Optimal Charging Amperage

[ucmndd]

I do get it.

Lol, no, you most definitely don’t.

JFC.

 

[jcanoe]

I do get it. However, you stated: “Powered on, parked your Tesla Model Y will consume approximately 230W (perhaps up to 250W) every minute it is awake.”

That calculates to 13.8kWh - 15kWh consumed when my TESLA is just awake, as you said.

The 13.8kWh would be correct for a power consumption of 230W for a period of 60 hours (2.5 days) or 15kWh for 250W consumption over the 2.5 days. Over 1 hour it is 230W X 1hr = 230Wh, 0.230kWh. Over 24 hours that would be 0.230kW X 24hr = 5.52kWh. (250Wh, 0.250kWh, over 24 hours would be 0.250kWh X 24 hours = 6kWh.)

When the Tesla Model Y is parked with Sentry Mode (also Summon mode) active the Tesla Model Y will remain powered on and will consume approximately 5.5kWh to 6kWh in 24 hours. (If the Tesla Model Y is able to enter Sleep mode then the power consumption drops to ~25W, 0.025kW and over 24 hours will use just 600Wh (a little more than half of 1 kWh.)

 

[THEbuz]

The 13.8kWh would be correct for a power consumption of 230W for a period of 60 hours (2.5 days) or 15kWh for 250W consumption over the 2.5 days. Over 1 hour it is 230W X 1hr = 230Wh, 0.230kWh. Over 24 hours that would be 0.230kW X 24hr = 5.52kWh. (250Wh, 0.250kWh, over 24 hours would be 0.250kWh X 24 hours = 6kWh.

When the Tesla Model Y is parked with Sentry Mode (also Summon mode) active the Tesla Model Y will remain powered on and will consume approximately 5.5kWh to 6kWh in 24 hours. (If the Tesla Model Y is able to enter Sleep mode then the power consumption drops to ~25W, 0.025kW and over 24 hours will use just 600Wh (a little more than half of 1 kWh.)

I get what you’re saying. So what’s the alternative to that much draw/drain? If you’re parking at the airport long-term, then you’re gonna want Sentry Mode ON—so it would seem obvious to park in an EV parking spot with FREE charging wherever possible, but short of that, what is the best advice?

 

[jcanoe]

I get what you’re saying. So what’s the alternative to that much draw/drain? If you’re parking at the airport long-term, then you’re gonna want Sentry Mode ON—so it would seem obvious to park in an EV parking spot with FREE charging wherever possible, but short of that, what is the best advice?

Leave Sentry mode off when parked for extended period. This also applies to Summon mode (if the Tesla Model Y is equipped with the optional full self driving (FSD) package.) Tesla created Sentry mode in response to the high number of smash and grab break ins that were plaguing Tesla vehicle owners in SF and other cities. Sentry mode is best used when at work or when dining or shopping for a few hours, perhaps up to 12 hours. I doubt Tesla ever intended for Sentry mode to be used when the vehicle was parked, unplugged, for an extended period, i.e. days or weeks.

When parked, locked the Tesla Model Y vehicle alarm is active even when Sentry mode is turned off. Anyway, that is what I would do if I parked at an airport or other intermediate or long term parking lot. I would also limit the number of times I open the Tesla app while I was away as this will cause the Tesla Model Y to wake from sleep mode and use more power before re-entering Sleep mode.

 

[ucmndd]

So what’s the alternative to that much draw/drain?

Turn off sentry, as it’s an absolutely spectacular waste of energy.

 

[THEbuz]

Turn off sentry, as it’s an absolutely spectacular waste of energy.

No doubt about that, but it is simultaneously an absolutely spectacular theft and vandalism deterrent AND a security system capable of documenting the whodunnit part of said would-be crimes. I get what you are saying, but I would only choose energy retention over Sentry security if I had no other choice. (i.e. Parking at the airport for >1wk w/o being plugged in.)

 

[ucmndd]

No doubt about that, but it is simultaneously an absolutely spectacular theft and vandalism deterrent AND a security system capable of documenting the whodunnit part of said would-be crimes. I get what you are saying, but I would only choose energy retention over Sentry security if I had no other choice. (i.e. Parking at the airport for >1wk w/o being plugged in.)

Boy, stuff must be going downhill quick out there in Boise

Sentry is security theater. It doesn’t deter a damn thing. All it does is convert energy into warm fuzzy feelings.

 

[davewill]

I do get it. However, you stated: “Powered on, parked your Tesla Model Y will consume approximately 230W (perhaps up to 250W) every minute it is awake.”

That calculates to 13.8kWh - 15kWh consumed when my TESLA is just awake, as you said. Again, this is a ludicrous claim, and I think you meant to say that my TESLA consumes 230Wh - 250Wh just by being awake. I understand the difference between a watt (W) of energy and a watt hour (Wh). I am just responding to what you claimed.

I certainly did not say any such thing.

 

[charlesoris]

Distinction between watts and watt-hours[edit]​

The terms power and energy are closely related but distinct physical quantities. Power is the rate at which energy is generated or consumed and hence is measured in units (e.g. watts) that represent energy per unit time.

For example, when a light bulb with a power rating of 100W is turned on for one hour, the energy used is 100 watt hours (W·h), 0.1 kilowatt hour, or 360 kJ. This same amount of energy would light a 40-watt bulb for 2.5 hours, or a 50-watt bulb for 2 hours.

Power stations are rated using units of power, typically megawatts or gigawatts (for example, the Three Gorges Dam in China, is rated at approximately 22 gigawatts). This reflects the maximum power output it can achieve at any point in time. A power station's annual energy output, however, would be recorded using units of energy (not power), typically gigawatt hours. Major energy production or consumption is often expressed as terawatt hours for a given period; often a calendar year or financial year. One terawatt hour of energy is equal to a sustained power delivery of one terawatt for one hour, or approximately 114 megawatts for a period of one year:

Power output = energy / time1 terawatt hour per year = 1×1012 W·h / (365 days × 24 hours per day) ≈ 114 million watts,
equivalent to approximately 114 megawatts of constant power output.

The watt-second is a unit of energy, equal to the joule. One kilowatt hour is 3,600,000 watt seconds.

While a watt per hour is a unit of rate of change of power with time[iii]), it is not correct to refer to a watt (or watt-hour) as a "watt per hour".[35]

source: Watt - Wikipedia

 

[Big Earl]

I do get it. However, you stated: “Powered on, parked your Tesla Model Y will consume approximately 230W (perhaps up to 250W) every minute it is awake.”

That calculates to 13.8kWh - 15kWh consumed when my TESLA is just awake, as you said. Again, this is a ludicrous claim, and I think you meant to say that my TESLA consumes 230Wh - 250Wh just by being awake. I understand the difference between a watt (W) of energy and a watt hour (Wh). I am just responding to what you claimed.

Your assertion would be correct if he said it consumed 230 to 250 Wh (watt-hours) per minute, not watts. But that's not what he said.

 

[THEbuz]

Boy, stuff must be going downhill quick out there in Boise

Sentry is security theater. It doesn’t deter a damn thing. All it does is convert energy into warm fuzzy feelings.

Knowing you’re on camera versus knowing you’re not? Being able to grab the license plate of a vandal and having footage of them caught in the act is just theater? Um—okay. Maybe if you live in a place where they don’t prosecute petty crimes and some actual felonies, which states shall remain in-famous. Here in Boise, we prosecute vandals when we can catch them, and Sentry Mode helps do just that.

 

[Rocky_H]

Boy, stuff must be going downhill quick out there in Boise

C'mon, man!! Although, yeah, we're not the sleepy little town we were 20 years ago. But yeah, crime is still ridiculously low here.

Sentry is security theater. It doesn’t deter a damn thing. All it does is convert energy into warm fuzzy feelings.

is simultaneously an absolutely spectacular theft and vandalism deterrent AND a security system capable of documenting the whodunnit part of said would-be crimes. I get what you are saying, but I would only choose energy retention over Sentry security if I had no other choice. (i.e. Parking at the airport for >1wk w/o being plugged in.)

It's not just security theater. It is useful. But we should look back at the history of this and what the requests were and why it was implemented. There were getting to be a rash of some break-ins, so people asked for Tesla to build the functionality to use the cameras for this security monitoring.

The use of that was where people had to park somewhere risky during the day, like at work, but were then going home at night, where they could charge. It served its purpose and people didn't need to care if it consumed a lot of energy because it was for less than a day. But this doesn't work for leaving the car parked somewhere away from home unplugged for weeks. You just can't leave that feature turned on for that long and expect to have any battery left. It wasn't meant for that.

 

[THEbuz]

C'mon, man!! Although, yeah, we're not the sleepy little town we were 20 years ago. But yeah, crime is still ridiculously low here.


It's not just security theater. It is useful. But we should look back at the history of this and what the requests were and why it was implemented. There were getting to be a rash of some break-ins, so people asked for Tesla to build the functionality to use the cameras for this security monitoring.

The use of that was where people had to park somewhere risky during the day, like at work, but were then going home at night, where they could charge. It served its purpose and people didn't need to care if it consumed a lot of energy because it was for less than a day. But this doesn't work for leaving the car parked somewhere away from home unplugged for weeks. You just can't leave that feature turned on for that long and expect to have any battery left. It wasn't meant for that.

You’re not wrong, but you’re preaching the outliers. How often do most people leave their TESLA parked unplugged for weeks? It is definitely the outlier, not the norm. I have Sentry Mode OFF while at home in my garage. It remains on during my workday downtown, and then I go home and charge back up before the next day.

 

[Rocky_H]

You’re not wrong, but you’re preaching the outliers. How often do most people leave their TESLA parked unplugged for weeks? It is definitely the outlier, not the norm.

I don't follow you here. How am I "preaching the outliers"? Of course it's not the normal common thing people do, but it is BY FAR the thing people bring up to complain about most frequently here on this forum--it's what you just did. Since it's the most common complaint brought up here, it just makes sense to point out that it wasn't the reason it was requested and created and doesn't work well for that extended use.

 

[THEbuz]

I don't follow you here. How am I "preaching the outliers"? Of course it's not the normal common thing people do, but it is BY FAR the thing people bring up to complain about most frequently here on this forum--it's what you just did. Since it's the most common complaint brought up here, it just makes sense to point out that it wasn't the reason it was requested and created and doesn't work well for that extended use.

I didn’t complain specifically about Sentry Mode. I complained more generally about the overall fact that real-world range is nowhere near the EPA rated range. Sure, I agree that Sentry Mode is one contributor of that (as is HVAC and wheel and tire selection). That said, to me, Sentry Mode is as essential as HVAC and my preferred wheels. Sure, I could’ve ordered my Model Y with 19-in Gemini wheels, but they’re ugly. I made the choice to sacrifice the look of my wheels over the additional 12mi of range I would get with Gemini wheels. Others like the Performance model, but my Model Y LR/AWD gets better range. I don’t need that extra power in the accelerator. Plus, with my 20-in Induction wheels (and when I paint my brake calipers red and get the carbon fiber spoiler) my Model Y will look very, very similar to a Performance model—only with better range. I’m not willing to sacrifice HVAC and Sentry Mode for the sake of range, unless I have no choice (the nearly never multi-week airport parking lot scenario).

BUT—that’s just me…

 

[Clark Kent]

One more thing... the purpose of scheduled charging was intended to be so that you could get either the car or the battery warm, so you would use less energy heating those things on the road, if you need that extra range. The best thing for energy use is to charge the car as fast as home charging can go, but have it finish before you leave. Thats optimal.

Failing that, its most efficient to charge as fast as your home charging allows. Its not worth it to upgrade panels and incur thousands of dollars of expense to charge faster, but there is no reason to "turn it down" at all.

On this topic how would (amps) change in a case like mine. I’m a Model Y performance owner I only drive it on weekends, and typically for short stints around town. The battery has never seen anything below 60% SOC . leave it plugged nightly during the week with charge limit set to 80/90%. What are the charging recommendations for this scenario? Or am I already adhering to best practicce? Do I leave it plugged it all week at 32A or turn it down?

 

[Clark Kent]

One of my cars has been parked for 5.5 weeks and has lost 7%. It has woken up three times to check and download new software.

What was the SOC when you left it for the 5.5 weeks? Was in plugged when in, and what was the SOC on return?

 

[jcanoe]

On this topic how would (amps) change in a case like mine. I’m a Model Y performance owner I only drive it on weekends, and typically for short stints around town. The battery has never seen anything below 60% SOC . leave it plugged nightly during the week with charge limit set to 80/90%. What are the charging recommendations for this scenario? Or am I already adhering to best practicce? Do I leave it plugged it all week at 32A or turn it down?

You could set the maximum charge limit lower, perhaps 70 to 80% and be done with it for most of your weekly driving needs. Since you are setup to charge at 32 amps there is no benefit to lowering the charging amperage (charging at a lower amperage would be slower, take longer and be slightly less efficient.). I always unplug my Model Y if there is a chance of thunderstorms. Damage from an electrical storm is a small risk to be sure but one I would rather not have to worry about.

 

[Big Earl]

What was the SOC when you left it for the 5.5 weeks? Was in plugged when in, and what was the SOC on return?

60% parked. 53% when I posted that message after being parked for 5.5 weeks. Not plugged in.