Ok I figured it out. After updating to V10, I was looking through the settings and happen to notice a new setting under the autopilot section called 'Standby Mode'. This setting seems to keep the car awake all the time so smart summon can activate quicker. However it was putting a significant drain on my battery, especially in my garage which doesn't have LTE or location service which the car was probably continually trying to activate. I suspect that this feature was actually in place since the first 2019.32.x update, which is when I first noticed the significant vampire drain, but the option to turn it off only became available with 2019.32.10 when smart summon became available. After finding and turning off the 'Standby Mode', I went from losing 20-30 miles in a day to just 1 mile in the past 36 hours! Would highly recommend this for anyone else who has been experiencing significant vampire drain since updating to 2019.32.x. See before and after pictures attached...
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Tesla Model 3 Vampire Drain (aka loosing mileage when stationary)
- Thread starter TimothyHW3
- Start date
Ok, this is good info. One more reason to wait with the updates
I don't have summon so I can't test.
But I wonder why it didn't register the garage as home and disable the standby.
Also, why is this even on per default. Anyways, anything that keeps the car awake will drain the battery - be it features like this, updates downloading, a third party app logging etc.
I don't have summon so I can't test.But I wonder why it didn't register the garage as home and disable the standby.
Also, why is this even on per default. Anyways, anything that keeps the car awake will drain the battery - be it features like this, updates downloading, a third party app logging etc.
My garage is under our house which is 3 stories so it can't get any reception there, including location information. So it doesn't know when it's home and thus didn't shut off the standby mode.
Well, if you wanna keep the drain to a minimum, wifi disabling helps. First that it allows the car to go to sleep faster and second while searching for updates or updating the nav data,(which takes a long time)
I will bump this thread as it got lost and a lot of new drivers are coming and wondering why they have phantom drain or why sentry uses a lot of kWh
I've gone like 4 days and lost like 2 miles. Shutting WIFI is just a waste. Let the car do it's thing.
There are obvious ones like Sentry etc.. But no reason to go overboard. Normal operation is to leave WIFI on.
jerseygirl18
jersey girl
STATS for TESLA is a third party app. i'm assuming it doesn't drain until i use the app? a.m. i correct? what other apps are you referring to? BTW you are jammed packed with great info! thanks for sharing
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Sorry, but "like" 4 days and "like" 2 miles is not very scientific. It would be best to post your data here daily with pictures of and video and settings, like I did,and then we can see the real drain. But 0.5miles a day is unheard off unless you have everything like I said disabled, including wifi and even mobile access. And the outside temp is favourable 70-72f.
I have done some tests with the same outside temperature in a Garage with and and without wifi and I can definitely tell you that even when the wifi is simply on, the drain was bigger. Wether 1 mile a day is much or overboard to you or others is another thing. For me 1 mile or more a day is 365-500 miles a year...
And tthere are a also a lot of updates that Tesla pushes lately and some of them are including large map files which could take hours to download with the wifi onboard. This will drain the battery a lot.
Thanks for the positive feedback. I have a lot of interesting videos and posts coming up, you can browse through my older threads for more info.
I don't know this app. I only know TeslaFi and VisibleTesla. I know that both of those apps I mentiomed use loggers and don't let the car sleep while logging. Wether you can stop the logging completely or minimize it and how well these apps work - I dunno, because I never gave access to them.
But I can assure you that any of these apps, if they are to work the way as designed, they will drain the battery more or less. I don't need them anyway, because they are inaccurate in the calculation because they lack a lot of inside data. They don't have access to the kWh capacity so they have to guestimate based on typical range data and %. But there are things like buffers or messed up BMS that they don't have access to, so they can never be accurate.
I have access to the BMS so nothing that those apps do, gives me value. So if you don't need them, just remove access(I think the only way is through password change)
I had 0 miles lost in the last 12 hours on my Model X with Wifi on.
Temperature was favorable on my Model 3. I charged on a Thursday afternoon to 80% and Monday morning it was only down 2 miles. Keep in mind that the readout is ALWAYS an ESTIMATE. It's also rounding. So it could have been 4 miles. But either way I get very little phantom drain with Wifi left alone. Sometime it will drop more on the first day than subsequent days. Wifi was probably on for the first 10 minutes and kept off until I got in the car Monday.
If it was 1 mile a day for Wifi (which I really doubt it is), I still would not bother. It's not worth being a slave to your electronics and having to constantly mess with it.
One thing I do that does save a ton of "phantom drain" is I always have a habit of shutting HVAC off when I park and only turn it on when I need it once I get going. If I don't, It runs for a bit when you park. It starts as soon as you touch the car but not necessarily when I'm ready to leave. Runs while packing the car. Runs when I put something in or take something out of the car. On nice Spring / Fall days I never turn the HVAC on at all (no highway on my commute, all country roads with lots of shaded trees). If the cars hot, driving for a minute with windows open is more efficient than letting the HVAC fight it the second you touch the door handle. I always park in the shade when I can and I always vent the windows when it's warm. So cabin stays cool naturally.
All you have to do is hold the fan button when parking and tap fan button when you want it on. I wish there was an HVAC option to only run HVAC if the car is in drive. Staying on top of HVAC is way more beneficial than worrying about Wifi. My last 2000 miles was 230 wh/mi on a Performance (Stealth) with 19" wheels.
Good advice. And I agree any option that depends on GPS location is risky, especially when parking in a garage.
According to OP 1 mile in 36 hours is not possible
I never said 1 mile not possible, I said highly unlikely, big difference. And you said 2 miles in 4 days not 1 mile in 1 day. Also big difference of 100%
If you watch my video I actually had less than 1km in 12 hours, but experience shows that this was one time fluke.
I agree, 1 mile here or there or 500 miles a year might not be much, but whatever.
Also, Model X is another beast, we are in a 3 sub, so no comparison there.
As for wifi it depends on how many wifi networks you have nearby, how strong the signal is and wether the car is downloading anything. And of course the temperature plays a huge role. You mentioned % then mentioned TR miles. These are two separate things and calculations, which I explained in another post so if you wanna measure it do it in KMs for more accuracy. You will also sometimes gain KMs like I did on many occasions when the temperature in the cells settles down during the hotter day so you have to factor this as well.
As for HVAC, that is a good advice. I made another video explaining the consumption when the HVAC is on but AC disabled, so you can leave the AC off, but have HVAC on and it will barely consume any energy. You might wanna have a look at it.
Maybe you can do some videos of your drain including the clock and KMs before you start and at some intervals. I am sure it will be helpful
If you watch my video I actually had less than 1km in 12 hours, but experience shows that this was one time fluke.
I agree, 1 mile here or there or 500 miles a year might not be much, but whatever.
Also, Model X is another beast, we are in a 3 sub, so no comparison there.
As for wifi it depends on how many wifi networks you have nearby, how strong the signal is and wether the car is downloading anything. And of course the temperature plays a huge role. You mentioned % then mentioned TR miles. These are two separate things and calculations, which I explained in another post so if you wanna measure it do it in KMs for more accuracy. You will also sometimes gain KMs like I did on many occasions when the temperature in the cells settles down during the hotter day so you have to factor this as well.
As for HVAC, that is a good advice. I made another video explaining the consumption when the HVAC is on but AC disabled, so you can leave the AC off, but have HVAC on and it will barely consume any energy. You might wanna have a look at it.
Maybe you can do some videos of your drain including the clock and KMs before you start and at some intervals. I am sure it will be helpful
The WIFI is OFF when it goes to sleep. So it doesn't matter what's around or how strong it is. It may matter when downloading and keep the car awake longer, but only during an update, which I think most folks want.
He just quoted 1.5 days was 1 mile. That's 3 days 2 miles. I said 2 miles 4 days. Close enough. They are all estimates.
WIFI will make so little difference the rounding and estimating will dwarf it.
I had a Model 3. Both X and 3 did great on Phantom Drain with WIFI On. In summer.
But just you wait for the surprises the Model 3 has in store come winter time on phantom drain, WIFI will be the last thing to worry about
My guess is, I've owned a Model 3 a lot longer than you have. Hopefully next winter the Model 3 won't suffer from insomnia as much.I've had AC ON and barely notice any consumption (I still averaged 230 wh/mi with AWD, 19" and some AC). Recirculate is your friend and don't set temp to lower than needed. If AC is too cold don't turn the fan down, turn the Temp UP. If you need AC you need AC. But yeah, sometimes only fresh air is all you need (i.e. AC Off, Recirculate Off and fan up). Don't run fan to low with AC otherwise to much condensation in the evaporator accumulates and will start to stink. If you only set coils to what you need it won't ever stink and it will be the most efficient.
Well, I actually did measure the AC consumption to the exact kW on different settinfs(obviously you still did not watch my video so I have a pretty good understanding of how AC affects consumption and what the best setup is.
As for the stinking part I think you have an earlier version Model 3. I believe Brian from I1Tesla mentioned this and I believe he also said that the AC remains on after the car is parked to avoid exactly the condensation and stink. So, actually turning AC off before sleep might be a bad idea, now that I remembered that.
Regarding winter drain, true, haven't gotten a winter, but we are already down to 1 digit C and I am not experiencing anything unusual. Actually, like I said before, the KMs I loose in the night I gain during the day when the weather gets back to 2 digit C. If we go below 0C yes obviously then it will drain...
And the fact that the Model 3 actually has a far better chemistry compared to older X and S with technology from 2013-15, I see no reason why I should expect lesser performance than an X. If anything, it will be better. They also improved the cells in the most recent itteration and you might have gotten a bad pack. You might wanna have your cell imbalance checked.
so I have a pretty good understanding of how AC affects consumption and what the best setup is.As for the stinking part I think you have an earlier version Model 3. I believe Brian from I1Tesla mentioned this and I believe he also said that the AC remains on after the car is parked to avoid exactly the condensation and stink. So, actually turning AC off before sleep might be a bad idea, now that I remembered that.
Regarding winter drain, true, haven't gotten a winter, but we are already down to 1 digit C and I am not experiencing anything unusual. Actually, like I said before, the KMs I loose in the night I gain during the day when the weather gets back to 2 digit C. If we go below 0C yes obviously then it will drain...
And the fact that the Model 3 actually has a far better chemistry compared to older X and S with technology from 2013-15, I see no reason why I should expect lesser performance than an X. If anything, it will be better. They also improved the cells in the most recent itteration and you might have gotten a bad pack. You might wanna have your cell imbalance checked.
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Well, I actually did measure the AC consumption to the exact kW on different settinfs(obviously you still did not watch my video
As for the stinking part I think you have an earlier version Model 3. I believe Brian from I1Tesla mentioned this and I believe he also said that the AC remains on after the car is parked to avoid exactly the condensation and stink. So, actually turning AC off before sleep might be a bad idea, now that I remembered that.
Regarding winter drain, true, haven't gotten a winter, but we are already down to 1 digit C and I am not experiencing anything unusual. Actually, like I said before, the KMs I loose in the night I gain during the day when the weather gets back to 2 digit C. If we go below 0C yes obviously then it will drain...
And the fact that the Model 3 actually has a far better chemistry compared to older X and S with technology from 2013-15, I see no reason why I should expect lesser performance than an X. If anything, it will be better. They also improved the cells in the most recent itteration and you might have gotten a bad pack. You might wanna have your cell imbalance checked.
The issues on cold weather on the Model 3 has NOTHING to do with the battery. You'll see. Unless they changed it.
I never had the stink in my Model 3. I often shut AC off (keep fan on) a mile before home on any car to "air it out". My build was Sept/2018.
You just said that there is a "surprise on winter time with phantom drain" and now it you say it has nothing to do with battery?!
Phantom drain is all about the battery. So not sure if you were wrong when you first said it or now when you said it has nothing not do with the battery, so maybe you can just enlighten us and not be so cryptic...
Phantom drain is all about the battery. So not sure if you were wrong when you first said it or now when you said it has nothing not do with the battery, so maybe you can just enlighten us and not be so cryptic...
I didn’t even NOTICE this until I parked my car at the airport yesterday. It seems to be steadily losing 1% of charge every 2.8 hours. Of course, I’m 1000 miles away and can do nothing about it. At this rate I calculate it will have gone from 69% to barely 25% before I can get back.
Frankly this is really bad. I’m fine with Standby mode but YOU CANT TURN IT OFF REMOTELY. Which means if (like me) you park your car for a trip and you forget to turn it off, you are in big trouble. Worse, the default seems to be to have Standby Mode on (I’ve never changed it, though I did notice it in the car menus).
I wonder how many cars this feature is going to brick? Hopefully the care has the brains to shut off this when it reaches 20% of charge.
Frankly this is really bad. I’m fine with Standby mode but YOU CANT TURN IT OFF REMOTELY. Which means if (like me) you park your car for a trip and you forget to turn it off, you are in big trouble. Worse, the default seems to be to have Standby Mode on (I’ve never changed it, though I did notice it in the car menus).
I wonder how many cars this feature is going to brick? Hopefully the care has the brains to shut off this when it reaches 20% of charge.
I'm not sure of the value of having the car summon a little bit faster, but this should've definitely been defaulted to off with users being able to turn it on if they find it actually useful and worth the battery drain. I feel bad for all those people who aren't aware of these forum and must be losing their mind with how much battery drain they are suddenly experiencing.
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
I think it does, but I'm not sure.
It's better than that: It even disables the standby mode by default when it is at home, work, or at your favorites (enabled everywhere else). This means that you don't even notice the problem until you get to the airport (unless it's in your favorites and then it will not have the problem...maybe).
Happened to me too. Lost 55 miles in 3.5 days. I had heard about the problem but forgot to shut it off.
They really should make nearly all of the configuration options available from the app. Unrelated, they should also make all of the app features function when within range of the car with Bluetooth (again, wouldn't help your situation), when there is no LTE available for you or the car (right now basically it only allows you to lock/unlock the car or open the frunk in that case!).
Texas
Member
Sentry Mode caused the same radical battery drain in our Model 3 as reported by the OP. It was particularly aggravated because we had workmen at the house, which resulted in 140 Sentry events in one day caused by workmen walking by the car. I turned Sentry Mode off on the touchscreen, only to find it mysteriously turned back on a day later, after noticing another inexplicably large loss of battery range. Finally I checked the third party app "Stats," and under Settings I found the entry called "Enable Smart Sentry Mode." Somehow this had been checked "on" and this entry in Stats in effect canceled my "off" check on the touchscreen. I think I've solved the problem.
I do think Tesla should work on this application to reduce its power consumption to something sensible. As it stands, I won't be using the feature at all because it wastes so much electricity while accomplishing nothing. I have an aftermarket Blackvue camera for my Model S which consumes no noticeable amount of power.
I do think Tesla should work on this application to reduce its power consumption to something sensible. As it stands, I won't be using the feature at all because it wastes so much electricity while accomplishing nothing. I have an aftermarket Blackvue camera for my Model S which consumes no noticeable amount of power.
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