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 vehicle 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 vehicle awake to monitor the surroundings.

Disable Cabin Overheat Protection

Cabin Overheat Protection will keep the vehicle awake to monitor interior temperatures.

Disable Data Sharing

When data sharing is enabled, the vehicle will wake and upload data to Tesla in the background.

You can disable it in the vehicle under Software > Data Sharing.

Don't use multiple Tesla tracking apps

When one service is letting your vehicle 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 vehicle 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 vehicle will wake up automatically.

Update the Tesla app on your devices

Certain Tesla app versions have a bug which will continuously wake the vehicle.

Move key fobs away from the vehicle

When a key fob is detected near the vehicle (including vertically, in a room above or below the vehicle), the vehicle will wake up automatically.

Improve the WiFi signal

Weak WiFi connections can cause the vehicle to stay awake due to constant disconnections and reconnections. You can turn off WiFi in the vehicle or move your WiFi router to improve the signal.

Disable Summon Standby

Summon Standby will keep the vehicle awake. You can disable it in the vehicle under Autopilot.

Remove the Tesla app widgets from your home screen

The Tesla app widgets communicate with the vehicle and may keep it awake. You can use Tessie widgets safely.

Restart the vehicle

There is a known computer issue that can prevent the vehicle from sleeping. You can restart the vehicle by pressing both scroll wheel buttons on the steering wheel until the screen turns off.

Power cycle the vehicle

Underlying firmware issues can also prevent the vehicle from sleeping. You can perform a power cycle to eliminate them.

From the Tesla manual:

1. Shift into Park.
2. On the touchscreen, touch Controls > Safety > Power Off.
3. Wait for at least two minutes without interacting with the vehicle. Do not open the doors, touch the brake pedal, touch the touchscreen, etc.
4. 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 vehicle to sleep normally.