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Phantom Drain

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Good Evening All,

Last year I went out of town for a 7 day vacation. I left the S model pluged in the Wall Charger. When We came back, the car would not start. Puzzling, I "reset" the vehicle- it was about 70% charged up.

Im planing to go out of town again, for 7 day. What should I do to find the car in a "useful" condition?
 
For 7 days, all you need to do is take the fish out of the frunk so you don't come back to a stinky car. Provided you don't open the app for those 7 days, the car will go into deep sleep and you will lose approx 2% battery max (if she is in a garage. more % loss if left outside in the cold).
You should have no worries whatsoever. I lost 2% from my MS 90D over an 11 day holiday just by not checking the app.
 
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But, all this said, there's no reason not to keep the car plugged in. For a 7 day trip, it's not necessary, but I believe the best advice is still to keep the car plugged in whenever it's not in use.

I presume whatever happened on your last trip was a one-time occurrence, due to perhaps a power line glitch or other short-term power issue.
 
But, all this said, there's no reason not to keep the car plugged in. For a 7 day trip, it's not necessary, but I believe the best advice is still to keep the car plugged in whenever it's not in use.

I presume whatever happened on your last trip was a one-time occurrence, due to perhaps a power line glitch or other short-term power issue.
I guess it is a person preference thing. For me there IS a reason (actually more than one) to not keep it plugged it ;-)
 
Before I went out of the country for a month, I charged my 2018 Model S 100D to 90%, then set my charging to 80%, and left the UMC in the charge port. The battery only drained and did not charge. Fortunately, it only went down to 60% and that was plenty for what I needed when I got back! I tried to check on the car using the Tesla app while I was gone, but it would not wake up, and there was no current information--even on my Remote S app! The car did not wake up until I got home and opened the car. Even opening the car took a few tries with the key fob. What gives?

I'm a new Tesla owner, so it's possible I did not understand:
  • How deep a sleep the Tesla Model S would go into when not used for a period of time.
  • How to maintain a specific charge while the car is not in use for longer periods of time, like a "vacation hold". I thought that setting it at 80% and leaving it plugged in meant that it would charge whenever the battery dipped below 80% to maintain an 80% charge.
  • How to maintain battery life, whether by keeping the car plugged in when not in use, or only charging it every couple of days as needed when it dips below 50-60%. As a new owner, I still suffer from range insecurity so I tend to keep it plugged in just in case. I also have solar, so it's charging free, thanks to the sun.
Can anyone shed some light on this?
 
When I'm away I leave it plugged into my wall charger and set at 90% per usual. It does a little charging every few days and is at close to 90% when I return. I was away for three weeks last January and again in June with no issues.

Yes, slow to wake up, but not an issue.

Be sure you leave the box checked for "always connected" if you want to check status while away. And of course the car must have a wifi or cellular connection available.
 
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Thanks, @Boatguy ! Is that option in my controls in the car? I'm having to re-learn where everything is after the last update! :D I'm wondering if I had "always connected" on, and that's why the power was drained more than expected. In any case, my MS was super slow to wake up when I got back, and I couldn't get it to wake up at all while overseas.