Cybertruck outlets, fantom drain.

[Jacob Y]

Hello, not sure if this has been discussed somewhere else. I took my dual motor CT out camping with a mini fridge plugged in, and the battery dropped 5% overnight. This was a shocking amount considering no more than what a mini fridge draws.

I tested it again last night with nothing plugged in, sentry mode OFF and it still drops 4% in 8 hours. Doing the math, that means the truck with the outlets on is consuming ~750 watts which is insane! Surely the AC inverter does not use that much on its own.

Has anyone else had a similar experience or know what the culprit might be?

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[mongo]

Hello, not sure if this has been discussed somewhere else. I took my dual motor CT out camping with a mini fridge plugged in, and the battery dropped 5% overnight. This was a shocking amount considering no more than what a mini fridge draws.

I tested it again last night with nothing plugged in, sentry mode OFF and it still drops 4% in 8 hours. Doing the math, that means the truck with the outlets on is consuming ~750 watts which is insane! Surely the AC inverter does not use that much on its own.

Has anyone else had a similar experience or know what the culprit might be?

My calculation gets closer to 600W, 123*.04/8, but it depends which side of 4% (3.5-4.5) we're on.
Outlets on keeps the truck awake and HV on, so it's not just the inverter power. Drive units are all powered (but idle). Thermal system runs too (circulation pump).

 

[REM]

You're better off with an portable battery system (like Jackery, Ecoflow, etc), and charging that up from the truck (or better yet, solar) than you are to keep your truck powered on the whole time while camping.

Unless you really need it, of course. But yeah, otherwise the systems that have to be powered on with the outlets put a pretty decent drain over time.

 

[Jacob Y]

My calculation gets closer to 600W, 123*.04/8, but it depends which side of 4% (3.5-4.5) we're on.
Outlets on keeps the truck awake and HV on, so it's not just the inverter power. Drive units are all powered (but idle). Thermal system runs too (circulation pump).

Hmm... That makes more sense, but less sense at the same time lol. I wonder what Tesla's reasoning for keeping the entire drive unit and thermal units active while the outlets are on. Especially when the power draw is basically nothing so there shouldn't be much need for heat dissipation.

Makes doing things like leaving low draw appliances plugged in less desirable when the truck consumes 10 times more power idling. Does power share also leave the drive unit active? Just curious.

 

[mongo]

Hmm... That makes more sense, but less sense at the same time lol. I wonder what Tesla's reasoning for keeping the entire drive unit and thermal units active while the outlets are on. Especially when the power draw is basically nothing so there shouldn't be much need for heat dissipation.

Makes doing things like leaving low draw appliances plugged in less desirable when the truck consumes 10 times more power idling. Does power share also leave the drive unit active? Just curious.

The power conversion electronics are designed around the active fluid cooling and it can't know you aren't going to pull lots of power. Easier to just run the systems.

If Powershare is active, the truck is on also.

 

[Ken in Miami]

My calculation gets closer to 600W, 123*.04/8, but it depends which side of 4% (3.5-4.5) we're on.
Outlets on keeps the truck awake and HV on, so it's not just the inverter power. Drive units are all powered (but idle). Thermal system runs too (circulation pump).

Yep I installed a fridge freezer that with a watt meter installed uses a max of 45 watts but the battery drain is higher. If you listen to the frunk you can hear lots of noise. My guess is there is a lot of circuits awake
I would not call it a phantom drain but the way it is.

 

[Merc_s55]

Hello, not sure if this has been discussed somewhere else. I took my dual motor CT out camping with a mini fridge plugged in, and the battery dropped 5% overnight. This was a shocking amount considering no more than what a mini fridge draws.

I tested it again last night with nothing plugged in, sentry mode OFF and it still drops 4% in 8 hours. Doing the math, that means the truck with the outlets on is consuming ~750 watts which is insane! Surely the AC inverter does not use that much on its own.

Has anyone else had a similar experience or know what the culprit might be?

I put mine in my shed on May 1st. As of today it has only dropped 9%. Running the outlets must take a lot.

 

[Jacob Y]

Thank you all for your insights. Hopefully this is something Tesla can eventually update through software in the future. I understand the need to manage thermals, but surely their electronics have onboard temperature readers to know when it is becoming a problem and to turn on/up the cooling systems.

Though I am not optimistic considering how much juice it takes to run sentry mode (now I know why).

 

[Fvansan]

Yep I installed a fridge freezer that with a watt meter installed uses a max of 45 watts but the battery drain is higher. If you listen to the frunk you can hear lots of noise. My guess is there is a lot of circuits awake
I would not call it a phantom drain but the way it is.

Fir a refrigerator in a truck. I think 5% battery drain a day is not unreasonable. I mean that’s 20 days worth of charging a refrigerator in a truck!

 

[mongo]

Fir a refrigerator in a truck. I think 5% battery drain a day is not unreasonable. I mean that’s 20 days worth of charging a refrigerator in a truck!

Sure, but OP reported 4% in 8 hours so 12% a day.

 

[Fvansan]

Still reasonable. I have one on order. Maybe I’ll post my losses.

 

[Ken in Miami]

Fir a refrigerator in a truck. I think 5% battery drain a day is not unreasonable. I mean that’s 20 days worth of charging a refrigerator in a truck!

59 quart fridge/ freezer on a watt meter averaging 45 watts in enclosed bed averaging 120 f.
45 watts x 24 hours = 1080 watts in 24 hours = 1.08 kilowatts x.15 (kw cost in Miami) = 16 cents per day actual usage.
Then add the “bonus drain) of about a quarter kw per day
My guess is there is a surprise drain on all these things on an electrical vehicle whenever is not a sleep. But in my Hummer battery would be dead on day two.

 

[tmeyer3]

As mentioned by others, there are simple ways around this. I have a box in the back with a basic agm 12v car battery, an AC maintainer plugged into the bed and a solar maintainer also, and the fridge powered from the 12v battery. Same with accessory lights, water pump, and other goodies I use. It's not for the 12v, it's to isolate an "always on" circuit away from the truck so I'm not using 600W for 60W worth of stuff.

Costs about $150. Mostly from the battery. $20 maintainer from harbor freight. And about $80 of solar+ small mppt

I don't really like the all-in-one built batteries. They're amazing! But when things break or I want to tie in a different power sources or add an upgrade, it's so much easier to access to each component quickly and easily

 

[Ken in Miami]

As mentioned by others, there are simple ways around this. I have a box in the back with a basic agm 12v car battery, an AC maintainer plugged into the bed and a solar maintainer also, and the fridge powered from the 12v battery. Same with accessory lights, water pump, and other goodies I use. It's not for the 12v, it's to isolate an "always on" circuit away from the truck so I'm not using 600W for 60W worth of stuff.

Costs about $150. Mostly from the battery. $20 maintainer from harbor freight. And about $80 of solar+ small mppt

I don't really like the all-in-one built batteries. They're amazing! But when things break or I want to tie in a different pet source, it's so much easier to access to each component quickly and easily

Hmmm is this correct?
12 v battery supply’s power
A battery charger charges the battery
What powers the battery charger?
Do you have solar panel powering the battery as you drive?
How can you isolate the fridge from the trucks power if the charger is plugged in?
Sounds great and I agree if you can isolate your accessories there would not be an additional drain on vehicle system.

 

[tmeyer3]

Hmmm is this correct?
12 v battery supply’s power
A battery charger charges the battery
What powers the battery charger?
Do you have solar panel powering the battery as you drive?
How can you isolate the fridge from the trucks power if the charger is plugged in?
Sounds great and I agree if you can isolate your accessories there would not be an additional drain on vehicle system.

Yes, while driving the outlets are powered.
The truck
Yes, 100W solar.
When I park, outlets turn off and the truck sleeps.


The outlets aren't a huge drain while driving, that's the only time the AC maintainer is used. The rest of it is a little solar panel. I'm also not pulling huge loads, just the fridge, water pump, and led lights in the evening. Light charge a phone or two also.

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