Eliminating Phantom Drain
When your Tesla is idle — that is, not driving or charging — you may experience what's known as phantom drain, where the battery slowly drains a few percentage points over the course of several hours.
Phantom drain happens when the car stays awake and doesn't sleep to conserve battery.
Below are a list of steps that you can take to improve your Tesla's sleep and eliminate phantom drain.
Disable Sentry Mode
Sentry Mode will keep the car awake to monitor the surroundings.
Disable Data Sharing
When data sharing is enabled, the car will wake and upload data to Tesla in the background.
You can disable it in the car under Software > Data Sharing.
Don't use multiple Tesla tracking apps
When one service is letting your car sleep, the other may be keeping it awake inadvertently. This is a side effect of how the Tesla firmware is currently designed.
You can reset access to all tracking apps by changing your tesla.com account password.
Install pending software updates
The car may stay wake when an update is pending but hasn't been fully downloaded and installed.
Move devices outside of Bluetooth range
When a Bluetooth connection occurs, the car will wake up automatically.
Move key fobs away from the car
When a key fob is detected near the car (including vertically, in a room above or below the car), the car will wake up automatically.
Improve the WiFi signal
Weak WiFi connections can cause the car to stay awake due to constant disconnections and reconnections. You can turn off WiFi in the car or move your WiFi router to improve the signal.
- Shift into Park.
- On the touchscreen, touch Controls > Safety > Power Off.
- Wait for at least two minutes without interacting with the vehicle. Do not open the doors, touch the brake pedal, touch the touchscreen, etc.
- After two minutes, press the brake pedal or open the door to wake the vehicle.
Replace the 12V battery
Every few days, your Tesla may begin to wake up frequently to support the auxiliary 12V battery. This is normal behavior, but if it begins to happen every day, it may be a sign that it needs to be replaced.
Service the vehicle to fix the underlying components
Your Tesla will automatically wake up when an underlying component activates.
Some components, like the HVAC system and certain sensors, can be faulty and activate needlessly, which will cause the vehicle to wake up.
Replacing these components will allow the car to sleep normally.