting, navigation, etc). If we can trust the Tesla Trip data, I was often able to achieve or “better” the EPA efficiency of 242 wh/mile (see the attached picture for the trips since last charge – 241 wh/mile for mixed driving). For the same kid’s school to office route of mostly highway 23 mile trip in the morning, the car showed 223 and 228 wh/mile rates. So the cars efficiency seems to be quite good in driving mode.

Thus, for the overall power consumption, 15% of the power consumption (452 kWh) would be used for no-driving activities. I do NOT use sentry model and other auto-driving features. I DO use cabin over-heat protection feature (set at 100 F). I also used camping mode sometimes (kid naps in the car - loves the feature!!). But these two usages have been generally pretty low in power consumption since we had a mild summer (I also installed roof-shade and use windshield shade when park in the sun) and mostly parked in garage. I observed my camp mode only use maximum 1-2% of power for the duration since I set up at 74F mostly and I often stay in the car. I also never observed big drops of SOC with the cabin over-heat protection on (mostly on the days at work when car parked outside).

I never looked the Parking tab before the latest software upgrade.

So I have two puzzling question;

1. Where the 15% power being consumed by the car? Charging transfer inefficiency may contribute to some. But my two features used (camping model and cabin over-heat protection) definitely not that much. Maybe car standby mode has already there but Tesla did not show it.
2. What the experience or data from your Tesla?

I took my car to my local Tesla service center (very close to my home) a week ago and show them the sequence photos I took showing the high “standby” power consumption after the “AI” generated “unrelated” generic response on factors on power efficiency when I submitted a service request under “Battery” and never received further contact. The very helpful staff went through all my car settings and could not find anything to cause the “standby” consumption. The service staff also told me the RCM is good since the screen shut off right away when the door was closed.

My car continued having high SOC drop after parking, mostly from “Standby”. So I did a detailed recordings (photos for every parking events) since the last charge. This morning after parking in my office lot between 8:58 and 9:31 Am (33 minutes), my car used 2% of the power for “Standby” activities. Just crazy at beautiful 68-70 F weather. This also lead me to look the Tesla data on the car more (picture #2 and #3).

I unplugged my car on Monday morning at 80% SOC (actually showed 81 but changed to 80 when I back out the garage on to the street). It is 18% as shown on SOC now so the car used 62% of the battery. Based on Trip tab, the car used 38 kWh for the 157 miles (great efficiency at 241 wh/mile!). So it is about 47.5% battery (assuming 80 kWh). The Parking tab showed 9.1% power consumption. The total power usage by the car would be likely around 56.6%. So there is an extra 5.6% of power consumption somewhere by the car. Where is the “black hole” ? Note that this is the power in the car already, not from power supply side. Based on these numbers for this charge, my driving consumption of the total power usage is only 77%, much worse than my long-term driving of 85% as stated earlier. Quite differently, my car kept the same SOC at 85% after 5 day parking at the beach resort after a Level 2 charging done after arrival in late July.

Also, if I can truly trust the Tesla numbers as provided, my car had already lost 5% of battery (only shown 251 miles @ 80% - but I mostly use SOC% only). This is not very good based on other numbers.

Maybe I missed something. But the inconsistency in Tesla data and suddenly high “Standby” consumption after software upgrade just make me wonder the reliability of the SOC application and these numbers at its face values. For local driving it is not a big deal for me with low rate electric rate. But the true cost of the EV efficiency would be out of window when 23% of power is used to do something other than driving. It just seems too high and hopefully Tesla can figure out a way to reduce the energy waste.

It is also just laughable to state “reduce energy loss while parked by keeping Model Y plugged in”. The car just steals the energy from my home rather than from the car. The energy lose was never reduced!

I love my Y and just hoped there are just bugs in the software. Any comments or experiences?

Thanks for reading and discussion.

 

[jcanoe]

The Tesla Model Y will remain in Standby mode while parked as long as the passive restraint system detects a passenger is seated inside the vehicle. A faulty passive restraint system sensor in the driver's seat would be the first thing for Tesla Service to check.

 

[clu-tn]

Thanks for the pointer. Will stop by local Tesla service center to check out the passive restraint system sensor today. I also turned off the car power (under safety mode), climate, & cabin over-hear protection after parking this morning (60 F). Again, my car showed a great trip efficiency (236 wh/mile - 26 miles for 6 kWh = 7.5% battery) but SOC showed 9% drop already with no parking yet. Just wish the Tesla can either provide more consistent numbers in the Trip tab or just hide them from us. I know my life depends on the SOC when driving.