If you’re considering buying a Tesla Model 3 and want to anticipate any potential issues you may run into, you have probably heard of phantom drain. This can be especially concerning to people who’ve never owned an electric vehicle before and haven’t had to deal with this issue. So when does Tesla Model 3 Phantom Drain occur?
Phantom drain happens when a Tesla Model 3 loses energy while turned off. Contrary to conventional gasoline vehicles, an electric vehicle will use a small amount of standby power when turned off. To prevent phantom drain in your Model 3, disable Sentry Mode, climate control, and third-party apps.
If you’re concerned about phantom drain being an issue, you can rest assured that most Tesla owners don’t even notice any energy drainage at all. Even if phantom drain becomes a problem, there are many ways to minimize its impact. Keep reading to learn more about phantom drain and how to avoid it.
Phantom drain—also known as vampire drain—is when your Tesla loses mileage while turned off or idle. Some energy loss is expected because your electric vehicle never fully shuts off, but losing more than one mile per hour of idle time is excessive. This is what’s known as phantom drain.
As an electric vehicle, Tesla Model 3s are susceptible to standby power. This allows electrical appliances, machines, and devices to periodically perform small tasks even when powered off. This is why you can expect your Model 3 to lose a little bit of power whenever it’s idle and not plugged in.
Though Tesla doesn’t refer to phantom drain as such, they do acknowledge that some battery drain is expected when idle and unplugged.
The Tesla Model 3 owner’s manual states, ”When left idle and unplugged, your vehicle periodically uses energy from the Battery for system tests and recharging the 12V battery when necessary.”
So, rest assured that your Tesla Model 3 isn’t broken or faulty if it loses some battery when idle. A small amount of power loss is normal and expected when the car is left unplugged.
Phantom drain generally refers to excessive energy loss beyond what can reasonably be expected from standby power. Your Tesla Model 3 should lose no more than 10 miles (16.09 km) of range per day of idleness.
If your Tesla is losing a mile of range or more per hour, you are experiencing phantom drain.
Many factors can cause phantom drain. This includes built-in features of your Tesla as well as third-party apps that may be sucking your car’s battery dry.
I wrote a similar article that explains Tesla Battery Phantom Drain and Management in more detail – Check it out!
Sentry Mode is one of the biggest reasons why Tesla Model 3’s experience battery drain. It’s a feature that allows your Tesla to keep the cameras on while idle and start recording if it notices anything suspicious.
This feature can be very helpful when you park in unfamiliar or unsafe locations, making your Tesla prone to theft or vandalism. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), there were 721,885 car robberies in the United States in 2019. Sentry Mode could help prevent theft or help if you fall victim to a robbery.
Though the potential safety benefits are significant, Sentry Mode prevents your Tesla from fully going to sleep. You should really consider when Sentry Mode is necessary and disable it when your car is parked safely to prevent phantom drain.
Another important reason why your Tesla Model 3’s battery will drain in its sleep is climate control. Electric vehicle batteries need to be kept within certain temperatures for optimal performance, which is why your Model 3 will use some energy even when idle.
This is why Tesla recommends that you plug in your Model 3 every time it’s idle, even when parked in your garage. Without this climate control feature, your electric vehicle’s battery would not last as long or perform as well.
This is another feature that can contribute significantly to phantom drain. Keeping Climate On does exactly what the feature’s name purports to do—it keeps the AC or heating on to keep your car at a comfortable temperature while you run errands or stop for a quick bite.
While this feature is great for a hot sunny day or during a freezing Nor Easter, you should be cautious of it if you’re concerned about power drain. Keeping the AC or heating on while you’re away will consume a significant amount of power.
It’s worth noting that Dog Mode and Cat Mode essentially do the same thing as Keep Climate On. The difference is that you cannot keep dogs or cats inside your Tesla without turning the respective pet mode on.
If you’re concerned about phantom drain during cat or dog mode, you should minimize the time you leave your pets alone in your car.
Third-party apps can drain your Tesla’s battery by constantly waking it up. Just like humans, Teslas need their beauty sleep to conserve energy. A restless Tesla will lose a lot of energy as it constantly powers on when pinged by any one of your apps.
Most third-party apps realize this and now offer a sleep feature. If you’re using any third-party apps, review the settings of each of them to ensure that it isn’t interrupting your Tesla’s deep sleep.
Tesla—any electric vehicle—will lose battery while parked. This is because of standby power, a feature of virtually every electronic device that enables it to perform essential features while idle.
If you notice that your Tesla Model 3 is draining a little bit of battery while parked, don’t fret. This is normal and expected of the healthiest Tesla batteries.
However, you should start looking into possible causes of excessive drain if it goes beyond one mile of range lost per hour.
You can expect an average daily drain of 1% of battery capacity, give or take. Generally, you shouldn’t worry if your Model 3 is draining less than 3% per day.
According to Tesla’s Model 3 Owner’s Manual, “The Battery can discharge at a rate of approximately 1% per day, though the discharge rate may vary depending on environmental factors (such as cold weather), vehicle configuration, and your selected settings on the touchscreen.”
This is consistent with our findings of the different factors that impact your phantom drain: the outside temperature and settings like Sentry Mode and Keep Climate On.
These factors make the 1% estimate from Tesla just that: an estimate. If you’re losing 2% or even 3%, you shouldn’t worry too much. You could even be losing close to 0% per day, and that would be fine too.
Most owners report a daily loss of about 1% per day, but some experience significantly less. A Reddit user even reported losing just over 20% of battery power over a total of 80 days of idle time. That’s an average of less than 2% drain per week.
Don’t worry if you’re experiencing phantom drain beyond 3% per day. Reducing the drain to acceptable levels is almost always a very easy fix. Try some of the following measures to reduce your energy loss.
Sentry Mode has been identified as the main culprit behind phantom drain. While this feature could save your Model 3 from vandalism or theft, you should be selective with when and where you use it.
If you’re leaving your Model 3 in a safe place with cameras, like premium airport parking or in your friend’s garage, you should disable Sentry Mode to prevent battery drain.
The only exception, of course, is when you leave your pets or other people inside the car. Other than that, you should turn off the climate control in your vehicle to prevent unnecessary battery loss.
Leaving the climate control on while you run your errands is akin to leaving your car on in the parking lot. Make sure to never use this feature if you’re concerned about phantom drain.
Third-party apps can be energy vampires. They can prevent your car from falling asleep by constantly pinging your Model 3 for information throughout the day.
Review your third-party apps’ settings to see if they have any features for preventing phantom drain. Many have developed solutions to prevent the app from waking up your Model 3 if it’s sleeping.
Otherwise, try temporarily disabling all third-party apps to see if your battery drain improves. If it does, try reintroducing your apps one by one to see if you find one that’s significantly energy-intensive.
You should disable the Smart Summon Standby Mode unless you plan on using it very frequently. The thing about Standby Mode is that it leaves your car on Standby, preventing it from fully going to sleep as it waits for you to summon it.
To disable Standby Mode, simply:
Once you’ve disabled Standby Mode, your car will be able to sleep restfully every time you leave it idle. If you still want to summon it, you can do so from the app. You’ll just have to wait a few seconds for the car to wake up before using Smart Summon.
If you’d like to learn more about preventing phantom drain, you should watch the following YouTube video with a few more details on preventing phantom drain:
