TESLA PHANTOM DRAIN - 12 Reasons for loss of range while parked.

Two of the scariest words in the Tesla lexicon - and they aren't even in the Owners Manual! Important for all Tesla owners to discover what causes (sometimes dramatic) range loss overnight or while parked, and see what can be done about minimizing it. This is a helpful reference for ALL Tesla owners.

[weho_brian]

im really digging the in between music

[DrDan-uede]

Great video Peter, esp your closing comments....it’s not good to be obsessed about PD.

[MercTurbo]

We parked our Model YP at the airport for seven days... parked at 85%, forgot to turn off cabin overheat protection (it was in the upper 70's (F) that week, had a slight panic when I realized this... Sentry was on... did not touch the app to prevent car from waking up... got back to the car with 36%... whew!! our Model 3 SR+ that was at home, in the garage, no sentry on, lost just 2% over the same week.

[drdrew]

Cabin Overheat Protection (Climate Control) and Sentry Mode are the #1 and #2 power hogs when the car is is idle. The rest on the list are trivial. You can really cut down and Sentry Mode always by simple parking farther away from other vehicles. Most captured videos are just people innocently walking up to their own cars. I’ve talked to the Service Techs and none have them ever seen hardware damage from overheating — seems to be an overblown concern

[aussieuGA]

It would be nice if Tesla allowed “profile settings” where you could shut down all the drain you could by just selecting “Profile 1”

[ronaldgarrison]

In general, the fewer uncovered parking spaces, the better. If there are not levels above where you're parked, a covering (1) shields the car from heat, (2) shields you from the rain, and (3) provides a place to put solar panels. If it's a really cold but sunny day, some further provisions might be called for. But in most places, that's the way to go. A cover can also provide some infrastructure for a possible charging spot.

[vincentcolianni]

Battery drain is important for those of us who leave a Tesla at an airport for an extended stay.

[drdrew]

Phantom Drain (like Range Anxiety) is something that only new EV owners worry about. It’s a phenomenon common to all rechargeable batteries — not unique to EVs or Tesla specifically. Once you develop a charging routine it’s just not an issue. Drain seems to be less to have dramatically decreased with recent software updates anyway — was more relevant 2-3 years ago.

Anybody who is that worried about phantom drain should take a Chevy Suburban to the gas pump and top it off with 28 gallons of fuel at US$2.85 per gallon. Then hop in and drive. Watch that ICE suck the tank dry at the rate of 17mpg. Repeat weekly.

Tesla gets 142mpge and charges overnight while you sleep. Most owners start the day more than enough range for several commutes and need only charge once every few days. For the rest Supercharger start stations number now 25, 000+

Best advice was “who cares”!

[Hogger]

You said: "that's how the car knows that it is in healthy condition the next time you want to take it out" but it is very bad at doing that - reference the multitude of owners who go to use their car only to find it dead and they can't even get in it(tesla) because there is no key option. The system did not keep the 12V batt charged up and it did not notify you that the battery was weak and or failing. Unless the 12V batt is internally shorted out (very rare and not the cause of the failure on Tesla's) the HV batt can start charging it or a least provide the 12 power to send out a failure notice ! BUT IT DOES NOT AND OWNERS SHOULD BE HOPPING MAD ABOUT THIS - THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT CAN BE FIXED WITH A SOFTWARE UPDATE !! Tesla could also use a Lithium 12V batt that could weather the cycling much better that a lead acid.

[yiphuong]

Why not just have a macro (button) that turns off these functions, so you don't have to go in to each setting to turn it off

[ipb]

I think you’re wrong about the reason why Sentry mode depletes the battery. The issue is the fact that the car is fully awake for Sentry to work. The actual flashing of lights and writing to USB is negligible.

[tbarrera]

range is lost due to battery balancing. you charge up the battery but the computer checks voltages of the packs. the computer can bleed off power from other packs to level voltage with other packs.

[MrRb]

My Tesla is always drinking juice while at home! Good for PD prevention and battery longevity! You got to take care of your pets!

[JackF]

I had daily range anxiety until i got a cheap 110v Level 1 charger to plug in at home a couple of months ago. I have a 54-mile round trip commute and haven't been to a public charger since. I just plug it in when the car is in the driveway overnight and it's topped off by morning. I also changed my battery level display from miles to percentage. It's amazing how that helps psychologically!

[VHHess]

lol the phantom boss in the Peter Pan world from Kingdom Hearts!

[doughilson]

How about a 2 week airport parking? What’s the best way?

[raulgarcia]

I just got my Model 3
Dealer charge it @100%
Drove it home 14 miles 96% parked it for 3-4hrs check it was 95%
I had no idea that battery would drain
Thanks for the info

[raulgarcia]

I just found out that if
You put on the parking lights no
They stay on all the time.
I think that's a glitch

[ipb]

Also the car is not unlocking as you pass it with a Bluetooth phone. It unlocks only when you pull the handle if there is a Bluetooth connected phone nearby.

[manoon]

I practice responsible battery hygiene to minimize phantom drain, but I am in the highest percentile of phantom drain as measured by the Stats app.Do I just have an inferior battery?